…through the sanctifying work of the Spirit…
In his introduction to his letter, Peter identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He identifies his audience as a group of Christians who have gone into exile 20 to 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He identifies the people he is writing to as “God’s elect” and then tells us the geographical region they live in. He explains that being “chosen” is because God already knows how things will play out.
There is a lot of information here, but Peter is not done. He still hasn’t finished his first sentence yet! Somehow the process of being chosen has something to do with the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
How?
The rest of the verse talks about being obedient to Jesus and being sprinkled with his blood. There is a connection here. All these things relate to each other.
Being chosen is not about being picked because God likes you better than someone else. Being chosen is God’s way of saying that he has seen how your life plays out. He knows you and me yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He knows our beginning and our end. People don’t get to say, “Hey God, I’m yours,” and then go out and live like there is no God. God sees the whole package. He can tell the difference between good fruit and bad fruit. He knows who are his and who are not.
Those who are chosen have something very important in common: Their past, present, and future are all linked “through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.” God is at work in their lives. God’s work changes lives. Obedience to Jesus and grace and peace are the evidence of this work.
The sanctifying work of the Spirit is not a one-time event. It is ongoing. It becomes part of us. Let’s look at Peter’s words again:
“To God’s elect … who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ…”
God’s elect are not people who are taking out “fire insurance” by checking the church box. God’s elect are people who are being sanctified.
And what does that mean? To be sanctified is to be set apart from what is common. To be transformed from the ungodly to the holy. To be sanctified is to be in a relationship with our Creator and changed from people who think of self first to people who put God first.
Application: If you believe in God, expect to be changed.
Food for Thought: How is sanctification the same for those who believe and how is it different?
In all cases God’s will is that we become like Jesus. He is transforming us to be more and more like His Son (Romans 12: 1 – 2; Philippians 1: 6). This will look different for each person because each person is uniquely created (Psalm 139: 13 – 16). And each person has different gifts and talents (1 Corinthians 12). Someone who is gifted musically may mature in faith in a manner that looks different than someone whose gift is administration; but they will both being maturing to become more like Jesus in character and how they use their gifts and talents.
Rich,
Thank you for the beautiful summary of scripture on how God works with each of us individually. Isn’t it wonderful that our Father is infinitely creative in dealing with his infinitely diverse creation!
Positional sanctification is at salvation. All believers are completely forgiven, sanctified, made holy in the sight of God because of the work of Jesus Christ in forgiving our sins. We are set apart for Gods unique purposes for each of us. (1 Corinthians 6:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17)
The process of progressive sanctification is how we actually live day to day. Again we are we are different for many reasons. Those who daily, moment by moment, choose to live for God, do so because they have found their relationship with God brings greater peace and contentment and joy than anything of this world.
Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Romans 12:1-2, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to dedicate all of yourselves, set apart as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational, logical, intelligent act of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world with its superficial values and customs any longer, but be transformed, progressively changed by the renewing of your mind, focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes, so that you may prove for yourselves what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect in His plan and purpose for you.
Ron,
Thank you for drawing the distinction between the sanctification that happens when we are saved – a decision made for Jesus Christ at a particular moment in time – and what you refer to as “progressive sanctification,” the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and the Word in our lives. You bring to mind the thief on the cross who turned to Jesus in the last moments of his life. (Luke 23: 40-43) Was he any less sanctified than someone who has given their life to serving Jesus? Yet because he died that day in the flesh, his spirit did not have the opportunity of growing in Christ that we have when we commit our lives to Jesus. There is opportunity and risk in this second path. The opportunity is that we grow in our faith as outlined in Romans 12: 1-2. The risk is that we become the people Jude warns about in his letter … ” ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 1: 4b) Both groups claim to be Christian! But God is not fooled. He knows our hearts. This is where the mystery of God exceeds my capacity to understand.
What I take from this personally is an inspiration to stay humble and stay committed to my Lord.
Jeff,
Appreciate your note brother, you understand why I threw away my stupid God box some years ago. He has surpassed my understanding and I love it. I live a simple life knowing the more my life pleases Him, the greater the peace and contentment in my life as our relationship grows. My wife and I just seek to open every aspect of our lives to Him, to live in Him as He lives in us.
I like you, will just trying my best to die to self, grow in Christ here, and I know there will be many tears of joy when we begin our new lives totally free of this old man.
God Bless you Brother, keep up the great work.
Ron
Ron, thank you for making the distinction between positional sanctification and progressive sanctification. That is a very important point. I have an old colleague (we served as pastors at the same church) who is now a seminary professor. His name is Don Payne. He just came out with a new book on that topic. It is called “Already Sanctified.” I appreciate you making that distinction.
👍🏻
I think that it is the same for everyone through if they produce fruit or not. And it is different because of different gifts and talents. So I’m with Rich and Ron but I’d add how fruitful a person is.