Sanctification Comes Through Submission to God's Word

17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. | John 17:17-19 (ESV)

Sanctification is the great quest in the Christian Journey. It's the purification process God uses to "make us holy as he is holy." The process is intentional in it's efforts to make us more and more like Christ, in order that we might rightly image God to the unbelieving world through the way we live our transformed & transforming lives. Another important thing for us to remember is that sanctification is a lifelong process. However, this can't be used as an excuse to continue living in sin. While we should always be growing, the tangible evidences of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is a total dying to self and a desire to annihilate the sin in our lives. As we are growing in holiness, we should be equally growing in our hatred for the things that God hates (sin) and love for the things that God loves. A natural warning sign for anyone is if they have become indifferent to any sin that remains in their life. As we grow in holiness, we should also be growing in our hatred for the sin that remains in our life and a passion to make war against it...to kill it before it kills us.

"The process of sanctification involves both a horizontal-relational component (separation from participating in and being influenced by worldliness and sin) and a moral component (growth in holiness or moral purity in attitudes, thoughts, and actions)" (ESV Study Bible). 

This occurs in the truth, that is, as Christians believe, think, and live according to God's word (the truth). The Bible is comprised of the "truth" that Jesus was referring to when he said, your word is truth.

"The interesting thing about the Greek word used here is that it's not an adjective (meaning “your word is true”) but a noun (alētheia, “truth”). The implication here is that God’s Word does not simply conform to some other external standard of “truth,” but that it is truth itself; that is, it embodies truth and it therefore is the standard of truth against which everything else must be tested and compared. (ESV Study Bible)

So what do we gain from this? For me the answer is simple. God's word is truth and our sanctification is dependant on our submission to this truth. Sanctification is a lifelong process, but our growth will be directly tied to the way in which we submit our lives to God's word (i.e. the Bible). If we submit only portions of our lives to God's truth, then only portions of our lives will be sanctified. If we submit ourselves, fully, to God's word, then we give the Holy Spirit complete access to make us holy as God is holy. This should be the aim of every believer and God will bless us exponentially as we lay down our lives, completely, as living sacrifices for his glory. Why is it important to read the word? Because as Jesus said, God's word is the truth and the primary method he uses to sanctify us.

Finally, if Jesus' words are true, that God's word is the primary method he uses for our sanctification, then how would we respond to the following questions:

1. Do I truly believe that God's word is the truth? (Do I submit to God's word or to some other external standard of truth?)
2. Have I truly surrendered my life, fully, to God's word? If so, what is the tangible evidence that this is true?
3. If God's word is the primary means of my sanctification, am I investing the time that I should be into the spiritual disciple of reading, memorizing and meditating on God's word? (How much time do I spend each day/week doing this, compared to how much time I spend fulfilling the desires of the world and/or my flesh?)
4. If I truly desire to grow in holiness, then what areas of my life do I need to surrender to God in order that God might sanctify them? (examples: control, pride, anger, lust, insecurity, self-righteousness, sloth etc.)