The words 'holy' and 'sanctified' come from the same root, meaning 'set apart.' We often refer to this as set apart for a special purpose. The word 'saint' refers to a person who has been set apart, made holy or sanctified.
‘To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called holy, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:’ 1 Cor 1:2
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‘God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us righteous; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin.’ 1 Cor 1:30
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‘Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.’ 1 Cor 3:16-17
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‘But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.’ 1 Cor 6:11b
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'I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.' Eph 1:18
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‘Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;’ Col 3:12
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‘We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ Heb 10:10b
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'So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.' Heb 13:12
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‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.’ 1 Peter 2:9
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‘Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:’ Jude 1:1
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Verses that speak of being taken from one place to another - set apart
From death to life:
‘Most certainly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.’ John 5:24
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From darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God:
‘to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:18
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‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.’ 1 Peter 2:9
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From sin to righteousness:
‘But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.’ Rom 6:17-18
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From Adam to Jesus:
‘For as (of those) in Adam all die, even so (of those) in Christ all shall be made alive.’ 1 Cor 15:22 (My words in brackets to show meaning)
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Doesn't it say 'being sanctified?'
'For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.' Heb 10:14
Some will ask, "But surely 'being sanctified' means it is an ongoing process?" The thing is this is not talking about individuals. It is talking about people as a group 'Those who are being sanctified.' As a group, they are in an ongoing process of being sanctified, but for each individual, it is a one-time process.
Using a recent example, the people of the world were 'being vaccinated.' But my experience was a needle in my shoulder and done (twice). It was a case of waiting for my turn, but after I had been vaccinated, the world was still 'those who are being vaccinated.'
When we talk in terms of 'those who are being' it doesn't tell us anything about how long each individual is taking. It is only speaking of how long it is taking the collective. Hebrews 10:14 reminds me of Acts 2:47:
'The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.' Acts 2:47b
'For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.' Heb 10:14
'For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being born-again.'
‘By God's will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ Heb 10:10b
Let's have a look at the whole of that passage.
'Jesus said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first covenant, that He may establish the second, by God's will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and offering often the same sacrifices which can never take away sins, but He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from that time waiting until His enemies are made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (those who are being added/born again). The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them:
‘After those days,’ says the Lord,
‘I will put my laws on their heart,
I will also write them on their mind;’”then he says
“I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more.”
Now where sins have been forgiven, there is no need for any more sacrifice.' Heb 10:9-18 (My words in brackets)
There are so many things mentioned in this passage that should have us dancing with joy.
Be holy as I am holy
Six times in Leviticus and once in Deuteronomy it tells the Israelites under the Law to be holy as God is holy. Interestingly, Peter also uses the same phrase speaking to Christians.
'Just as He who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behaviour; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”' 1 Peter 1:15-16
Surely, if Peter says we are to be holy then it follows that we aren't?
Having gotten this far through, I hope we can confidently say that we are made holy because of the sacrifice of Jesus and not by our works or efforts. You can read in other sections on this site that we are not under the Law. But here Peter quotes a line from the Law.
1 Peter is a letter written to encourage Christians who are facing persecution. As true as it is that we are holy, that doesn't mean that every action we engage in is holy, that is down to us. Notice that Peter's encouragement is to holy behaviour as opposed to holiness of being, 'be holy in all of your behaviour' our behaviour should reflect our status. Here's the critical point, we are not holy because we do holy acts. We are to behave in a holy manner to reflect the holy status that God has given to us. Paul puts it as 'walk in a worthy manner' (Eph 4:1). Another way we could put it is - you came to Christ begging for mercy to be a Christian so be a Christian.
Different views
The church as a whole treats 'sanctification' in different ways.
1, Some see it as something that only a select few get bestowed on them only after they have died.
2, Others see it as part of a three-phase process, Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. They say we are Justified the moment we believe. Sanctification is the ongoing process of becoming like Jesus and Glorification is what happens to us the moment we die.
Each of these two says the other is wrong. I actually agree with both - the other is wrong! Logic tells us they can't both be right. The way we test which is right is through scripture. Neither of these fits with what we see in the Bible. From reading through the scriptures that talk about our holiness we find it says the moment you believe you are made holy, you are sanctified and as such you are called a saint.