In this sense it is used of the Sabbath (Gen. ii. 3): ‘God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.’ He separated it from the ordinary purposes of common life, and set it apart as a day peculiar to Himself. So again the first-born were set apart unto God, and therefore said to be sanctified; as we read, Exod. xiii. 2: ‘Sanctify unto Me all the first-born—both of man and of beast: it is mine.’ So of the Temple, God said (2 Chron. vii. 16), ‘I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever.’ The same is said of the priests, the vessels of the sanctuary, and the lamb taken from the flock for sacrifice: they were all separated unto God, and thus said to be sanctified. It is in this sense that our blessed Saviour made use of the word, when He said in John, xvii. 19, ‘For their sakes I sanctify myself.’ No one can suppose for one moment that He made Himself more holy, or cleansed Himself from actual sin, for He had been from all eternity holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. There was no possibility of any increase of holiness in Him. But He did, from the deep love that filled His heart, set Himself apart unto God, to be the one perfect sin-offering for man. As the lamb was sanctified when it was taken from the flock, and set apart for sacrifice, so did He sanctify Himself when He separated Himself from all human fellowship, and, as one set apart unto God, bore alone the whole burden of human guilt.
Now, this is the sense in which the word is used whenever sanctification is spoken of as something past, or complete. There are passages in which it is described as the past act of God, as, e.g. Jude, 1, where God’s people are spoken of as being, or having been, ‘sanctified by God the Father;’ and 2 Thess. ii. 13, where they are described as having been ‘chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.’ The reason is, that they have already been set apart by the Holy Ghost as a peculiar people unto God. They have been like a branch of the wild olive, cut out from the old tree, and engrafted into the new. That grafting into Christ involved a separation, for it implied a cutting out as well as a grafting in; and therefore, whenever a soul has been incorporated into Christ, there has been in this sense an act of sanctification, or, in other words, of separation unto God. Such passages do not refer to personal holiness; but to the past act of God in separating His elect unto Himself. I have no doubt that this is the meaning of the text. We all know that the work of holiness is the consequence of the gift of pardon. It is not till we are forgiven through the great blood-sprinkling that the real work of holiness begins. But in these words sanctification comes before it, and the sprinkling of the blood is described as the result of the sanctifying act. The reason is, not that this verse is at variance with the rest of Scripture,—God forbid the thought,—but that the word sanctification does not here express our growth in personal holiness, but means God’s great act of separation unto Himself by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost. As the Sabbath was set apart unto God, so have we been set apart if we be in Christ Jesus: and it is both our privilege and duty to regard ourselves as chosen out of the world and now belonging, as a peculiar people, unto God. It is with reference to this act of separation that the Apostle addresses God’s people in the words, ‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.’
If we take the word in this sense the passage will throw a flood of light on three important subjects: the origin of this separation, its result, and the power by which it is accomplished.
I. Its Origin. This is very clearly the electing love of God. The sanctification, or separation here described, is the application of God’s electing love to the individual. Our Lord says (John, x. 16) of us Gentiles, ‘Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring.’ In the loving purpose of God they were His when He spoke; but they were at that time either not yet born, or still living in heathenism, He said, ‘Them also I must bring.’ In other words, those who were His by the eternal covenant He must in due time separate unto Himself; and that separation, or that bringing, is the sanctification here described. It is that great act of God in which He carries into effect, or applies, His own eternal purpose.
And think what a stability this gives to the work! If it were the result of our own will it must be liable to all the failures inseparable from the weakness of our will; but as it is the carrying out of His own eternal purpose, it is unchangeable, because it is divine. Man-made conversions soon fall to pieces; but when God calls and separates His own elect, it is for ever. He incorporates them into Christ, and they are one with Him for all eternity.
Ah, brethren, if you be in Him, you may be exposed to many, and strong temptations; you may be obliged to tread in slippery places, and find your feet very weak under their burden; but in the midst of it all you may rely, not merely on daily mercy, but also on everlasting love; and may take courage in the assurance that, as He changeth not, so you will be kept by His power through faith unto salvation.
II. The passage teaches us also the Result. This great result is conversion, as taught us in the words, ‘unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.’ I can scarcely imagine a better description of the character and blessings of conversion than that contained in these words, for they present it to us in a double aspect,—on the one hand surrender, and on the other pardon.
Surrender. This is the meaning of obedience, in the passage. It must not be confounded with the holy and loving obedience of the child of God walking in his Father’s footsteps, for it is rather the surrender of the once rebellious heart when it receives Christ as its Saviour and King. It is the obedience described in Acts, vi. 7, where it is said that ‘a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.’ It was the faith to which they were obedient: not the law. They received the message of life, and yielded themselves unto the Lord. It is the obedience of Saul of Tarsus, when, having hated, opposed, and persecuted, he gave up in complete surrender, and said, ‘Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?’ And here lies the great difficulty with a great number. If there be the true separation unto God, there must be surrender, for it is a sanctification unto obedience; and there is no denying that the heart oftentimes recoils from it. Oh, how near have some come,—how beautifully near! almost like the young man whom Jesus loved. But that young man went back after all. He went away very sorrowful; but still he went. I hope you may not do the same! But I stand in doubt of some of you, for though almost, you are not yet altogether: though near, you are not within; though earnest, not yet safe. And why? There is no submission: you cannot give up. There are old prejudices, old thoughts, old likes and dislikes, old confidences; and you cannot make up your mind to give all up, and to surrender your whole soul into the hands of your Lord and Saviour.
Yet think what a blessing there is connected with such surrender: nothing less than ‘the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.’ That sprinkling is the personal application of the great atonement to the individual soul. The shedding of the blood was a public act, which might or might not be effectual to individuals; but the sprinkling of it is altogether a personal matter. It is the application to the individual of the great atonement made for every man. So that those who are thus sanctified, or set apart unto God, are set apart unto the sacred privilege of having their sins blotted out for ever; and those who have been brought by the Holy Ghost to the obedience of the faith, are in their own souls sprinkled with the blood of Christ. Not only do they know that there is a fountain open for sin and for uncleanness, but they themselves are cleansed by it, and walk before God in the sacred peace of full forgiveness and perfect love.
Oh, how is it that there can be any backwardness in thus surrendering to Christ! Do you not thirst for that sacred fellowship? Do you not long to be able to say, ‘Who hath washed me from my sins in His own blood?’ Is there any blessedness to be compared to that of having sin blotted out for ever? Why, then, do you still hold back? Why not give up, and just cast yourself, ruined and helpless, into the arms of your Saviour, that His own most precious blood may be sprinkled on your soul, and that by His great grace you may be His, and His for ever?