And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Welcome to week eight of our “Foundations of Faith” series! This week, we are going to take a closer look at the doctrine of sanctification. To be sanctified means to be “set apart”. As God’s children, we are both positionally sanctified at the moment of salvation and progressively sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  

Positional sanctification refers to the truth that at the moment of salvation we are eternally sanctified, set apart, for God’s kingdom. There is nothing we need to do to earn our inheritance as a child of God. Jesus did it all for us. Progressive sanctification refers to the work that the Holy Spirit continues to do in and through us to make us more into the image of Jesus. This loving and tender ministration of the Spirit in our lives is the journey of a Christian until death takes us home, teaching us to die to self and live to Christ more every day. 

Today’s passage of scripture introduces us to the first type of sanctification – positional sanctification. In the Old Testament and prior to Jesus’ death on the cross, God established the old covenant between Himself and those who chose to follow Him as the process by which the people could be atoned for their sins and reconciled to God. The old covenant required the bloodshed of a clean, unblemished animal and was predicated on the obedience and faithfulness of man. If you’ve been on this earth for more than a minute, it’s pretty easy to recognize that 100% obedience and faithfulness is impossible for our innately sinful nature.  

Praise God, He had a bigger plan. The Old Testament covenant required a sacrifice. The New Testament covenant also required a sacrifice – the bloodshed of a perfect, unblemished offering. That offering, was Jesus Christ. With Jesus’s death on the cross, the final debt was paid and the covenant was no longer based on man’s obedience and faithfulness, it was based on God’s faithfulness to man. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14 – check back tomorrow for a great devotional by Colleen on this verse!)

As stated in Chuck Smith’s commentary of Hebrews 9-10, “The old covenant failed, not because it was not good, not because it did not declare the truth, but it failed because man was weak and did not live by it. The new covenant is established forever, because it is the covenant that is predicated upon God’s faithfulness, and surely God is faithful.”

So how do we become sanctified under the new covenant? The answer is simple. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9). “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” (John 1:12). “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) (Emphasis mine in all passages.) Confess, believe and receive. That’s it. Positional sanctification – the moment of salvation when you are eternally set apart from the world – is as simple as that.  

You no longer have to visit the tabernacle and bring an unblemished lamb to be slain to atone for your sins, but you do have to CHOOSE to believe in the slaying of Christ and that His final blood shed has atoned for your lifetime of sin. Have you made the decision yet to accept Jesus’ gift of forgiveness? Have you confessed that Jesus is Lord and allowed Him to bear the weight of your sin?  

If not, I want to encourage you to consider taking that step today. In the prayer section, I will guide you through a prayer of salvation so that you can experience positional sanctification. And if this is the first time you are praying it, we want to provide you with resources and a community to support you on this new journey. You can email office@acfak.org and we would love to follow-up with you!

Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. I ask forgiveness for my sins and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for giving me the gift of eternal life. I want to turn and live a new life with you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.