Monday 29th
Hebrews 10:1-18
NIV (v10) – ‘And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’
ESV (v10) – ‘And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’
This is one of those occasions where I have to say that I personally prefer the ESV rendering of a verse with its use of the word ‘sanctified’ rather than the NIV using ‘been made holy’ for there seems to be a tendency to move away from technical terms /words such as sanctification or justification which will eventually lead to a lesser understanding of Biblical theology. Yes, we have been made holy, (NIV) but it has taken place and continues to take place through the process of sanctification, ‘we have been sanctified’. (ESV)
The writer here is saying that the source of our sanctification is through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, that is through the means of his shed blood as he offered himself up as our substitute. Sanctification differs from justification for the latter ‘justified’ is a judicial term to declare that one has been made righteous and is a verdict declared immediately we have become born again, God sees us as completely forgiven, our past sin is gone, it is just as if we had never sinned, and God says ‘I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.’ (verse 17, the Hebrew writer quoting from Jeremiah 31:34) Sanctification is the making a person clean or holy, it is the process by which we have become set apart, and it is an ongoing process, as the same chapter continues in verse 14 ‘For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.’ Note – ‘who are BEING sanctified’.
Sanctification is linked to holiness, although we are washed or made clean, we do not reach a point of sinless perfection, we are still living in a fallen world, but we strive to become more Christlike in every way, and the process of ongoing sanctification plays a major role in this. Scripture reminds us that we are also sanctified by the word, for the word as we read it, meditate upon it and live according to it has a sanctifying effect, in Psalm 119 a question is asked as to how a young man shall cleanse his way and the answer is by living according to God’s word. (Psalm 119:9) Jesus in his prayer before he went to Calvary prayed, ‘Sanctify them in the truth, thy word is truth.’ (John 17:17) Scripture further reminds us that the Holy Spirit plays an active roll in our ongoing sanctification, as we see in 2 Th 2:13 ‘But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.’ We need to live with a heart that is sensitive to the leading and promptings of the Holy Spirit as we learnt when going through the book of Galatians, we need to live by the Spirit or walk with the Spirit, this relationship will enable us to mature in the realm of sanctification. As Paul is signing off his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica he says ‘Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.’ (1 Th 5:23–24)
May we always allow God to work in us through the various means he has made available so that we may continue to be sanctified, to become more Christlike until the day arrives when we will be made completely like him and we shall see him as he is.