Is Sanctification Positional, Progressive, or Neither? - Part 6

One of the verses that is continually mentioned when it comes to sanctification is 1 Peter 1:15 which says, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.”

When I teach on the biblical truth that we have been made holy, sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and called saints – holy ones, usually I am asked in a stern, harsh way, “Doesn’t the Bible say be holy for God is holy?”

The person asking me this is normally very angry with me for teaching that we have been sanctified, having been made holy, pure, and clean before God by the blood of Jesus.

They are mad at me for teaching that becoming holy is not something progressively we do but is something that Jesus has permanently done for us in his blood-sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:10-14; 13:12).

Honestly, asking the question about be holy for I am holy is a good question to ask.

Let’s look at the context of 1 Peter 1:15 which reads, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.”

Be holy for I am holy is found in Leviticus 11:44-45 and 19:2.

It is then quoted by Peter in 1 Peter 1:15.

1 Peter 1:13-15 reads as follows.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

The historical context of these verses is when believers were scattered throughout the Roman empire and where experience intense persecution from the Romans for being a Christian.

Therefore, Peter writes to encourage them in such discouraging times by reminding them about their hope in Jesus, who through his resurrection has defeated death and given them something to live for in the present – a reason to live – and something to look forward to in the future – the return of Jesus.

Peter’s word for the life of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the return of Jesus is grace.

With this grace in mind, Peter said,

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

With these words, Peter is exhorting the believers to protect their minds from hopelessness, as a result of the persecution, by concentrating on the hopefulness of the return of Jesus.

Quoting Leviticus 19:2, Peter exhorts them to be holy while they wait for the return of Jesus.

He defines what he means by be holy when he writes “do not conform [make a choice to live differently than the way you did before you placed your faith in Jesus] to the evil desires [immoral desires] you had when you lived in ignorance [before you came to faith in Jesus].”

So to be holy is to make a decision to live a morally pure life in the middle of the persecution they were experiencing.

It would be easy for the believers to give up on Jesus, to call it quits on Jesus in light of the persecution they were experiencing and Jesus’ delayed coming (the believers were expecting the immediate return of Jesus to establish his kingdom on earth - Acts 1:3-8; 3:17-21).

It would be easy for them to escape their pain of persecution by giving in to immoral temptations surrounding them in the Roman culture, especially since Jesus had not returned as they expected.

However, Peter tells them to establish their minds on the return of Jesus.

In the previous verses, Peter assures them of the resurrection of Jesus, the return of Jesus, and the inheritance that is awaiting them, an inheritance that can never perish (go away), spoil (go bad) or fade (grow old).

Peter then quotes Leviticus 19:2 (be holy for I am holy) because his readers were very familiar with that verse.

To Peter, be holy meant to not dwell on and give in to immoral desires by behaving in accordance with these desires.

Rather, he is exhorting them to concentrate on the truth of the return of Jesus and to make a decision to live moral lives in the middle of the persecution they were undergoing, because they could be assured Jesus would return and bring with him their eternal inheritance.

By making this decision, they would not be becoming more and more holy; rather they would be living out their identity as holy ones of God (saints) by living a moral lifestyle.

So to “Be holy, because I am holy” is to make a decision to live moral lives in an immoral world because of the grace believers will experience when Jesus returns.

We do not become progressively holy when we do this because the blood of Jesus has made us holy.

Rather, because we have been made holy by the blood of Jesus, we live moral lives.

In the opening greetings of his letter, Peter wrote of the blood of Jesus in 1 Peter 1:2 when he says the Spirit takes the blood of Jesus and sanctifies (makes holy) a believer (see also 1 Corinthians 6:11 and Hebrews 9:13-14) through their obedience (meaning faith in Jesus - see Romans 1:5; 16:26].

So Peter in 1 Peter 1:15 is saying to make a decision (be) to set aside your body (holy) and live a morally pure (holy - separate yourself from immoral ways) life because you have been made holy (1 Peter 1:2 - cleansed of all sins by the blood of Jesus).

To summarize this 6-part teaching on sanctification, I define sanctification in the following three ways based upon the verses we have examined:

• Sanctification is the immediate and eternal purification of sins by the blood of Jesus the moment we place our faith in Jesus, resulting in believers having a new identity termed saint (holy one). This is not a positional or progressive sanctification but an actual, personal, and permanently, sanctification changing our identity from sinner to saint the moment we trust in Jesus.

• Sanctification is when believers (saint) make a decision to present their body (set aside) to God for purity to flow through us and for God’s purposes to be fulfilled in and through us. This decision is repeated progressively throughout our lives. This decision to present our body to God does not make us more holy progressively, since we have been made holy - purified from all sins - by the blood of Jesus permanently and personally.

• Based on Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, sanctification could be interpreted to mean the faithful progressive work of the God of peace to remove fear, worry, stress, and anxiety from a believer, and therefore producing peace within the believer.

• Based upon Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, sanctification could be interpreted to mean the work of God in a believer to progressively purify the attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors of a believer. However, this would not make a believer progressively holy (pure) because they have been made holy by the blood of Jesus.

  For example, a person who plays for a professional baseball team does not progressively become a member of the team because he plays baseball for the team, rather he plays baseball for the team because he is a member of the team. As a member of the team, he may improve his baseball skills, but improving his skills does not make him more of a member of the team.

  In the same way, a believer does not become progressively holy as he lives a moral life; rather a believer lives a progressively moral life because he is holy, which is what Paul teaches in Ephesians 4-5.

To read Part One of Is Sanctification Positional, Progressive, or Neither? click below.

Part 1: Is Sanctification Positional, Progressive, or Neither?