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Paul Emphasizes Sanctification, March 25
Ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is
the will of God, even your sanctification.
1 Thessalonians 4:2, 3
.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul sets before them the “mystery of
the gospel” (
Ephesians 6:19
), the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (
chap. 3:8
), and
then assures them of his earnest prayers for their spiritual prosperity:
“I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of
God” (
verses 14-19
).
He writes to his Corinthian brethren also, “to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus... : Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which
is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all
utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in
you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ” (
1 Corinthians 1:2-7
).
These words are addressed not only to the church at Corinth but to all the
people of God to the close of time. Every Christian may enjoy the blessing of
sanctification.
The apostle continues in these words: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be
no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment” (
verse 10
). Paul would not have appealed to them to
do that which was impossible. Unity is the sure result of Christian perfection....
The apostle himself was endeavoring to reach the same standard of holiness
which he set before his brethren.... Paul did not hesitate to enforce, upon every
suitable occasion, the importance of Bible sanctification. He says: “Ye know what
commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even
your sanctification” (
1 Thessalonians 4:2, 3
).
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling.... Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be
blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (
Philippians
2:12-15
).—
The Sanctified Life, 84-87
.
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