Sanctification
"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
Sanctify is a beautiful word. It means to make holy that which was unholy. It’s what God does best when He’s dealing with us. It’s a great gift to receive and a wonderful blessing to experience.
We’re all unholy because we all sin each day. Normally that would mean we are all separated from God, but through His Son Jesus, we can be re-instated to God’s holiness. This happens when we receive the sacraments. On Sunday morning, our church will celebrate Communion. We’ll all gather together as sinners and hypocrites, failures and lost sheep. And then, during a special part in the service, the great prayer of supplication and sanctification will be made, where we will call upon the Holy Spirit to descend upon us, the bread and the wine, to make everything holy.
It won’t make us perfect or superior. It won’t give us super-strength to overcome the world. But, for a moment in time, we will all be made holy in God’s eyes through this blessing. As we receive and take the bread and wine, we will be conjoined to Christ’s holiness. We will be perfectly sanctified through Him.
This week, we may have done things we regret, hurt other people, or even disappointed God. This Sunday, we can have all those sins forgiven and be restored to God’s love through sanctification. And it’s too good a blessing to keep to ourselves, so let’s invite others to come to Christ’s table as well, for we all need to be sanctified. We all need to be made holy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Holy One who heals and restores the whole world. This Sunday, You will enable us to become holy. Give us opportunities to invite and bring others, so that they may also receive these beautiful blessings. In Your Holy and Sanctified Name, we pray. Amen.
John Stuart