Holiness part 2

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you. – Leviticus 20.7-8

Sanctification and holiness are basically the same thing. Both mean the same thing and they are virtually interchangeable. Both have the idea of being set apart from the world and set apart to God.

Without going into a whole lot of theology there are three aspects of sanctification. Positional sanctification is what happened at salvation. When I got saved I was forever and always set apart to Christ as His own. I was declared holy with the holiness of Christ. This has nothing to do with me or my works or anything else. It is settled.

Perfect sanctification, or perfect holiness, is what will happen one day. When I get to heaven holiness will have its perfect work and I will have the full holiness of Christ with me.

But in between we have where we live today. Declared holy with the holiness of Christ I don’t always live holy. I am hopefully growing in holiness, but am not there yet. This is what we call practical sanctification. This is the ‘sanctify yourselves, be ye holy.’ By the grace of God we make holy choices that set us apart from the world. It is a growing process, that’s why we often refer to this as ‘progressive sanctification’ – we progress, we don’t get there in a day.

Christians are declared holy with the holiness of Christ. One day our holiness is going to be perfected. Meantime, are we growing in holiness, one day at a time?