When I was little, I had a stuffed animal toy that was my favorite. It was a small white bear, and it was precious to me. In my mind it was the best one. No other stuffed animal compared to it. However, not everyone shared my opinion about it. They didn’t see it as I did, with the purity of its white fur, nor did they experience night after night with it tucked between their arms. It was just another stuffed animal to them, but not to me. I set it apart from all the others. As God’s born-again believers, we are precious to God. We are His elect. We are set apart by the holy spirit of promise—sanctified. And unlike that stuffed animal that no one saw as I did, we can manifest our sanctification so that others can see it too.
I Corinthians 1:30 says in part, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…sanctification….” Sanctification refers to being set apart—set apart from the world by God because of what He accomplished in Christ. At this very moment, we can choose to live our lives according to the standard of God’s Word—not the standard of the world. Our sanctification is a huge spiritual blessing which allows us to live as God’s holy, sanctified children for all to see.
Two ways we are blessed by our sanctification are that we are God’s saints and we are seated in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6). The Word declares in II Thessalonians 2:13 that we have “…salvation through [by way of] sanctification of the Spirit [the new birth]….” The new birth is what sanctifies us. Because of this new birth, we have citizenship in heaven. And we are also God’s saints. In I Corinthians 1:2 we read “…to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints….” The saints are the born-again believers, “them that are sanctified.” The Greek word translated “saint” in the New Testament is also translated “holy” in many places. We are set apart, sanctified from the world and its ways, made holy by God’s gift in us. We are His holy ones.
Now let’s see how we can manifest our sanctification.
Romans 6:20,22:
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness [purity, sanctification of heart and life], and the end everlasting life.
We don’t make ourselves holy by our own doing. We’ve been made holy by God. Freed from sin, we’re sanctified. We can now choose to live sanctified and manifest our holiness according to God’s revealed Word. We live as ones who are set apart for Him.
I Thessalonians 3:12,13:
And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
God wants believers to increase and abound in love toward one another and to everyone. This is so we can be established, unblameable in holiness, and manifest our holiness in our personal conduct before God. We present ourselves holy by living God’s love, which is a way we manifest our sanctification for others to see. This is done as we renew our minds to walk on the Word.
Romans 12:1,2:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rather than being conformed to this world, we can choose to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and act accordingly so that our lifestyle does not contradict what God’s Word stands for. We can choose to live sanctified—manifest our sanctification—as sons of God for others to see.
Our sanctification by God through Jesus Christ blesses us spiritually and allows us to live as God’s holy children. Once born again, we are God’s holy ones, His saints. We have been separated from Satan’s power, set apart as citizens of heaven while still present on this earth. As such, we shine forth by manifesting that sanctification. We live the holiness we have on the inside by increasing and abounding in love through the renewing of our mind on God’s Holy Word. We are God’s holy children, and with the blessings of being sanctified, we can brilliantly shine!