The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
“Wholly Holy”
"We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10).
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).
Why does the Apostle Paul ask God to fully sanctify - “make holy" - those whom the writer of Hebrews declares to be sanctified "once for all?"
The answer involves one of the relational truths of belonging to God, as opposed to our practical response to the fact. We first acknowledge and affirm our holiness to Him, based on the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus. Believers belong to God in terms of truth and relationship, regardless of how we live. “Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus” declared Paul to the Corinthians he also indicted as “carnal” (I Corinthians 1:30; 3:3). In the sense of belonging, born again believers become as sanctified as we will ever be when we trust the Lord Jesus - “once for all.” We are God’s "purchased possession,” no matter what. Nothing changes this reality of relationship, and the more we discover the Biblical truth that we belong to Another, the more likely we are to think, speak, act, and relate accordingly. "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).
Conversely, the experience and outworking of holiness requires a lifetime of growth in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. Our sanctified being may or may not result in sanctified behavior. We can - and do - sometimes think, speak, act, and relate as if we belong to ourselves (I John 1:8). Our marvelous freedom in Christ makes real love for God possible. However, it also makes possible our not loving Him in this less than perfect present existence. Nothing changes the fact that we belong to God -"sanctified once for all." Behaving accordingly, however, requires God's working in us to “sanctify you wholly.” Grace gave to us the blessed gift of belonging to our rightful Owner and Master. Growth in grace gives to us the blessing of a life that practically reflects such truth. We thus do well to echo Paul's prayer for each other concerning a whole sanctification, even as we also thank God for the truth of a "once for all" sanctification. Our Heavenly Father ever works to align our being and behavior for the glory of the Lord Jesus and the peace of being wholly holy unto Him.
"Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)
Weekly Memory Verse
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(I Thessalonians 5:23).
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