LESSON TWELVE – SANCTIFICATION

1 Cor. 6:11 — And these things were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION BELONGING TO THE JUDICIAL ASPECT OF GOD’S SALVATION

First, we must know the difference between positional sanctification and dispositional sanctification. The former belongs to the judicial aspect of God’s salvation, whereas the latter belongs to the organic aspect of God’s salvation.

Before we were saved, we were altogether in the world. After we were saved and regenerated, the Lord completely separated us to make us holy. This is positional sanctification for the believers to be separated out of the world and made holy unto God (1 Cor. 1:2; Rom. 1:7).

DISPOSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION BEING FOR THE BELIEVERS TO PARTAKE OF GOD’S NATURE

However, it is not sufficient to be separated and made holy unto God positionally. After we are sanctified positionally and reconciled to God, as we begin to pursue in life, we will sense something within us that is not our disposition but God’s nature. This nature within us deals thoroughly with our natural disposition, our peculiar disposition, and our temperament so that the divine nature becomes our disposition. This is to sanctify the believers dispositionally that they may partake of God’s holy nature and be one with God in this attribute of His (15:16). This kind of sanctification uses the element of God’s life as the material and is carried out through the sanctifying work in the believers by the Spirit of life (8:2).

Brothers and sisters, do we regulate ourselves with outward regulations? Do we live and walk according to the holy nature of God or according to outward regulations? Today we do not need these outward regulations; we need only God’s holy nature, which is able to make us holy. For example, concerning women’s apparel, the Bible gives us only a word saying that women should adorn themselves in proper clothing (1 Tim. 2:9). But what kind of clothing is considered proper? The divine nature within you will tell you. This is dispositional sanctification; this is the organic work that Christ as the Spirit is carrying out in us. It is not something judicial; it is something altogether organic. This aspect of sanctification implies transformation (Rom. 6:19, 22) for the fulfillment of God’s purpose in choosing the believers (Eph. 1:4). Eventually, both the positional sanctification in the judicial aspect and the dispositional sanctification in the organic aspect of God’s complete salvation will ultimately be manifested in the New Jerusalem for it to become the holy city (Rev.  21:2, 10; 22:19). (CWWL,  1994-1997, vol. 3, “The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation,” pp. 404 -406)

References: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Secret of God’s Organic Salvation—‘the Spirit Him- self with Our Spirit,’” ch. 2

HOLY FATHER, WE ADORE THEE

Worship of the Father— His Holiness -22

• Holy Father, we adore Thee,
  Rev’rent song to Thee we raise;
  Thou art holy, Thou art lofty,
  “Holy is Thy Name,” we praise.

• Loving is Thy heart, dear Father,
  Righteous ever are Thy ways;
  But how holy is Thy nature,
  Yet, to us, Christ it conveys.

• Thou hast ever sanctified us
  With the blood of Christ our Lord;
  Thou hast separated sinners
  Thru the truth which is Thy Word.

• Thou hast, by Thy Holy Spirit,
  Made us holy unto Thee;
  And our spirit, soul, and body
  Wholly sanctified will be.

• Oh! The holy life of Jesus
  Thru Thy grace we now possess;
  Thou wilt make us e’en partakers
  Of Thy very holiness.

• When within that holy city,
  Thy full holiness we’ll share,
  To the uttermost forever,
  “Thou art holy,” we’ll declare.