Sanctification - Part 9

Finally, there is a perfect, or ultimate, or what we might call "final" and consummated sanctification that will take place when the believer is glorified (taken into eternity) through either the Lord’s return or death. Perfect sanctification is God’s goal for every believer (Rom. 8:23; Eph.1:5; 1 Thess. 5:23), and only He will accomplish it in the believer (1 Thess. 5:24, Jude 1, 24).

At glorification, the believer will finally be what God has intended: “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). In this statement, John describes that perfect, ultimate, and final sanctification of the believer.

This, of course, is the longing and a huge aspect of what some call "the hope" of heaven where spiritual, emotional, and even physical restoration is fully realized.

Lehman Strauss (from Bible.org) states this truth well when he writes:

"The Epistle of Jude commences and concludes with a similar emphasis. It was written “to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ” (verse 1), and all such are assured that God “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (verse 24). This is Perfect Sanctification."

Next week I will continue the series by exploring several implications and practical realities of the process of sanctification.

Blessings
3 John 8
Bill H.