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THEMATIC INTRODUCTION
Sanctification: Once-for-All
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By Dave DeVoll,
Editor, Truth Matters Garland, Texas |
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Editor’s Note: This issue of Truth Matters is devoted to one of the cardinal teachings of the church of God, one commonly called “Entire Sanctification.” Although the articles following this thematic introduction do not use the qualifying word “entire,” let the reader understand each of them to refer to that experience. I have used for this introduction most of chapter two of my book The Christian’s Consecration, in which I treat one of the meanings of “sanctification.” (This book is available on Amazon.com). The four articles following this one were papers presented at the November 2017 Pastor’s Fellowship Steering Committee. At the suggestion of Publications Committee Chairman, Pastor Danny Goins, they comprise the bulk of this issue of Truth Matters.
John 17:17-21, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
DEFINITION “Sanctify” and “sanctification” in the Old Testament derive from the Hebrew word qadash, and in the New Testament from the Greek word hagiazo. The Old Testament word originally meant “cut” and “separate,” and was used in comparing Jehovah to the gods of the heathen. He was “holy above all other gods”—He was “a cut above” them. The New Testament word hagiazo means “to make holy; to separate from things profane and dedicate to God; set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively His; to be prepared for God, pure and clean; to consecrate to God.” This word, then, is used in several ways in the New Testament.
There are several meanings of sanctification in the Bible. It is used in a ceremonial sense, even in the New Testament, as Paul illustrated in 1 Tim. 4:1-5, where he describes some of the marks of the Great Apostasy, such as forced celibacy and commanding people to abstain from meats. He concludes by saying that all meat is to be accepted as food “for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” There is no moral work done here.
It is used in 1 Cor. 7:14 in connection with relationships, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean, but now they are holy [sanctified].” (Keep in mind that “holy” and “sanctified” both come from the single Greek word, hagiazo.)
The unbelieving spouse and children are “sanctified” in some way by the believing spouse or parents. That is, they are separated from many of the contaminating influences of the world that taint those who have no converted people living in their households. The families of saints have a life that is different in many ways from that of those who have no saved family members.
“Sanctification” also is used—but only a few times—in the New Testament to refer to the sinner’s separation from sin in the initial experience of conversion.
1 Thess. 4:3-7, for example, uses in the KJV the words “sanctification” and “holiness.” Actually, both words derive from the same Greek word—hagiazo. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication . . . . for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”
GRAMMAR NOTE The Greek language of the New Testament world possessed more than just the present, past, future, and perfect tenses. It also used the various “progressive tenses” to indicate on-going action. For example, the present tense states “I run,” usually indicating habitual action; while the progressive says, “I am running,” indicating that I am in the process of running. Besides these, the Greeks also used what scholars call the aorist tense. When used in the imperative mood (as John 17:17 does) this refers to an instantaneous, completed, once-for-all action, and sometimes it is used in English with the expressions “at a stroke,” “decisive,” and “once-for-all.”
The King James translators did not translate this verb tense because they had no English tense just like it. There are two verses in John 17:14-21 that use this tense—verses 17 and 19. Verse 17 literally translated is, “Sanctify them once for all,” and verse 19 literally is translated, “And for their sakes I am consecrating myself, in order that they in reality may have been permanently sanctified.”
ONCE-FOR-ALL Some object to this translation because of the expression “through the truth.” They say this means every time God reveals truth to us and we walk in it, that He sanctifies us. While it is true that walking in the light is a progressive sanctification, that is not what this expression means. It means “in truth,” or “indeed,” or “in reality.” The Pulpit Commentary renders it “indeed—truly or veritably.” This same expression is used in Matthew 22:16 where the Pharisees’ emissaries said to Jesus, “Thou teachest the way of God in truth.” John uses it again in 1 John 3:18, “Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” As Dr. Steele points out, this phrase means “in reality” or “truly” (Brown, 210).
In vs. 19 Jesus used the verb “sanctify” twice, but with a different tense each time. In 19a a literal rendition is, “I am sanctifying [consecrating] myself.” He was setting Himself apart to fulfill a specific task for our benefit: He was about to die on the cross for the sins of mankind. He was in the process of making the consecration as He prayed on His last night with His own. In 19b a literal rendition is, “That they also may be once-for-all truly sanctified.” He did not pray for a continual process of sanctification for the believer, but for an instantaneous, once-for-all, crisis experience.
1 Thess. 5:23 also references this “once-for-all” experience: “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.”
I have reproduced the italicized words only as they appear in the King James’ Version. Let us note that all words in italics in the KJV were added by the translators, scholars who believed the words would help clarify the meaning of the text. This may be true in some cases, but in others such liberties with the text only create more misunderstanding of it.
Omitting the words added by the translators makes the verse read, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and your whole spirit, and soul and body be preserved blames unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Vincent explains that the word “wholly” comes from the Greek word oletelias, which means “so that nothing shall escape the sanctifying power. Complete.”
The word “and” is from the Greek word kai, which is used in what scholars call the “epexegetical” sense, and means “which is to say.”
Let’s put this all together now and read what Paul’s first century readers understood from this verse: “And the very God of peace once-for-all sanctify you so that nothing shall escape the sanctifying power, which is to say, that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless until Jesus comes again.” The whole person is to be sanctified in a once-for-all experience. This is what is meant by “entire sanctification”: the entire regenerated person—body, soul and spirit—is to be sanctified, set apart for God’s service.
Consider Dr. Steele’s rendering of the following verses concerning sanctification (holiness). 1 Peter 1:15, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” Dr. Steele says this is literally rendered, “Become [by an all-surrendering act of faith] holy in all manner of conduct.” Since “sanctify” and “make holy” derive from the same Greek word, we may read, “Become by an all-surrendering act of faith sanctified” (Brown, 221). 1 Peter 1:16, “Be ye holy for I am holy,” is translated by this scholar as “Become ye instantaneously holy, for I am holy” (Brown, 221).
How may the believer enter into this experience of the fullness of the Spirit? In Luke 11:10-13 Jesus said, “For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened . . . . If ye . . . know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
Besides asking, Paul said in Romans 12:1-2, “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies—presenting all your members and faculties—as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and worship. Do not be conformed to this world—this age, fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs. But be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind—by its new ideals and its new attitude—so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]” (brackets and parentheses are those of the translators).
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969) 73 Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Wheaton: Evangel Pub. Co., 1973) 6-7 Compare the discussion of this in Shank’s Life in the Son on pp. 77-79 (Springfield, MO: Westcott Pub., 1961) Daniel Steele, late President of Syracuse University, devoted an entire chapter of his book Milestone Papers to the “Tense Readings of the Greek Testament.” (Salem, OH: Schmull Pub. Reprint, 1984) 44-72. Steele, Daniel, quoted in The Meaning of Sanctification by C.E. Brown. (Anderson: Gospel Trumpet Co., 1921) 202-203 Vincent, M.R. Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament, Vol. 3 (McClean, VA: MacDonald Pub. Co, n.d.) 402 Vine, W.E. Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (New York: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1985) 694
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