WHOLISTIC SANCTIFICATION!

Today, we shall be looking at “WHOLISTIC SANCTIFICATION!” This simply means “SANCTIFICATION FOR THE TOTAL MAN!” Every Christian is meant to experience wholistic sanctification.

Every man is made of three parts: (1) the spirit man, (2) the soul, and (3) the physical body.

It is the will of God that sanctification should affect every part of your being – your spirit, your soul, and your physical body.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23).

1. The sanctification of the spirit:

No Born-Again believer has any reason not to be holy, because the Lord has made adequate provision for the sanctification of our spirit man. Holiness was imparted into your spirit-man by the Holy Spirit the very moment you got Born-Again.  

God the Father gave His only begotten Son for the salvation of the world.

In John 3:16 Jesus said, “For God (the Father) so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Then Christ gave Himself for the sanctification of the world.

Ephesians 5:25, 27 says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; 26 That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word…. 27 That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

So, if you despise or reject this provision, you are rejecting the perfect provision of the Lord Jesus Christ for the sanctification of the saints.

A glorious church is a holy church. If there is going to be a glorious church, there is great need for the total sanctification of each Christian in that local Assembly. But look at how corrupt the church is today.

Can anyone say that the church today is a glorious church? Certainly no, because it is holiness that makes the individual believers in a particular Local Assembly holy. Then, that church is said to be glorious.

Holiness is the beauty of believers, and it is believers that make up the church of Jesus Christ. So, when the individual believers are holy, the church is said to be holy.

Why is the church not holy today? This is because there is there is so much corruption, so much merchandise, so much adultery and fornication, so much fake visions and prophecies, so much envy, so much rivalry, so much rebellion and disobedience, and so much division in the “so called” church. So, what the church needs today in other to be glorious is the experience of total sanctification in every believer in the church.

The Bible says that the reason why Jesus gave Himself is for the sanctification of the church, so that He might present to Himself a glorious church.

When the church has gone through the process of total sanctification, it will become blameless (without sin).  In this state, the church is said to be glorious, and that is what Jesus wants to present to Himself.

Ephesians 5:27 says, “That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Who is responsible for the sanctification of our spirit-man? It is God Himself that sanctifies our spirit-man. In Psalm 51 you’ll see that the Lord wants to sanctify, purify, and make our spirits holy.

David said, “Behold, thou desirest (appreciates, demands, wants) truth in the inward parts (not just truth on our lips, not just truth on paper, but truth in our inward parts): and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:6-8).

Further David said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10).

This is the spirit that goes back to God when we depart from this world.

“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7).

A day will come when you will die and your physical body shall return to dust, and your spirit together with your soul will return to God who gave it. So, God is determined to sanctify your spirit-man, so that you can remain holy and share in His glory as you meet Him on that final day. If your spirit is not holy, you cannot see the Lord (Matt. 5:8).

After you are saved you should take a further step, get sanctified. You have been pardoned, get purified. Your initial experience of salvation needs upgrading.

At salvation God puts a new spirit within you. God said, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you…” (Ezek. 11:19a).

And you ask, “What happened to your old spirit?” Your unregenerate spirit (Gen. 2:7), is not transformed, it is not recreated, it is replaced with a brand-new spirit man (2 Cor. 5:17; Jn 3:6).

At salvation God takes away the stony heart from within you and gives you a heart of flesh. God said, “…and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19b).

You can tell whether your heart has become the heart of flesh or not. How? Does your heart respond to the Word of God with joy or does it rebel against God’s Word especially when it touches those things you don’t want to give up? If your heart rebels against God’s Word in any way and by any measure, then your heart is stony.

With time you can tell whether it is still stony, and whether it is still rebellious against the will of God.

In effect, the Lord is saying, “When I sanctify and purify you, I will give you a heart of flesh. Why? So that you can freely obey Him without struggle.

“That they may walk in My statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezek. 11:20).

Notice that the Lord says this again in Ezekiel 36, which implies that the Lord really wants to do this in your life. He is saying, “Give Me a chance so that I can sanctify and purify you. Come to the Cross again so that I can sanctify and purify your spirit and make you as holy as you ought to be.”

God said, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you (This is for salvation; this is external cleansing not internal; everything you put on you that is not according to His will). 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you (not outside of you) and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (This is sanctification). 27 And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them (This is Holy Ghost baptism)” (Ezek. 36:25-28).

God is saying here that He will save, sanctify, and fill you with the Holy Ghost so that you can find it easy to do the will of God. This is the will of God for the saints: the sanctification of the spirit. This is also for us today.

How is a Born-Again believer’s spirit sanctified? First of all, you should realize that God is the source of our sanctification. The believer cannot sanctify himself completely. A believer sanctifies himself only in the sense that he can set himself apart, and he can consecrate himself by completely surrendering himself to the Lord.

As a believer, look at your part in sanctification: You are to set yourself apart from all the influences of the world. But after you’ve done that, there is still more to be done in your heart (spirit), in your soul and in your body.

And all that God wants is that you surrender your life, lay it down before Him, and set yourself completely apart, then God Himself will now sanctify every area of your being.

Here is the truth: After your consecration, by the prayer of faith, God sanctifies and purifies you completely. This sanctification of your spirit is a divine operation of God’s grace wrought within you whereby your heart (spirit) becomes holy.

A sanctified spirit bears God’s own image, becomes a partaker of God’s own holiness, and loves God completely. This sanctification does not leave any part of your being unaffected. This is why it is whole (complete).

Preserving your whole spirit, soul and body to remain blameless is the work of sanctification.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ… (1 Thess. 5:23).

2. The sanctification of the soul? First Thessalonians 5:23 implies that the sanctification experience will also touch your soul.

How do you know when a soul is sanctified?

“We saw the anguish of the soul when it besought us and we would not hear” (Gen. 42:21). This is telling us that it is the soul that feels that anguish, that feels that sorrow, that feels that pain.

It is the soul that feels that discouragement.

In Numbers 21:4 the Bible says, “And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.”

The Bible says that that soul that has that emotion, that passion, that affection can be sanctified, it can be purified.

“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Sam. 30:6).

The Psalmist said, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted in me? Hope thou in God” (Ps. 43:5). That was a feeling he had in his soul.

It is the soul that is comforted. In Psalm 77:2 the Psalmist said, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.”

The soul can long for and even faint for something. “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God” (Ps 84:2).

And this soul can be so sanctified that when trouble comes it will not be shaken. When the soul is sanctified, the love of God (AGAPE) will be there.

No matter what you are going through, you will still be able to express affection (AGAPE) unto the Lord, because your spirit is sanctified, and your soul too is sanctified.

In Deuteronomy 30:6 God said, “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.”

When the Lord sanctifies us, it makes us to love Him. This also implies that we can also love the Lord supremely in that soul.

When we were sanctified, our soul and spirit were involved in it too.

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” (Ps. 24:3-4).

When you are saved you don’t delight in doing evil anymore. But there is still need to go deeper by going through the process of sanctification.

The ‘clean hands’ is talking about ‘salvation.’ ‘A pure heart’ refers to ‘sanctification.’

When your soul is sanctified, you will have no interest in things that are dirty, things that are contrary to God’s Word.

Isaiah 26:8-9 says, “Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

In Mark 12:30, 33 Jesus said, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment…33 And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

How then can one sanctify his soul? To sanctify your soul, you must renew your mind with the Word of God which will knock off all the strong holds in your subconscious mind. 

Once your subconscious mind is sanctified, all the other parts of your soul will be sanctified too if you have really surrendered yourself to God. (Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-3; Prov. 4:20-22).

3. The sanctification of the body. God desires that our body be preserved blameless till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from your spirit and soul, your body must also be sanctified. Your hands, your legs, your mouth, your tongues, your ears, your eyes, and the other members of your body should be holy.

Your hands will touch holy things only. Your mouth and tongue should say holy things only. Your eyes should see holy things only. Your legs should walk to holy places only. Your ears should hear holy things only.

The Scripture says, “Abstain (resist, restrain, hold yourself back) from all appearance (s) of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22-24).

How do you know when your body is sanctified? When your body is fully sanctified, all the members of your body are purified, then you’ll be able to abstain from fornication, and even the appearances of fornication.

When your body is sanctified, you will no longer yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness. When you have yielded all your members as instruments of righteousness, your body is said to be sanctified.

“That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel (physical body) in sanctification and honour” (1 Thess. 4:4).

2 Timothy 2:21-22 says, “If a man therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet (suitable) for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

When the sanctification of your body has taken place, you will be able to control your whole body.

In Romans 12:1-2 the Bible says, “I beseech you (plead with you passionately) therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

No matter your age, you ought to present every part of your body as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God.

Romans 6:6-7, 11 says, “Knowing this, that our old man (the old Adamic nature, the nature of sin) is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin…11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Do not allow sin to reign in any part of your physical body.

“Let not sin therefore, reign in your mortal body (your hand, your eyes etc.), that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members (your eyes, legs, hands, ears, mouth etc.) as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:12-15).

Romans 6:17 says, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered (unto) you.”

Romans 6:19-20 says, “I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.”

Romans 6:22 says, “But now (that you are Born-Again, now that you have understanding) being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

The Bible also emphasized the responsibility you have in keeping your body in sanctification and honour. If your physical body is to be preserved in sanctification and honour, you must play your role.

You should realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and it is the house in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Your spirit man is also dwelling there. Your body is the house in which Christ dwells. And as such, it ought to be completely purified and holy.

1 John 3:3 says, “And every man that hath this hope (hope of seeing Christ face to face) in Him purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure.”

It is those that are ignorant of this truth (divine revelation) that dishonour their body.

We should not neglect our body. You shouldn’t say, “It is just my body. Let it do what it desires. Afterall my spirit is saved, and my soul is renewed.” No! your physical body must also taste of that cleansing, of that purification, of that sanctification.

The Bible says, “The body is for the LORD, and the LORD is for the body.”

Remember that the body is not one member but many (1 Cor. 12:14-19).

What then do you think of the sanctification of the body? It means that:

A sanctified body glorifies God in the use of all its members for the Lord.

A sanctified body is one whose hands are clean, free from the stain of dishonesty and ill-gotten gain.

A sanctified body is one whose feet are clean and from every false way.

A sanctified body is known by the condition of the tongue. The tongue is cleansed from every form of falsehood, idle words, perverse words.

A sanctified body has been cleansed from the sins of the eyes. You are no longer comfortable beholding things that can seduce you.

A sanctified body has the ears properly cleansed. Such an ear does not entertain words that contradict God’s word.

A sanctified believer has learnt to regard every member of his body as a minister – an instrument for God’s work.

This is what the Lord is emphasizing to us today and I pray that we will endeavour to put this into full practice, in Jesus' name.

Finally, let’s go back to 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 which says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.”

Has He called you into His Kingdom? Certainly yes! Then know that He is faithful, and He will also do it in your life.

Know this: When your soul is properly sanctified, it will be easier for you to yield your members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness.

If you are Born Again, I am pleading with you to take the issue of wholistic sanctification very seriously because without it you can never remain holy, and without holiness you cannot enter Heaven.  

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit.

• ·         Your friend, I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor, HOG)