Within religious circles, sanctification is often thought and taught as a process that follows salvation and if achieved, the believer becomes glorified. In an equation format, it would look like...SALVATION>SANCTIFICATION>GLORIFICATION. In this way, the believer spends his/her entire church life struggling to become sanctified. It is felt that in order to reach the next level, the believer should pray and fast regularly; read the scriptures daily; sing and listen to worship songs daily; attend every church service and be part of every activity of the fellowship. But how is it that after several years of these activities, the believer still wrestles with unclean thoughts ? But looking at this religious mindset, a few points become apparent..
1/ If salvation is separate from sanctification, then is Jesus' sacrifice at Calvary an incomplete one ?
2/ If salvation is separate from sanctification, then it becomes possible to have people in the kingdom of God with unclean hearts.
3/ Why would Almighty God leave something as crucial as being sanctified entirely up to humanity ? The God of wisdom and truth knows that mankind is incapable of achieving this on his own. We have a perfect example of mankind's folly from the garden of Eden.
The truth is sanctification is not something man could work out for himself. Jesus prayed "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. " John 17:17....Apostle Paul wrote "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and i pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"... 2 Thessalonians 5:23....Again,the apostle wrote..."That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word" Ephesians 5:26...
Sanctification therefore is initiated and completed by the Word..the Spirit of Christ...at the point of salvation. Because you are saved, you are sanctified and justified by the same Spirit. To believe that we are saved when our spirits are renewed and thereafter we are sanctified when our souls become cleansed, is not supported by scripture.The fact remains, sanctification is achieved when we submit our lives to the Spirit and allow him to do His work...Isn't this what we do when we are saved ? But as often occurs, many "believers" become entangled in denominational traditions, thereafter, and thus struggle with staying sanctified. Sanctification is the work of the Spirit and not religious do's and dont's.
As you submit all to the Spirit then He equips you to do the work of the kingdom. Now you are in a position to pray and fast, meditate on the word, worship in Spirit and every activity the Spirit leads you to. Then your sanctification is truly established, because the Spirit is the only Source of Truth and Light. This will eliminate the falsehood of the religious mind and the struggles and frustration that ensue from such carnal and toxic activity. Again, Apostle Paul put it so plainly by writing these words.."And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God"..1 Corinthians 6: 11...In case it is missed, the apostle said you ARE washed, sanctified and justified. He did not say you are going to be, if you stay away from sinful activity. But because you are sanctified BY the Spirit, sinful activity is not part of your spiritual make up.
It follows then that sanctification is only achievable by total submersion into the Spirit of the Son of God, which makes every son of God separate and apart from every man-made, earthly, and unspiritual structure. This is the meaning of sanctification...being cleansed and set apart by the Spirit for kingdom work and expansion.