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Sanctification: And Everyone Who Has This Hope In Him
Sanctification: And Everyone Who Has This Hope in Him
Where do we find applications of sanctification in the Bible? Apostle John said to us in 1 John 3:3, “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” This is a truth-claim. John makes this statement as being a fact, one that we should be able to confirm for ourselves by observing the way believers in Christ conduct themselves. The manner of speech that John is using is both authoritative and informative.
We should be able to embrace his statement and use it as an evaluation tool regarding our own walk of faith in the Lord. We should ask the question, “does this describe me?” And, if we are willing to do this, and be honest in our response, we can see either a joyful compliance on our part or a sad lacking that needs to be addressed. There is no value in reading the Bible if we are not willing to see with our eyes and hear with our ears the messages it delivers to us. Usually, the language being used is clear and simple as certainly this verse qualifies to be both. Let us examine John’s statement methodically:
What Does “Everyone Who Has This Hope” Mean?
“And everyone”, this tells us he is speaking of a group of people who all meet the criteria he then describes, “who has this hope in Him.” This should be describing all persons who identify themselves to be a Christian, that is, a follower of Christ and the implication would be that they would consider themselves to be saved through Him, that is the hope that John is talking about.
He then says, “purifies himself”, and we see that John clearly says this is something the believer in Christ is doing, not something that has been done for him as many professing Christians will claim. But John does not end this statement without giving us a definition for what he means when he uses the word “purifies” by telling us that the purity of Christ is our benchmark, our standard of purity we are to pursue and attain. We make a dreadful mistake if we compromise John’s statement in any way. His words should pierce into our mind and spirit the importance of his message; we must purify ourselves because everyone who has based their hope in Christ will do this.
The Danger of Ignoring Sanctification
Where does this leave us if we are unwilling to purify ourselves, to embrace John’s words and do what he said we all must do? How we answer this question says everything. Purity is to be without blame, without condemnation. Consider what Paul has given us in Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
We should all know that walking in the flesh describes living in sin, and walking in the Spirit is walking in obedience and not sinning; when we are obedient, we are without condemnation and have purified ourselves. False doctrines are always leading people away from the purification that “should” happen when we accept Jesus and His atonement for our sins. We are to follow His example; He is our blueprint for life, and we are to become like Him, in purity of spirit and body. Paul also told us in Romans 6:1-23, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
We cannot have it both ways, free from sin but still living in sin, and any attempt to do this will produce a lukewarm Christian. Jesus compares sinning and not sinning with being cold or hot in Revelation 3:16. He says when you are neither cold or hot you are lukewarm, and this means if you are partially sinning and partially obedient, He is disgusted with you and will expel you from Himself. So, are we pursuing a sanctified life for ourselves or not? Does our meaning for hope have its foundation in Christ?
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