Saved, Sanctified, and Secure…in Christ Alone
In his explanation of who Jesus is, the writer of Hebrews continues “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’ And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2: 11-15)
God is spirit. He did not begin as a man who evolved to godhood. John 4: 24 teaches us “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” As it states above, because mankind ‘partook’ of flesh and blood (became fallen, subjected to death) God had to ‘veil’ Himself in flesh, enter into His fallen creation, and pay the full and complete price for their redemption.
One part of the Hebrews verses quoted above are from Psalm 22: 2 where David prophesied of a suffering Savior who would be crucified. David wrote this hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Jesus did ‘declare God’s name to His brethren’ when He was on earth. The other two statements within the Hebrews verses above are from Isaiah 8: 17-18. Isaiah prophesied about the Lord over seven hundred years before He was born.
Jesus ‘sanctifies’ or sets apart those who trust in Him. From the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary – “Sanctification needs to be distinguished from justification. In justification God attributes to the believer, at the moment he receives Christ, the very righteousness of Christ and sees him from that point on as having died, been buried, and raised again in newness of life in Christ. It is a once-for-all change in forensic, or legal status, before God. Sanctification, in contrast, is a progressive process which proceeds in the life of the regenerated sinner on a moment-by-moment basis. In sanctification there occurs a substantial healing of the separations which have occurred between God and man, man and his fellowman, man and himself, and man and nature.”
We are not spiritually born before we are physically born. Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus – “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3: 3) Jesus goes on to explain – “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3: 5-6)
After we are born of God’s Spirit, He begins a work of sanctification in us. It takes the power of His indwelling Spirit to transform us.
As we literally partake of and study the word of God, it clearly reveals who God is, and who we are. It reveals like a perfect mirror our weaknesses, failings, and sins; but it also miraculously reveals God and His love, grace (unmerited favor for us), and unlimited ability to redeem us to Himself.
After we become partakers of His Spirit, He has specific works for each of us to do – “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2: 10)
We are secure in Christ after we are born of His Spirit. We learn from Ephesians – “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1: 11-14)