This is a question that should not be taken lightly. The majority of young people who fall are often those who don’t truly understand why they are sanctifying themselves. They have a vague idea of sanctification but no real understanding of the how and why behind it. This often leads them to stumble easily. It’s important to be clear on this subject. In this chapter, we will determine why it is necessary to sanctify oneself.

Someone who thinks that sanctification is just a sadistic way for God to treat His children is really off track. People don’t dare admit it aloud, but many think this way. However, the truth is far from that; God has no intention of placing a new burden on the shoulders of His children. God is Love, and He is Holy. As such, He must remain faithful to His own nature.

The objective of this new story is to boost your motivation and your walk in sanctification. It will also help you be precise and firm in your convictions, so that you truly know what you’re fighting for. In fact, it’s always good to know what you’ve decided to embark on, for better or worse.

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?

Sanctification is the act of becoming sanctified, which means “to become holy” or “to be set apart.” Since the Old Testament, God has always considered the Israelites as “set apart” because He called them “holy.” Because of this, despite being attacked by several nations during that period, the Israelites were still able to benefit from God’s protection and support, for they were the chosen people.

However, God had much higher expectations of the Israelites compared to pagans, both in their worship and their way of life. God always wanted there to be a clear distinction between the Israelites, who had Jehovah as their God, and the pagans.

This same distinction should also apply to the Church, because we are God’s chosen people. What is meant by “the Church”? I’m talking about all those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior—not just with their mouths, but also with their hearts, in a genuine conversion, with a true desire for repentance. These are the people who have inherited salvation by God’s grace, and whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Without offending non-believers, I’d like to be honest on this point: only the saved can sanctify themselves, or rather, only they have the ability to do so. Someone who doesn’t have Life within them—that is, Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit—cannot truly sanctify themselves. Their sanctification can only be superficial and temporary because it does not originate from the Source of Life.

It’s important to clarify this because, in our time, there are many activities labeled as sanctification that aren’t truly so. This includes meditation activities like yoga, monks’ isolation, etc. Indeed, these practices may seem wise and appealing. But for God, all of this is nothing but vain effort produced by man, isolated from Christ, a pure fruit of human orchestration and wisdom, with the devil as its source of inspiration.

Moreover, sanctification isn’t about isolating oneself in a cave far from everyone. We need eyes to see—God is a relational being, and by creating us in His image, He made us relational beings as well, not loners. From a human point of view, the idea of going into seclusion to sanctify oneself seems very spiritual, but it’s not biblical.

Keep in mind that although the children of Israel were chosen by God as the “chosen people,” the “set apart,” God didn’t remove them from the world. He could have, but that wasn’t the goal. The goal was not to take us out of the world, from the people, or from the society that surrounds us, but to be different from it, to influence it, and to make an impact.

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world” (John 17:15).

Let me turn up the volume on this point! We must remember that as the Church, we are called to be “different.” To sanctify oneself means to be “set apart for God” in conduct, in thought, in motivations, and consequently in action. Conformity has never been our ally.

If you identify as a member of the Church of Christ, as a child of God, but you behave like everyone else, ask yourself: which side are you really on? Remember, a tree is known by its fruit. Do you bear the fruit of the Spirit, or the fruit of the flesh, which is the world? Jesus said we are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, what good is it? (Matthew 5:13).

If the Church truly understood the meaning of the word “sanctification,” many of its vain struggles would be avoided. Sadly, many of today’s Christians have begun to compromise. It’s truly disheartening to see the modern Church losing its saltiness by conforming to the world. They want to identify as “Christians” while acting like the world.

To be more explicit, they have embraced the idea that one can be a Christian while living a life of immorality and debauchery, just like the world. And, of course, they also have the assurance of inheriting heaven. But Jesus said that if the salt loses its flavor, it is good for nothing except to be thrown out (Matthew 5:13b).

“For God did not call us to impurity, but to sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).

Every born-again Christian has the duty to become more holy each day, continuously becoming more like Christ. This means abandoning sins and old habits to become a whole new being. It includes leaving behind normalized sins like premarital sex and embracing abstinence and chastity before marriage.

“No one who is born of God practices sin” (1 John 3:9).

It’s interesting to see how Wikipedia describes sanctification: “Sanctification is the process by which a person is freed from sin and becomes pure and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ.”

This simply means that sanctification exists only in the person of Jesus Christ. There can be no sanctification outside of Him. He emphasized this with the following declaration:

“Being sanctified means being set apart for God. Sanctification is the fruit of the release from the old nature and the abandonment of the old self, which is only possible through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.”

I fully agree with this statement. Dear Christian friends, you cannot call yourselves Christians if you act like the rest of the world. You cannot call yourselves holy if you feel no remorse for living in immorality repeatedly, without any sign of regret in your hearts. One cannot embrace the old nature without fear if they are truly born from above.

Do not deceive yourselves; there is no such thing as “carnal” Christians and “spiritual” Christians. There is no such distinction in the Church—there are only Christians sanctified for God. And only those who sanctify themselves will be saved. If carnal Christians are also saved, then what distinguishes us from the world? Don’t they do the same?

“Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

“For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you knows how to possess his own body in sanctification and honor, not with lustful desires like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

This text is an excerpt from the book DARE TO PRESERVE YOURSELF written by Gaetri Violette IAVIZARA.

We invite you to read the following article, “BEWARE OF FALSE DOCTRINES!”