"Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you."
Joshua 3:5
God has promised us miracles. He has the power and we have the faith. But first, before we can see, recieve, and participate in these miracles, we must be SANCTIFIED!!
Sanctified can be a complicated word to understand. It is a word that is passed around the church and I feel loses its meaning on many occasions.
That is why I have attempted to do some research on the word and really flesh out the meaning so I can fully understand what it means to be sanctified.
Sanctified:
...to be pure and free from sin...
...to give reverence or respect...
dictionary.com
καθαγιάζω - to consecrate
to devote or dedicate to some purpose
νομιμοποιώ - to legalize
to give legal validity (to make well grounded)
Holiness
The most common understanding of sanctification is to be holy or without sin. This definition points us to the fact that Jesus was completely sanctified. And as Christians we do need to strive to be like Jesus, therefore sanctified, free from all sin; but we also know that this is impossible, therefore we need to get our hearts in a place of true desire and genuine effort to gain complete sanctification.
lets go deeper
Respeck
Part of sanctification is giving God the respect and awe He deserves. God deserve our reverence simply because He is God, but I feel a good route to achieve this is through the reality of our first definition; the fact that we cannot be completely sanctified but Jesus and God IS. Achieving holiness is a daunting task, because of our human nature always will fail. So we experience how hard it is, and what it takes to achieve it. And we know that Jesus and God are the masters of it.
Its like trying to solve a near impossible math equation. You struggle with it for hours and you never see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then you meet someone who can instantly solve it. Because you know how hard it is through experience, you have great respect for that person who can do it.
more
Devotion
When someone achieves something you cannot, not only are they worthy of your respect but they are also a person to study and learn from. In our case with God, He is worthy of our devotion; because he is all things we are not. The third part of sanctification is being fully committed to God and his purpose for your life. God knows the absolute best solution to every situation in our lives; and if we are devoted to Him and His calling when He we make it clear to us. Imagine a company. The CEO, JIM, knows what is best for the company and its employers, that is why is makes the decisions and why he is CEO. Now along comes BOB, who works for a competitor. He asks the CEO to tell him the answer to a problem his company is having. The CEO has the solution but would never tell him. The only way BOB will find out the solution is if he commits to JIMS company.
The only way we will find out the solutions to all our problems, and the right direction to go in life , is if we commit to God. As soon as we devote ourselves to God he will tells us everything we need to know.
last one
Valid
The last piece of understanding is a Greek translation, which says to legalize. Which simply means to make valid. So to be sanctified means that our lives need to be valid. I think another way to say this is that we need to have authentic faith. We need make sure that our faith is well grounded in Jesus Christ and that our hearts are free of ulterior motives. Our hearts and our lives need to be set on Jesus and achieving Gods purpose in our lives.
therefore
"Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you."
means
Strive for holiness. Give God the respect He is worthy of. Devote yourself to God and his plan. And have authentic faith.
Then you will see the hand of God working miracles!!!
CHEERS
Joshua 3:5
God has promised us miracles. He has the power and we have the faith. But first, before we can see, recieve, and participate in these miracles, we must be SANCTIFIED!!
Sanctified can be a complicated word to understand. It is a word that is passed around the church and I feel loses its meaning on many occasions.
That is why I have attempted to do some research on the word and really flesh out the meaning so I can fully understand what it means to be sanctified.
Sanctified:
...to be pure and free from sin...
...to give reverence or respect...
dictionary.com
καθαγιάζω - to consecrate
to devote or dedicate to some purpose
νομιμοποιώ - to legalize
to give legal validity (to make well grounded)
Holiness
The most common understanding of sanctification is to be holy or without sin. This definition points us to the fact that Jesus was completely sanctified. And as Christians we do need to strive to be like Jesus, therefore sanctified, free from all sin; but we also know that this is impossible, therefore we need to get our hearts in a place of true desire and genuine effort to gain complete sanctification.
lets go deeper
Respeck
Part of sanctification is giving God the respect and awe He deserves. God deserve our reverence simply because He is God, but I feel a good route to achieve this is through the reality of our first definition; the fact that we cannot be completely sanctified but Jesus and God IS. Achieving holiness is a daunting task, because of our human nature always will fail. So we experience how hard it is, and what it takes to achieve it. And we know that Jesus and God are the masters of it.
Its like trying to solve a near impossible math equation. You struggle with it for hours and you never see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then you meet someone who can instantly solve it. Because you know how hard it is through experience, you have great respect for that person who can do it.
more
Devotion
When someone achieves something you cannot, not only are they worthy of your respect but they are also a person to study and learn from. In our case with God, He is worthy of our devotion; because he is all things we are not. The third part of sanctification is being fully committed to God and his purpose for your life. God knows the absolute best solution to every situation in our lives; and if we are devoted to Him and His calling when He we make it clear to us. Imagine a company. The CEO, JIM, knows what is best for the company and its employers, that is why is makes the decisions and why he is CEO. Now along comes BOB, who works for a competitor. He asks the CEO to tell him the answer to a problem his company is having. The CEO has the solution but would never tell him. The only way BOB will find out the solution is if he commits to JIMS company.
The only way we will find out the solutions to all our problems, and the right direction to go in life , is if we commit to God. As soon as we devote ourselves to God he will tells us everything we need to know.
last one
Valid
The last piece of understanding is a Greek translation, which says to legalize. Which simply means to make valid. So to be sanctified means that our lives need to be valid. I think another way to say this is that we need to have authentic faith. We need make sure that our faith is well grounded in Jesus Christ and that our hearts are free of ulterior motives. Our hearts and our lives need to be set on Jesus and achieving Gods purpose in our lives.
therefore
"Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you."
means
Strive for holiness. Give God the respect He is worthy of. Devote yourself to God and his plan. And have authentic faith.
Then you will see the hand of God working miracles!!!
CHEERS
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