In Conclusion

It requires all the three agents of God—the WORD, the BLOOD, and the HOLY SPIRIT—all acting together to accomplish the work of sanctification. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”* (John 17:17) Paul said, “That the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.”* (Romans 15:16) In Hebrews we read, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”* (Hebrews 13:12) We see, then, that it is accomplished through the Word, with the blood, and by the Holy Spirit.

In other words, the blood of Christ is the cleansing element involved—“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,”* (1 John 1:7) and “Unto him that… washed us from our sins in his own blood.”* (Revelation 1:5) The Holy Spirit is the agent that applies this element to the heart, then He Himself fills the soul that is thus made pure and clean and abides there forever. The Word is the means by which we are instructed in the ways of truth and righteousness. By it we are taught and made to understand that such a state of grace as we understand sanctification to be, is our privilege to obtain; that it is not only our privilege, but that it is our duty to attain to such a condition and acquire such a grace. We are made to understand by the Word that it is the will of God that we have this experience (1 Thessalonians 4:3). We are instructed in the Word just how to make a complete surrender of ourselves and all to the Lord, and to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God, and that this is only a reasonable service for us to render (Romans 12:1). Then we are taught how that, when this is done, we may exercise faith and believe that God accepts such a complete sacrifice and sends the Holy Spirit into our souls when we ask Him for His Spirit.

Thus, you can easily see the part the WORD, the BLOOD, and the HOLY SPIRIT all have to do in the process of sanctifying, also the part that we have to do in it. We see the all-glorious results of such an experience in the heart. We understand the great need of this experience to empower us and to equip us for service that God might be glorified in us. Therefore, let us with all haste and energy “go on unto perfection.”* (Hebrews 6:1)