Basic HTML Version
Christ Sanctified Himself for Me, September 5
Sanctification
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also
might be sanctified through the truth.
John 17:18, 19
Christ declared He sanctified Himself, that we also might be sancti-
fied. He took upon Himself our nature, and became a faultless pattern for
men. He made no mistake, that we also might become victors, and enter
into His kingdom as overcomers. He prayed that we might be sanctified
through the truth. What is truth? He declared, “Thy word is truth.” His
disciples were to be sanctified through obedience to the truth. He says,
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on
Me through their word.” That prayer was for us; we have believed in the
testimony of the disciples of Christ. He prays that His disciples may be
one, even as He and the Father are one; and this unity of believers is to
be as testimony to the world that He has sent us, and that we bear the
evidence of His grace.
We are to be brought into a sacred nearness with the world’s Re-
deemer. We are to be one with Christ as He is one with the Father. What
a wonderful change the people of God experience in coming into unity
with the Son of God! We are to have our tastes, inclinations, ambitions,
and passions all subdued, and brought into harmony with the mind and
spirit of Christ. This is the very work that the Lord is willing to do for
those who believe in Him. Our life and deportment are to have a molding
power in the world. The spirit of Christ is to have a controlling influence
over the life of His followers, so that they will speak and act like Jesus.
Christ says, “The glory which thou gavest Me I have given them.” ...
The grace of Christ is to work a wonderful transformation in the life
and character of its receiver; and if we are truly the disciples of Christ,
the world will see that divine power has done something for us; for while
we are in the world, we shall not be of it.
[253]
264