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The Lord is your SANCTIFIER
Sanctification is the separation of an object of person to the dedication of the Holy. God has set us apart for Himself. That should transform the way we walk, live, and worship. And we have the ability to do so by the resurrection of Jesus.
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you. (Leviticus 20:7-8)
Look closely, do you see it? "I am the Lord who sanctifies...", God does the work -- not us. But, look some more. "Consecrate yourselves ... keep my statutes and perform them...", we have to cooperate. God does the work, but we have a role.
We have a big problem with holiness in today's world. For many, holiness is viewed as impossible. And it is -- if we try to do it by ourselves. Or, worse yet, we measure holiness by what is acceptable in the world. Because "others" say it is OK, or because "they" do it, we believe it to be OK. So holiness becomes just being better than the prevailing standard. But the worst is that we don't see our need for holiness because we are too busy judging others. Oh, look at them, look at how bad they are. Of course, that leads back to our measure of holiness because we will inevitably follow up "how bad they are" with, "I don't do that, I'm not so bad".
What we need is to turn the 5 main areas of lives over to Jesus. Be made holy in those areas not because of anything we can do, or anything we do not do. But because of what Jesus did. What are those areas?
1. WORSHIP
Read the story of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-3. The moral there is that we cannot worship God as we see fit. It must be done as He sees fit. Worship is not just some religious exercise. Nor is it merely the entertainment portion of a service, before the message. And how does God say to worship. Give unto the Lord the glory due His name: Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 29:2).
2. WORDS
(Matthew 12:37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. We are to speak only what is good and edifying to others. Only those thing that impart grace to those who hear (look at Ephesians 4:29).
3. MONEY
How do you spend it? Do you save any of it? Does any of it go to eternal things? To your, "I can't afford to tithe", God answers, "Test Me on this" (Malachi 3:10). Our nation would be transformed if God's people practiced the 10-10-80 principle: Tithe 10%, save 10%, spend 80%.
4. BODY
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19). Verses 9-11 of this same chapter details the types of sin many people are involved in, and reminds us that we cannot do these things and still inherit God's kingdom. But it also tells us that we are no longer identified by these sins if we let the Lord sanctify us. Which means, of course, that God does have the power to cleanse us from whatever sin we are involved in, and that we can be free from that sin.
5. MIND
The Bible tells us, in Romans 12:2, to renew our mind. We do this everyday, either to the good or to the bad, by what we put into our minds. If we want to renew our minds to the positive, put in positive things: ...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things (Philippians 4:8).
II Corinthians 10:5 says, Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. How many people hear or read a command from scripture and respond with "well, I don't agree with that, so..."? That is what this verse is speaking of. Either we believe what God says, or we don't. We can't pick and choose. To only accept some of it is to reject all of it. Any other way and we are exalting ourselves above God. We are saying, in effect, that God didn't know what we know now, so what he said doesn't apply. A scripture I referenced above, I Corinthians 6:9-11 is a prime example of a place where many people "argue" with God.
Let's renew our minds today. Let's bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus.
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