Friday 12 October 2018

Sanctification Part 1

Friday 12th October,2018

Sanctification: What comes to mind?
Holiness, purity, being set apart for a purpose, being dedicated / consecrated to God, no compromise

1 Thessolonians 4:1-8

Key Points:

  • God has called us out of uncleanness and into holiness.(v7)
  • That means sexual sin like fornication (sex outside of marriage) is not allowed (v3)
  • Even a wrong sexual desire (lust) is not allowed (v5)
  • We must live in a way that pleases God (v1)
Sanctification refers to being holy. When a non believer chooses to repent and accept salvation, they are sanctified because they were called out of darkness into the light by God. Sanctification needs to be happening on a daily basis. Every day is a new start and God's will is for us to be sanctified. 

When people are living in sin such as fornication, they cannot hold leadership roles in the church. They cannot lay hands on people during prayer times (people don't want those involved in sexual sin imparting something on them during prayer). However, they need not be asked to leave the church because church is for everyone. (All are sinners) The reason to keep them from ministry roles is because there are boundaries and the church must uphold holiness as the standard. 

Leviticus 20:7-8 God spoke to Moses about holiness.
'Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.'

1 Peter 1:13-16
In vs 15-16  it says 'But as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy,'

It's important that the standard of holiness is applied to all conversations (including the way we talk to ourselves), no matter whether we are at home, church or work. For some, we are the only Bible they will ever read. Others may not accept our standards, but we can at least let them know. We can keep these (God's) standards ourselves and let others know that certain things do not go well with us. God calls for holy living because He is a holy God.

In Hebrews 12:14, we are told that without holiness we cannot see the Lord. There's no sitting on the fence. Holiness is holiness. Anything else is uncleanliness. God's desire is for us to be holy in our homes, work places and church.