“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th 5:23).”

What does it mean to be sanctified?  In the passage above the word sanctify, ἁγιάζω (hagiazō), means to make holy or to ceremonially purify or consecrate something or even to mentally venerate something as holy (Strong 1890, G37).  It strikes me that if I were to define the exercise of religion, I would define it as those things I do to make or keep myself holy and consecrated before God or even as the specific acts that are a direct result of or attempt to venerate God as holy.  To practice religion is to do those things that sanctify you and keep you sanctified.  It is that which I do to venerate God as holy.  It seems to me that my sanctification is tied directly to the exercise of my religion.

Paul also uses three terms, spirit, soul, and body, to emphasize those three aspects of personhood necessary to underscore the completeness of sanctification (Walvoord and Zuck 2004, 710).  Paul is asking that God sanctify his readers in all three areas or that God sanctify them completely.  I fully understand that apart from God I can not be sanctified.  That the work of sanctification is God’s work.  At the time that Paul wrote these words Jesus had already died on the cross for our sanctification and now Paul is asking God to complete that process.  Paul here establishes that God is both the agent of our rebirth and the motivator of our continued sanctification.  But am I responsible in any way with respect to my sanctification?  Do I have any agency in my own sanctification?  If so, how am I to exercise that responsibility and what would that responsibility look like?

Writing to the Corinthians Paul argues that “since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2Co 7:1).”  Holiness, ἁγιωσύνη (hagiōsunē), hear means the property of sacredness (Strong 1890, G42).  It is a property of, ἅγιος (hagiŏs), which means sacred (Strong 1890, G40).  The idea, though, is completely sacred it carries with it a physical purity, a moral blamelessness, and connotations of religious ceremonial sacredness (Strong 1890, G40).  Surprisingly, ἁγιάζω (hagiazō) or sanctify as used in 1Th 5:23, and ἁγιωσύνη (hagiōsunē) or holiness as used in 2Co 7:1 come from that same root idea ἅγιος (hagiŏs) or sacred.  You are sacred because God created you.  Even more so, you are sacred because God has sanctified you through the sacrifice of His own body; His own son.  Your holiness then is a measure of your willingness not to defile that original or renewed sacredness.

The writer of Hebrews uses the same word for holiness when he exhorts his readers to “strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14).”  The implication is that while God is the agent of the sanctification spoken of to the Thessalonians the Christian is the agent responsible for his holiness spoken of to the Corinthians and Hebrews.  “…the meaning ‘moral fitness’ emerges. Hebrews 12:14 urges us to strive for holiness, or sanctity.  This is the most common understanding of sanctification, the growth in holiness that should follow conversion (Eph 1:4; Phil. 3:12) (Elwell 2001, 1052).”  Our willingness and ability to keep from defiling our own sacredness should cause us to grow into that sacredness.  This is personal sanctification built on the foundation of the sanctification provided through Christ.

Just like sanctification holiness is also connected to the bodily aspect of personhood.  “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom 12:1).”  The sanctification God provides is complete and the holiness that we are to strive for should be equally comprehensive and consequently you cannot neglect the bodily aspect of your holiness.  For the Christian then anything that can affect his/her body has the potential to affect his/her holiness.  “The body of the Christian must be kept from immorality because every Christian is a sacred (“sanctified”) person, belonging to Christ (Elwell 2001, 1052).”

This is what it means to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.  It’s not just that the Holy Spirit has changed residence but that the zeal that God had for the holiness of His physical temple in Jerusalem (Psa 69:9) is directly translated into the zeal that God has for the holiness of His physical temple in the Christian.  Thus, the zeal found in Psalter, “For zeal for your house has consumed me… (Psa 69:9)” for the sacredness of God’s temple is at least equal to His zeal for the sacredness of the Christian.  Adam Clarke commenting on Psalm 69:9 describes God’s zeal for the temple as the desire to promote His glory; a zeal that overcomes all of His other desires (Clarke 1810-1826, 438).  That zeal for the Temple was manifested in Jesus’ fury at the money changers (Joh 2:17) His zeal for the Christian was manifested on the cross (Heb 12:2).  To defile that temple by threatening its holiness is to cross the zeal of Christ and the zeal of God.

“…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1Co6:19-20).”

The question remains however, does vaccination have a positive or negative impact on your holiness?  Stay tuned…

Thank you for reading. There is so much detail in every word the Bible that I hope these words have encouraged you to dig more into its pages. Don’t forget to sign up for my e-mail below and get a notice every time I post a blog. Also, if you could check out those advertisements on my site I would appreciate it. Especially if you find that I might be advertising something in appropriate for an ambassador of Christ. Send me an email with the web link to the advertisement and I’ll add it to my block list. You could be helping me to represent Him well.

Image by Zephirx from Pixabay

Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible. Public Domain, 1810-1826.

Elwell, Walter A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Pontifical Academy for Life. Moral Reflections on Vaxccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Fetuses. Pontifical Academy for Life. n.d. https://www.immunize.org/talking-about-vaccines/vaticandocument.htm (accessed 10 24, 2021).

Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Abingdon Press, 1890.

Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Dallas: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004.

“The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon (Joh 8:48)?”

I’ve been thinking about this verse all day.  Why did the Jews think that Jesus was demon possessed?  Did they think that the Samaritans were demon possessed too?  What I found was that according to Edwin Blum the Samaritans were considered heretics by the Jews and to call Jesus a Samaritan was to call Jesus a heretic, someone who was teaching false doctrines (Walvoord and Zuck 2004, 306).  To call Jesus a Samaritan was to tell Jesus, and the people around him, “hey, you don’t quite understand correctly.  But to say that He had a demon was to say that Jesus was out of His mind (Walvoord and Zuck 2004, 306) or deranged (Clarke 1810-1826, 581)!  Both of these ideas, that the Jews were calling Jesus a heretic and crazy, are supported in many commentaries.

That seemed like a quick answer to an easy question, but it begs the question why.  What was Jesus saying to the Jews that would cause them to think Him crazy and heretical?  To understand that question we have to look at the entirety of what Jesus was saying beginning with His arrival at the feast of booths.  Jesus makes some incredible statements beginning with, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me (Joh 7:16).”  Now, you and I looking back at this with hindsight would recognize that the Father sent Jesus.  But put yourself in the place of the Jews.  This is new to them.  They would be asking the question, who sent him?  Additionally, they were looking for a messiah and they understood that no one would know where the messiah came from.  And yet, they knew where Jesus was from.

Jesus continues, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.  I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me (Joh 7:28-29).”  Jesus is giving them here exactly what they were expecting (Joh 7:27).  The Jewish expectation at the time was that the messiah, though he would be born and raised among them would not reveal himself as the messiah until he stepped onto the stage in order to affect their redemption (Carson 1991, 281).  Not only did they not recognize his birth in Bethlehem, they considered him from Nazareth, but they also did not suspect that he came from the Father.

Jesus tells them this plainly, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going… the Father who sent me bears witness about me (Joh 8:14-18).”  In response the Jews ask Jesus, “where is your father (Joh 8:19)?”  What is interesting is that the appropriate question would have been who is your father?  This would have told them who Jesus was.  He was the son of God!  However, the Jews are operating from the assumption that Joseph is His father because they think they already know where Jesus came from.  We can now see the truth of Jesus statement about the Jews, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also (Joh 8:19).” But that’s not the half of it.

Jesus then tells them that He is going away and that they will die in their sins because they cannot go where He is going (John 8:21-23).  He culminates by declaring to the Jews that, “unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins (Joh 8:24).”  In a very indirect route Jesus has called the Jews sinners who are going to die unless they believe in Him.  To which, they respond, “Who are you (Joh 8:25)?”

“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.  And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him (Joh 8:28-29).”

His answer is that He is the Son of Man who will be lifted up by the Jews.  Now, I looked everywhere to determine how the Jews at this time in this context would have understood what Jesus was telling them.  Would they have known that to be lifted up was a prediction of Jesus’ death on a cross?  Would they have recognized it even as a reference to death much less a type of death?  I don’t know.  But if they didn’t then I think what Jesus was saying could have come across to them as confusing gibberish.  I’m starting to understand why they might have started to think He was out of His mind.  Add onto this Jesus’ teaching that the Israelites understanding of their sonship in Abraham did not guarantee them the redemption promised to Israel in the Old Testament and heretic seems to be appropriate as well.  In fact, Jesus was accusing the Jews of being sons of Satan (Joh 8:41). The exact opposite of being sons of Abraham.  To the Jew here Jesus is speaking gibberish and teaching heresy.

But the craziest part of it all is when Jesus tells them who He really is.  “I came from God and I am here (Joh 8:42).”  Their expected Messiah was upon them!  That’s just as crazy today. To be a Christian is to believe that this statement made by Jesus thousands of years ago is true in the absolute ultimate sense.  “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life (1Jn 5:20).”

As crazy and heretical as the Jews thought Jesus was, I am now wondering about my own sanity. I am convinced that He is who He says He is.  In the immortal words of Ben Kenobi, “who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?”  My everlasting surprise and joy is that I am who Jesus says I am because of who Jesus is.  Brothers and sisters, I implore you today to get to know Him.  Read His word and immerse yourself in His love for you.  Don’t just contemplate, examine Him.

Thank you for reading. There is so much detail in every word the Bible that I hope these words have encouraged you to dig more into its pages. Don’t forget to sign up for my e-mail below and get a notice every time I post a blog. Also, if you could check out those advertisements on my site I would appreciate it. Especially if you find that I might be advertising something in appropriate for an ambassador of Christ. Send me an email with the web link to the advertisement and I’ll add it to my block list. You could be helping me to represent Him well.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete (2Co 10:3-6).”

The idea of taking every thought captive has been easy for me to relate to.  When I was working as a police officer often, I was tasked with taking someone captive.  What I can tell you is that it is work; and dangerous work at that.  Such that we, as police officers, always took our preparation and training for that moment seriously.  We become practiced at taking captives.  In the Army too I have lived examples of this truth.  And not just that taking captives is hard work but that there are techniques to it.

As we were preparing for my first deployment, we had to stand up a makeshift detention center.  I was a young lieutenant at the time and our evaluators had selected my boss, a big guy and a martial arts guru, to play the part of the detainee.  They had selected him because they were confident he would present a challenge and they wanted to reinforce that we should take the task seriously.  What they didn’t know was that I was a police officer and was practiced.  The first thing I did was place the detainee in a chair and ask him to sit all the way back.  According to the training script he was supposed to get agitated and angry and challenge our efforts to keep him detained.  What I knew was that he had a weight advantage, and I could mitigate that weight advantage by keeping him back in that chair.  Every time he tried to stand in agitation, I could place a hand on his shoulder and keep him down in that chair.  Not only was I in control but from the outside it looked as if I was gently consoling him.

In the context of this passage Paul is defending his own ministry.  There were those in the Corinthian church who were alleging that Paul in person was meek and soft but in his letters he was bold.  The implication was that he was not confident in what he was preaching and that the congregation should listen to Paul’s accusers instead.  Paul answers by telling the Corinthians that he is not at war against his accusers, a personal conflict as conflicts of the world are fought, but rather he is waging a war against their arguments and that he is taking captive every thought towards those arguments.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mat 5:27-28).”

Lustful thoughts, as an example, are a challenge for much of the population, male or female.  There is a good chance that although you may not be in complete bondage to these thoughts that you struggle with them from time to time.  Jesus tells us that lustful thinking is the equivalent to adultery.  We know that when we have a lustful thought, we are going to have to take that thought into captivity.  How often does that thought want to go willingly into captivity?  Almost never.  But how prepared are we for that fight?  Have we anticipated it?  Are we equipped for it?  Are we going to need backup because that thought might have a weight advantage in the fight?  If we are going to take captive every thought, we need to be prepared.  This is one of my favorite passaged because as a police officer I could tell you that I was prepared and I know that as a Christian I should also be prepared.

Recently though I had to write and exegetical paper on the Psalm 46.  The central theme of Psalm 46 is that God is our fortress, our strength, and our refuge.  In my research concerning the biblical meaning of fortress in the Hebrew I discovered that Isaiah identifies the refuge of scoffers as lies (Isa 28:15).  The strongholds referenced by Paul in Second Corinthians takes on a whole new meaning.  They are not just arguments and ideas they are the lies believed by all those who do not believe the truth.

Again, I am professionally familiar with fortresses and strongholds.  My job in the army was to know and understand the enemy inside and out.  My counterpart’s job was to know the tactics, techniques, and procedures to deal with anything the enemy might throw at us or attempt to keep us from accomplishing our goals.  I can’t tell you how much time I have spent learning how the enemy fights nor how much time my counterparts have practicing the tactics, techniques, and procedures necessary for victory on the modern battlefield.

And yet Jesus tells us that not only is He the truth (Joh 14:6) but He is that for which the Pharisees were searching for eternal life (Joh 5:39).  What would it look like to be prepared to take captive any thought raised against that knowledge?  What would it look like to be equipped to take those thoughts captive?  What’s more, what are the strongholds, i.e. the lies that have been raised against the truth, that give strength to the enemies arguments?  One of those lies, or strongholds, is that you can not trust God’s written word.  It comes in many forms but are you armed with the truth that destroys those arguments?  Can you articulate, for yourself or others, why God’s word can be trusted?  Sadly, I suspect that most Christians in America are not only not preparing but are unaware of how unprepared they are.  To try to take a stronghold much less a prisoner captive with no training or preparation is foolish and suicidal both physically and spiritually.

Thank you for reading.  Don’t forget to sign up for my e-mail so you won’t miss that content.  I’ve recently been told by Facebook that my content will be made less available so the e-mail list is the surest way to make sure you always get my thoughts on God’s word. There is so much detail in every word I hope that these words are encouraging you to dig more into God’s Word.

Photo by Maria Orlova from Pexels