The Perfected Mind
A Christians Guide To Sanctification
Rationality is not a personal attribute. No human is capable of being rational in the way God is rational. Technically all humans are and always have been, irrational and therefore insane. This insanity is not diagnosable by regular methods because insanity has been defined as a divergence from the norm. But the norm is insane and so if a person truly diverged from the norm, he or she would be, in fact, rational.
Conventional insanity is an extreme for of personal sanity. The conventionally crazy person has lost all trust in society and has formed his own cultural norms. This is what happens when your reality contracts to the space of an individual.
The perfected mind is sanctified.
The Bible talks about sanctification as the process and reality of being made holy. All that is holy is set apart for God’s purposes and progressively conformed to the image of Christ. This is the same process that builds the church and removes the stake from our eye.
The Hebrew and Greek roots of the word emphasize separation from common or sinful use and dedication to God, often linked to holiness.
“Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
In the Old Testament, sanctification frequently involves ceremonial setting apart (e.g., the tabernacle, priests, or people for God’s service) and calls to moral purity. God declares, “I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” (Leviticus 20:8; also Exodus 31:13), showing that He is the primary actor. People are commanded to sanctify themselves through obedience, washing, and separation from uncleanness (e.g., Exodus 19:10-14; Leviticus 11:44-45; 20:7). This foreshadows the New Testament emphasis on both God’s initiative and human response.
The New Testament deepens this concept, tying sanctification directly to the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Positional sanctification is a one-time setting apart. Believers are declared holy through Christ’s sacrifice.
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14).
“We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10).
Progressive sanctification (ongoing transformation): This is God’s will and involves the Holy Spirit’s work, the truth of God’s Word, and believers’ active participation in putting off sin and pursuing holiness.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17, Jesus’ prayer for His disciples).
“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” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
“Present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification... the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:19, 22).
Believers are called to cooperate: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). This includes cleansing from defilement (2 Corinthians 7:1) and being renewed in the image of God (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10).
This is the point at which Christians fail. But then they do not grasp what God means by Mathew 18:18. We bind each other to each other by sanctification. We work out our foibles by means of our charitable works of faith.
Sanctification is initiated and empowered by God. It is a gift of grace through the Spirit, not human effort However, it is given through the church working out its faith as the people of God. (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Galatians 5:22-23).
Through faith, the Word, and through obedience Jesus sanctifies Himself for our sake so we may be sanctified in him, (John 17:19). The Word of God plays a central role in cleansing and transforming (John 15:3; Ephesians 5:26).
The idea of Sanctification as leading to holiness and usefulness is derived from the idea that we go through the process of sanctification by building the church: “If anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master” (2 Timothy 2:21).
However, even the most newly minted Christian knows we cannot be useful for God in anything but in building his Church.
We cannot be complete in this life, but we are perfected in glory. It is a process aided by being linked to or manifested in, the building of the church. As the church is built so does our sanctification increase. We “are being sanctified” now (Hebrews 10:14), but full blamelessness awaits Christ’s return. (Romans 8:29-30; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2).
Sanctification is God’s gracious work in which He makes us perfect as He is perfect. We are made holy, positionally through Christ’s finished work on the cross, progressively through the Spirit’s ongoing renewal as we walk in obedience to His Word, and ultimately when we see Him face to face. It is both a status (”you are sanctified in Christ Jesus” — 1 Corinthians 1:2) and a calling to pursue (”be holy in all your conduct” — 1 Peter 1:15).
The perfected mind is a holy mind. A holy mind is given over to the building up of the church in a process called sanctification
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