THE MAN GOD USES – CHAPTER VIII – Oswald J Smith
THE SANCTIFIED LIFE
IT is not my purpose to go into the doctrinal side of Sanctification, for I have learned that it is possible to know an experience doctrinally and yet fail to appropriate it in a practical way, Therefore I am going to be very simple and emphasize the experimental side of a sanctified life.
And first of all, I want to tell you three things that Sanctification is not, in order that you may the easier comprehend what it is.
First, it is not freedom from temptation. The probability is that you will be tempted more as you live the sanctified life than ever before. Until then you have not been very dangerous to the kingdom of Satan; consequently he has not bothered much with you. But the moment you enter this experience he will do everything in his power to defeat you. Hence, Sanctification by no means ensures freedom from temptation. Let him that is spiritual consider himself lest he also be tempted.
Second, it is not a guarantee of safety from the possibility of sin, ” Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 72 There is no condition in this life where a Christian is safe from the possibility of sin. Those who rise highest can fall lowest. Beware, then, of a false security, for Sanctification does not guarantee safety from the possibility of sin.
Third, it is not a gradual deliverance from sin. That is never God’s way of victory. Sin is dealt with, settled with, done with once for all. If, a drunkard had been in the habit of taking five glasses of liquor a day, you would not dream of advising him to take four to-morrow, three the next day, two the next, then one, etc. You know that there must be a crisis moment when he deliberately turns from it and stops. And so with Sanctification, sin’s power is broken and you yield no more.
Now having told you what it is not, let me mention three things that it is:
First, it is an instantaneous crisis experience. That means it has a beginning, and while you may view it as a process life-long in its result, you must also recognize its crisis nature. There must be a beginning; it must have a start. The children of Israel found the crossing of the Jordan just such an experience. It was a crisis hour in their history. In the morning they were on the wilderness side; in the evening they were on the opposite bank.
Second, it is a life of victory over sin. If it is not that, it is nothing. God has guaranteed deliverance from the power of sin. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” 73 Apart from a life of victory over sin a profession of sanctification is a mockery,
Third, it is a life-long transformation into Christ-likeness. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:18) 74 . More and more we partake of His image until at last when He shall appear we shall be like Him.
When does Sanctification take place? In God’s plan at conversion 75 , but in man’s experience, as a rule, after. I do not believe that God intends His children to wander for years in the wilderness. It is His purpose that they should yield so fully at conversion and live such a Spirit- filled life ever after that backsliding would be unknown. Unfortunately very few do, and the result is that there must come a second great crisis when they turn from failure and disappointment in absolute surrender to live only and wholly for God.
What does Sanctification mean? The word itself simply means “to set apart”; and anything “set apart” from a common to a sacred use, whether animate or inanimate, is sanctified. Your life belongs to God. What He wants you to do is to recognize this fact, acquiesce in it, and set yourself apart for the high and holy purpose intended. There are three steps in Sanctification, and there are two parts to the experience, I am speaking now, not of the doctrinal but rather of the practical side. From a theological standpoint you may not understand it, and yet you may know it experimentally. And that is the only thing that matters after all.
Now from a practical standpoint there are, as I have already stated, two sides to the experience known as Sanctification. There is first man’s part 76 and second, God’s part.
A very significant statement is found in Joshua 3:5, where the command is given, “Sanctify yourselves.” “But” you exclaim, “I always thought that Sanctification was a work of the Holy Spirit.” Then how do you explain this very clear and definite injunction, “Sanctify yourselves?” The problem is not hard to solve. This is man’s part. And before God can possibly do His part, man must do his, and sanctify himself.
I have also stated that there are three steps in Sanctification. The first two constitute man’s side of the transaction, and the third, God’s, These three steps, very simply worded, are: (1) Separation; (2) Dedication; (3) Filling. First, “separation from,” second, “dedication to,” third, ”with.”
You see, it means not only a “separation from,” but also a “dedication to.” Separation is the negative side, dedication the positive. There are two parts to man’s side of sanctification. “Sanctify yourselves.” You do your part and God will do His. The third step is “filling with.” But this is God’s part. And the reason so many pray and plead and wait in vain for the “filling with” is simply because they have not yet taken both the steps demanded by God upon which the third depends.
Let us then first of all be sure that our separation is complete, God insists upon a clean cut separation from sin in every shape and form, from the world and all its allurements, from everything that grieves the Holy Spirit and cripples our power. Nor can we fool Him. He knows whether or not we mean what we say. Is then our separation complete? And if not let us begin at once to go all the way.
Second, we must dedicate our lives to God. Separation is incomplete unless it involves this second step. We separate from the old self-life and all that is displeasing to God only that we may be separated unto Him. Hence, dedication means the setting of one’s self-apart for God. We are to be holy 77 ; that is, we are separated unto God for a holy purpose. This dedication must be made actual and real in our experience.
Is, then, our all on the altar? Have we dedicated ourselves and all we possess, to God? Or, are we holding something back? It may be our money, our talents, some loved one; but whatever it is there will be no “filling with” until it has been fully and eternally dedicated to God. Only then can God do His part and fill with the Holy Spirit. When our all is on the altar the fire of God will fall.
Now, when you know positively, when you are absolutely sure that you have taken these first two steps, after waiting before God long enough for the Holy Spirit to search you, then by simple faith without any outward manifestation whatever, you can believe the Word, and rise from your knees knowing that God has done His part.
Listen: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). He doesn’t tell you to believe you are going to receive them, but to believe that ye receive, right there and then, that moment, the instant you believe.
Now don’t let Satan cheat you out of the blessing by making you wait for some supernatural manifestation or feeling. You will know the joy and comfort of the Holy Spirit as you go out believing, testifying, acting on your faith. God’s order for Sanctification is the same as for Salvation. First “fact”; second, “faith”; third, “feeling.” Now Satan always reverses the Divine order, and tells you to look for feeling. But how can you feel before you believe and how can you believe until you know something to believe?
Here are some facts: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). The condition is that you confess. Have you met the condition? Then, why make God a liar? “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn. 1:7). What is the condition? “If we walk in the light” And what happens? “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” “But,” you say, “I don’t feel cleansed.” No, and you never will until you first of all believe God’s Word and act on your faith. Here is the third great fact:—”How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? ” (Luke 11:13). The condition? “Ask.” Have you conscientiously taken the first two steps? Then, ask. And feel? No, believe, God is on the giving hand. He delights to bless. “How much more!”
“Lord Jesus, I separate from all that is displeasing in Thy sight, and I dedicate myself and all I possess to Thee. And now, Lord, I believe Thy Word. Thou hast said, ‘ Whatsoever things ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ Lord, I desire from this moment to live a sanctified life, free from the power of sin, filled with the Holy Spirit, and one hundred per cent for Thee.
” I want, dear Lord, a heart that’s true and clean,
A sunlit heart, with not a cloud between:
A heart like Thine, a heart divine, a heart as white as snow—
On me, dear Lord, a heart like this bestow.”
“And so, Lord Jesus, without any feeling, without any evidence or special manifestation, having taken the first two steps and thus met the conditions, I do here and now believe that I am forgiven, the blood does cleanse me, even me, from all sin, the Holy Spirit comes, and I do receive Him into my heart and life to fill me to the uttermost. Thou dost accept me; Thou, O Christ, art now my Sanctification 78 , and I am complete in Thee, Blessed be Thy name!
” Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe, Saviour raise my faith in Thee till it can move a mountain ;
Lord, I believe; Lord, I believe, All my doubts are buried in the fountain.”
Yes, praise God! I have seen scores enter into this experience by taking these simple steps. It works, and that is the best of it. Here is a man who has a violent temper. For less than ten minutes he kneels at the altar, and takes the steps that I have mentioned one by one. Then without emotion of any kind he testifies to what God has done. Does it work and will it last? Oh, hallelujah! Week after week he gives a glowing testimony, declaring that his temper is gone, and that he is living in Sanctification day by day. His whole life has been revolutionized, utterly changed.
May God enable you to take these simple steps and thus enter into the glorious experience of the Sanctified Life
________________________
72 1 Corinthians 10:12
73 Romans 6:14
74 Hebrews 10:14
75 Acts 26:18, Hebrews 10:10
76 2 Timothy 2:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-‐5
77 1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 11:44-‐45
78 1 Corinthians 1:30, 6:11
________________________