Sanctified by Faith
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him."--Heb. 11:6.
"That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me."--Acts 26:18.
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand."--Rom. 5:1, 2.
Faith in the blood of Christ. "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the
gate."--Heb. 13:12. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin."--1 John 1:7.
Dead to sin by faith. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin ... Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord."--Rom. 6:6, 7, 11.
Free from sin by faith. "Being then made free from sin, ye became the
servants of righteousness ... For as ye have yielded your members
servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield
your members servants to righteousness unto holiness ... But now being
made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto
holiness, and the end everlasting life."--Rom. 6:18-22. "Jesus answered
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but
the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed."--John 8:34-36.
"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is
no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath
not seen him, neither known him.... He that committeth sin is of the
devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in
him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children
of God are manifest, and the children of the devil."--1 John 3:5-10.
A pure heart by faith. "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them
witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no
difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."--Acts
15:8, 9.
We receive the Holy Spirit by faith. "That the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ: that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith."--Gal. 3:14. "That I should be the
minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God,
that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being
sanctified by the Holy Ghost."--Rom. 15:16. "If ye then, being evil
[earthly], know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?"--Luke 11:13.
Sanctification is a redemption blessing offered to us upon specified
conditions. The natural and general blessings of God toward men, such as
the sunshine, rain, and all other temporal or earthly blessings, may be
received alike by both saint and sinner, who come into conformity with
the natural laws by which these natural blessings are governed. Every
redemption or spiritual blessing is also governed by divinely fixed
laws, which if complied with will invariably bring to us all that is
contained in the promise. God is able to bestow upon us these blessings
unconditionally if this should be his sovereign will in some individual
instances; but according to his redemption plan there is no assurance
given to anyone for any of these specified blessings without a strict
conformity to divine law. The word of God plainly sets forth the laws
upon which these different redemption blessings are based. Repentance
and faith are the laws of justification. It is a divinely established
fact that God cannot lie. He has forever settled his word in heaven and
also upon earth; therefore, it is impossible that any sinner should
comply with the laws of repentance and faith and not be justified.
Consecration and faith are the laws of sanctification, which if complied
with, must necessarily bring us into this glorious soul-rest.
We have considered the law of consecration as a condition of
sanctification in a previous chapter; and from the quoted texts in this
chapter we will now briefly consider the law of faith. These laws are
definitely fixed, and must as definitely be complied with. A definite
consecration and a definite faith will produce a definite experience.
One great lack in the church today is a lack of definiteness. The
doctrine of sanctification must be more definitely taught by God's
anointed ministry, who have themselves definitely met the conditions,
both to obtain and retain this definite experience. When it is
definitely taught it will consequently be definitely sought and
obtained.
In the apostle's commission we distinctly see that we are sanctified by
faith. Acts 26:18. We also see that Jesus suffered on the cross that he
might sanctify us with his own blood. This points us to the fact that we
must have faith in his blood. This grace is purchased for us, and now it
is for us to receive it. We also see that he has made provision in this
same purchase that we may be kept sanctified. This is upon the simple
condition of walking in the light as he is in the light. The result of
which is: his blood cleanseth us from all sin. These precious truths
will do us no good if we do not believe them. No heart can ever receive
the benefits of this inestimable purchase without faith. Faith is the
hand that reaches out and takes it. Jesus can do no more than he has
done to bring it to us. He holds it out to us, all perfect and complete,
and as we meet the conditions of consecration and faith it becomes ours.
The apostle teaches us in Rom. 6:11 to reckon ourselves "dead indeed
unto sin." This can be done only by faith. The reckoning of faith is a
very simple process; it is just believing God. Abraham believed God,
simply reckoned that what God said was true, and then God counted
something to Abraham. He counted it to him for righteousness.
This is the divine law of faith. When we believe it is so because God
says it, then God makes it so because we believe it. This law applies to
all the graces of the gospel alike. It is a sad fact that some
professing Christians do not believe we can be sanctified in this life.
Now, it is utterly impossible for such people to get it. They do not
believe. The blood of Christ cannot sanctify them in this condition. It
is not for them at all. It is only for them that believe, and of course
no one can believe for it in the scriptural sense without having met the
condition of scriptural consecration. Then the scriptural reckoning will
bring the scriptural and satisfactory result.
Let us illustrate with a simple mathematical reckoning. In a case of
addition we take two numbers and reckon them together before we get the
sum. It can never be obtained any other way. The two numbers are
entirely distinct and separate from each other until they are reckoned
together. It is the reckoning that produces the sum. This is exactly
true in the process of faith. The justified believer comes to God for
his inheritance of sanctification. He makes the absolute and definite
consecration. He sees that the blood of Jesus has been shed that he may
be sanctified. This is Jesus' part. The consecration is the believer's
part. There are the two separate parts which, if they are not reckoned
together, will never produce the result. We might say that we have now
made the consecration, and can do no more. This would be a mistake, we
can do more: we have not yet done the reckoning. We can take the two
parts, the blood of Jesus and our consecration, and by faith add them
together, and according to the immutable law of God, which is the law of
faith, the sum of the reckoning is, our sanctification. This is the
scriptural method of obtaining this experience; and as we from
henceforth reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin upon the condition of
an absolute, unbroken consecration, we may rest assured that the blood
of Jesus keeps us cleansed from all sin. The fact that some one may say
he does not believe we can be kept free from sin, by no means affects
this divine law. It is as true as heaven, despite all the unbelief of
men. Oh, the power of the sin-cleansing blood! Can we not say with deep,
heartfelt reality,
"Hallelujah for the cleansing;
It has reached my inmost soul"?
Truly it is the sweet soul-rest, the heavenly Canaan of the soul, which
is the inheritance of the people of God.
The apostle Peter, in his testimony of the inwrought grace of God at
Pentecost, speaks of this law of faith, which effected in him and his
brethren at Jerusalem, as well as the household of Cornelius upon the
event of their induction into this glorious grace, the experience of
heart purity, "and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith." This is one phase of sanctification, and
according to the testimony of Peter, was a part of the pentecostal
experience. The other phase of it is, in the previous verse of this
testimony, "giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us." This is
explained by the apostle Paul. "That we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith."--Gal. 3:14. Now if we turn to Rom. 15:16, again
we see that we are "sanctified by the Holy Ghost." Certainly it could
not be made more plain than these scriptures set it forth. We receive
the pure heart and the Holy Spirit by faith, which experience is
scripturally termed sanctification; therefore, we can understand the
language of Jesus in that part of the commission of the apostle already
quoted: "and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that
is in me."
Dear brother and sister, let us magnify God and the name of Jesus for
our inheritance, and if there should be one reader who has not yet
entered into this promised land, let us go over at once and possess it.
We see a beautiful example of faith in the experience of the children of
Abraham crossing the Jordan to enter into their literal inheritance. The
priests that bore the ark, which went before the people, were to be the
first to go down into the stream, which, God had said, should be
divided, and the people should go over into their inheritance. As they
came down to the river, their feet were dipped into the stream before
the waters parted. God had promised it. They believed it and obeyed
accordingly, and God fulfilled his promise; the waters were parted, and
they all passed over. How different this was from those who, forty
years previous to this event had been brought by the hand of God to
Kadesh Barnea, who had all the promises of God in their favor, that he
would cause them to go in and possess the land. But because of unbelief
they were sent back into the wilderness, to wander and die. This literal
Canaan was their promised land, their land of rest, their very own; God
had promised Abraham that it should be possessed by his seed. But these
forfeited it because of unbelief. This was the type of this spiritual
inheritance of sanctification, our land of rest, our very own, which we,
the spiritual seed of Abraham through faith in Christ, are to go into
and possess.
The apostle gives us some wholesome admonition upon the importance of
seeking to enter in. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you
an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."--Heb. 3:4.
An evil heart of unbelief will most certainly cause us to lose our
inheritance. We are made partakers of it only by faith. As certainly as
the unbelief of literal children of Abraham caused them to be rejected
and disinherited, so will unbelief cause the same sad result in losing
the spiritual inheritance. They provoked God with their unbelief, and he
who had sworn to Abraham that his seed should possess Canaan, now sware
that these unbelieving ones should not enter in. They could not enter in
because of unbelief. God's word was not broken, however; for he brought
into this land those of the children who, their unbelieving fathers
said, would become a prey to the inhabitants of the land. And, what
still keeps God's word from being broken is, that he has opened to us
this glorious spiritual land, and tells us to go over and possess it.
Dear brother, are you at Kadesh Barnea today, and afraid of the giants?
God has given the land to us. The message of reproof comes to you with
this solemn and important question, "How long are ye slack to go to
possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?"
This gospel of sanctification is preached to us today as the gospel of
literal Canaan was preached to those descendants of Abraham in that day.
It did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. The apostle says, "We which have believed do enter into rest," but
more must enter in. God's promise to Abraham must yet be more completely
fulfilled. The question is simply left with us, Will we enter in or will
we not? If we will not, then the inheritance will be given to others,
and we will lose the blessed soul-rest that is provided in this
redemption for the people of God. In his exhortation to us, the apostle
says "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief."
"Oh, this blessed holy rest,
On my Jesus' loving breast.
Oh, the sweetness and completeness
Of perfected holiness."