But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who
became for us…sanctification… —1 Corinthians 1:30
The Life
Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus
Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter
by faith into the realization that He “became for [me]…sanctification….”
Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and
being exhibited in my life.
The most
wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie in imitating Jesus, but in
letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in my human flesh.
Sanctification is “Christ in you…” (Colossians 1:27). It is His wonderful
life that is imparted to me in sanctification— imparted by faith as a sovereign
gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me
as it is in His Word?
Sanctification
means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the
gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is
exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing
from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that
was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an
impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The
perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification
is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I
slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and
holiness— “…kept by the power of God…” (1 Peter 1:5).
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