"And
the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ"
(1 Thessalonians 5:23.)
Introduction
In
this section we will consider the way that God takes to purify the heart.
Revealed in the Living Word of God we find evidence of how the Holy Spirit
performs this work in the believer’s life. We must rely up it rather than
theories or the experiences of men.
God
answers with a gift
It
is amazing to see how many times God answered questions by giving a gift.
* "How can a man be born again?" asked Nicodemus. Jesus answered,
" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
(John 3:4, 16.)
* "How can you give me living water?" questioned the woman at the
well. Her answer was, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:11, 14.)
* "How wilt Thou manifest Thyself to us and not unto the world?" Jesus
replied, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:22, 26.)
So it is with the experience we are considering.
Sanctification
is a Gift
In
trying to understand the way God chooses to sanctify His people we will
automatically see how He does it.
We must acknowledge the blessed fact that this too is a gift, an unmerited gift,
of God. To seek this experience any other way will cause our souls to sink even
deeper into depravity. Sanctification is something that God the Holy Spirit does
in us and for us. The realisation it is not according to our personal goodness
or morality that God grants this blessing, but by His free grace, should be a
soothing balm to our tired and defeated hearts.
Conclusion
We
are going to study seven ways that God uses to bring purity to our souls. Every
believer will be acquainted with the methods God uses, but may not understand
what they are for. He sanctifies us by love, by chastening, through the
promises, by the blood of His Son, by His Spirit, by His word, and by
dedication.