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In my slot of this Pastor’s Pen blog, I am doing a study on the Fourfold Gospel, which is the core theology of the Alliance: Christ our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Today our focus is Christ our Sanctifier. What is Sanctification? It is the ongoing experience of growing in holiness becoming more like Jesus. The root idea of the word “sanctification is “separation.” Christ has died for us, and in his death our sin was crucified with him, so we must therefore separate ourselves from our old fleshly nature and the sin that defiles us. This includes both the sins of our old self and the sin and negative influences in the world around us, anything that would cause a divide between you and your new life with Christ. Paul said in Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” We cannot identify with Christ in the new life and continue in sin. There must be a separation, a willful movement away from evil and towards righteousness in Christ. Also, to be “separated” also involves not only a separation from sin but also a separation unto God. The idea is to be “set apart to be the property of another.” Just like the Levites were set apart for God’s service in the OT, through the process of sanctification he sets us apart from the world and onto him for his service. Romans 12:1 says, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This act of “presenting” involves a yielding of the mind, body, and spirit and a full submission to the Lord’s will and to His purposes. So, through the power of the spirit, you can offer yourself fully to God for his absolute ownership of your heart and soul, that he may possess you as his property and use you for his glory.
 
Sanctification does not come as a result of our own doing, rather it is the work of Christ alone. Sanctification is, as one author said, “an inflow into man’s being of the life and purity of the Holy one, bringing his own perfection and working out in us his own will.” Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ removes the areas of our old selves that hinder growth and replaces them with qualities of His divine nature. The Holy Spirit indwells in our hearts upon conversion and the receiving of the Gospel, but that does not automatically result in a changed life. Have you experienced this before? After conversion, sin is still present and it has tremendous power, along with the temptation and pleasures of this world. Therefore, in order for the transformative work of Christ in the heart to begin there must be a subsequent yielding of your life to the spirit, an experiential sanctification that occurs after the initial moment of trusting in Christ. In the Alliance, we call this a crisis moment, a moment when you realize you cannot overcome the power of Sin on your own strength and you surrender fully to the Lordship of Christ, understanding that only through him can the bond of sin be broken in your life. 
 
Sanctification is not just a one-time thing, rather, it is a daily experience of denying ourselves and yielding to Him. It is a “progressive experience” because it is the gradual process of God separating us from the world and making us more like Jesus Christ. There is always progress to be made in our Christian walk, and as you deny yourself daily and continually give God complete control and authority over all areas of your lives, the Holy Spirit will transform and change you to become more like Christ. Truly Christ is our Sanctifier. He is the only one who can take our brokenness and make us new. He is the only one who can grow us in holiness. Will you yield yourself to the Spirit today and ask Him to transform you from the inside-out?