W e ' r e m o r e t h a n j u s t a C h u r c h . . . W e ' r e a F A M I L Y !
Pastor Carter addresses Questions on
SANCTIFICATION
Do you believe sanctification is progressive or instantaneous?
Sanctification is a position of holiness in God. In some respects, it is something that happens instantaneously AND progressively. You are sanctified instantaneously (set apart as holy unto the Lord) at the time your personal covenant is made with Him (repentance and conversion on your part, redemption already provided on His part - an even exchange of lives). But from that point on, your growth in God . . . your process of greater holiness in and through Him . . . happens through an ongoing series of life-experiences, spiritual experiences, and by a continued process of personal revelation through the Word and by the Holy Spirit.
__________
I've heard it said that sanctification is a "second definite work of grace" - an event that happens after you get born again. Is it a second definite work of grace?
It as a work of grace, but not so much a "second definite work" of grace.
There is a triune nature of sanctification that we will all experience at some point in our relationship with God. These three natures of sanctification are: 1) Positional, 2) Experiential, and 3) Ultimate.
Positional Sanctification occurs at the time of the new birth when you are born again. Your standing or "position" in God has changed from "lost" to "saved," and you become separated unto Him. It is through this positional sanctification that, though we are in the world, we are no longer of it. We are here, but separated unto Him in spirit.
Experiential Sanctification is just that... a further separation from the world and unto God through a series of daily life-events in which you are lead by the Holy Ghost to make adjustments in your personal walk with God....not out of compliance to rules and regulations, but out of a heart of love and desire to follow the Lord regardless of what He commands you to separate yourself from.
Let me note that these things are not the same for everyone, and therefore doctrines should not be made out of them for all to be required to adhere to. If the Holy Spirit speaks to me to lay off the Big Mac's, then that's a personal requirement for me that I can't expect others to follow. And I shouldn't condemn them if they have one.
The experience of sanctification in that regard depends on how I respond to what I have been lead into by the Holy Spirit. The person next to me may not feel that same spiritual requirement of separation from that certain issue or thing, but may be just as well off in their walk. I would not be, however, if I willingly disregarded His call to separate myself from something just because the person next to me doesn't have to adhere to the same requirement.
Ultimate Sanctification is what we will achieve when we are in a final state of separation from the world in the truest sense.... physically out of here, through the Rapture or the Resurrection, and are finally in the presence of the Lord.
__________
I know of a greater number of people who have been filled with the Holy Spirit and have never heard of a "second definite work" of grace (sanctification) than those who have.
That's correct. I lead people in receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit all the time... every week at Church in fact... and most of them have just been born again in that same service or have recently come to the Lord. I agree that they have probably never heard of any such thing as a "second definite work." I don't take time to tell them about it because #1) I don't believe it's entirely Biblical, and #2) I want them to receive what the Bible says... which is forgiveness and new life in Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit which enables them to live a godly life and be an effective witness.
I don't find anywhere in the Bible where men and women had to struggle to receive the Holy Spirit. I don't find anywhere in Scripture where they sought the Spirit's indwelling and walked away disappointed and not having received because they feel they don't or can't meet up with a certain set standard, or criteria, or place in God before they can receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit. That's not biblical. The Bible says that all who sought the Spirit received of Him freely, The only thing the Bible requires of one before the Holy Spirit will fill them is that they have experienced the cleansing, sanctifying power of the precious blood of the Lamb.
__________
I believe in sanctification as a second definite work of grace. You can't tell me that the Apostles weren't sanctified before they received the Spirit's indwelling.
I have no doubt the Apostles were sanctified before they received the Spirit. But I don't see anywhere in Scripture where that was a distinct or definite work or experience apart from their conversion in Christ. Conversion is the experience that sets one apart from the world and makes you clean, or justified, before Him. Apart from that, the only other experience I see is the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
__________
To say that the Holy Ghost would share a vessel with an unclean spirit or nature is absurd. That's why they have to be sanctified before the Holy Ghost will fill them.
Amen! He won't share a vessel with an unclean spirit... but that's what the work of the cross took care of. It saved us, washed us with His blood, cleaned out our hearts of sin, and became a distinguishing factor, a dividing line of separation, that brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and into His glorious Kingdom of light. That event is what separates us from the world, sets us apart from the goats, or sanctifies us in our spiritual standing with God.
The only thing He sees when He looks at people is whether or not they've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. When He looks at people, He either sees His Son's blood or He doesn't. That's the line of separation.
__________
I've heard it said that sanctification is "the rooting out of the desire to sin."
A genuine experience of salvation is what roots out a sinner's desire to sin. Sanctification however, in the truest, most literal sense of the word's definition, is "to be separate," or "to be set apart." This happens at the point the blood is applied. There is no other line of separation. The blood is the line of separation.
But how one grows and matures in that position of separation and consecration unto the Lord is dependent on their response to the daily leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit and His personal revelation of Christ to them through the Word (see John 17:17). It's not the same line for everyone, as it is based on an individual's personal walk and experiences in God as lead by the Holy Ghost.
The more time we spend in prayer, the reading of the Word, personal devotion to God, and sit under sound Biblical preaching, the more we are washed by the water of the Word and the closer to God our walk becomes. The more of Him we see and the more like Him we become... And the more like Him we become, the less like the world we will be. ...And the less like the world we are, and the closer to God we become, the greater our personal line of sanctification (line of separation, and setting apart as holy unto God) will be.
__________
I've heard people say that if you lose your sanctification, then you automatically backslide because you can't lose one without losing everything.
Those who state such don't truly have a biblical understanding of sanctification. (...or grace for that matter). You don't just 'lose your sanctification' ... because sanctification is not yours to lose. Sanctification is a position in God, not a thing you possess. Sanctification is a lifestyle you live (with the help and continual direction of the Holy Ghost), not a gift you claim. Sanctification is of no work of our own, but a work of the Holy Spirit through and in us.
Contact FHC with your questions and Pastor Carter will answer them here.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © Pastor Chad Carter • Family Harvest Church Global Ministries
FAMILY HARVEST CHURCH
PASTOR CHAD CARTER
P.O. Box 512
Salem, IN 47167
812-883-2523
www.ChadCarter.org
info@ChadCarter.org
