I have established that we are indeed Sanctified by GOD Himself by the circumcision of heart and the Eternal Blood of Jesus, the Sanctifying and Living word. Which also makes us His Righteousness but I am not finished with this subject as yet. But before continuing I will look to Pastor Hoekstra's writing on Grace. And then dig into Sanctification again today using the ESV translation. And is my habit should the LORD give me more utterance I will break in and share it when it happens.
"Proclaiming Christ for Maturity in Christ"
"Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." (Colossians 1:28)
"Spiritual Maturity is one of the heavenly blessings that is ours "in Christ Jesus." Our heavenly Father desires that all of His children develop in this blessing of maturity: "that we may present every man perfect [mature] in Christ Jesus." As GOD's people are being built up, the goal is that "we all come... to a perfect [mature] man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children... but... may grow up in all things into Him Who is the Head — Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15). Jesus is our standard of spiritual maturity. The LORD wants us to be maturing into the likeness of the character of Christ.
For the saints to mature in Christ requires the proclamation of Christ. "Him we preach... that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Truth about the Lord Jesus Christ is the message that matures the people of GOD: "Him we preach." We need to know Who the LORD is, what He has done, and what He wants to do in our lives, that we might trust in Him as our source and resource: "from Whom the whole Body" (Ephesians 4:16).
The scriptures abound with many beautiful Revelations of such Truths about Jesus. He is the Son of GOD, Divine. "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of GOD" (John 1:34). He is the Son of Man, Immanuel, GOD coming as man. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head... Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel... GOD with us" (Matthew 8:20; 1:23). He is the lamb of GOD. "Behold! The Lamb of GOD Who takes away the sin of the world! " (John 1:29). Who is this GOD? HE is EL and in many places and times HE is ELOHIM, YHWH, and as LORD, HE is Adonai, our Master YEH.
This Jesus is our Mediator, bringing us the New Covenant of Grace. "And for this reason He is the Mediator of the New Covenant" (Hebrews 9:15). He is our Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, supplying all we need from start to finish. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 22:13). He is our "All in all." "Christ is All and in all" (Colossians 3:11).
Such Truths about Jesus are the ultimate message to mature the saints."
Sanctification Enjoined:
Exodus 19:16-25 "On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet GOD, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and GOD answered him in thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them." And Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You Yourself warned us, saying, 'Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.'" And the LORD said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest HE break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them."
Leviticus 20:20-26 "If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless. "You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. But I have said to you, 'You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.' I am the LORD your GOD, Who has separated you from all the peoples. You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am Holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine."
Numbers 11:16-23 "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD Who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?"'" But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!' Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?" And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."
Joshua 3:5-13 "Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." And Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'" And Joshua said to the people of Israel, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your GOD." And Joshua said, "Here is how you shall know that the Living GOD is among you and that HE will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap."
1Samuel 16:1-5 "The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for Myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for Me him whom I declare to you." Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, "Do you come peaceably?" And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice."
2Chronicles 29:3-11 "In the first year of Hezekiah's reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our GOD. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs. They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and HE has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that His fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in His presence, to minister to Him and to be His ministers and make offerings to Him."
1Thessalonians 4:1-8 "Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please GOD, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the Will of GOD, your Sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know GOD; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the LORD is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For GOD has not called us for impurity, but in Holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but GOD, Who gives His Holy Spirit to you."
1Thessalonians 5:23-24 "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. He Who calls you is faithful; HE Will surely do it."
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