“For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one…” (NKJV)

Since we humans are creatures of habit, it shouldn’t surprise us that local churches are institutions of habit.  Indeed, communities of habituated creatures make very habituated congregations.  Take, for example, the main meeting room in a church building.  What do many believers call this room?  A “sanctuary.”  This word has two primary definitions: (1) a holy/sacred place, and (2) a place of refuge, immunity or asylum.”  When Christians use it they have the first meaning in mind.  But what makes a sanctuary more “holy” or “sacred than other rooms?  The activities done inside it?  The people who meet there?  The particular presence of the Lord?

Clearly the idea of a sanctuary comes from God.  Speaking of Jesus as the “Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 8:1), the writer says he “serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man” (v. 2).  So it began in heaven.  God commanded Moses to “make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain [of Sinai],” which was “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” (v. 5).  Thus it continued in Jewish law and worship.

But things changed after Jesus.  Paul couldn’t have been any stronger in his opening to his first letter to the Corinthian believers: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints…” (1:2).  Knowing the Corinthians’ behavior, Paul no doubt started his letter with a 1-2 punch, reminding them that they were sanctified and called saints.  In other words, God was done sanctifying places; he was now sanctifying persons.  Hearts are the true sanctuaries of today.

It shouldn’t surprise us that the book of Hebrews uses this word sanctify and its applications more than any other New Testament letter.  Dealing with a group of Jews that were waffling on their profession of faith in Christ, the writer exhorts them on to spiritual progress, growth and maturity.  Likewise, there is a clear progression of thought as to what that growth process looks like and how it begins.

First, in 2:11, God declares his oneness with his children: “For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (NKJV).  Can you see his point?  The question in the minds of many Jews, having a reasonable fear of God and faltering in their infantile faith, was, “How can a holy God accept or love someone as guilty/unworthy as me?”  The ground of sanctification is cemented with the unmistakable assurance of God’s unity with them because of the work of Christ, citing Old Testament predictive passages of the same (vs. 12-13).

Second, in 10:10 we find the finality of Christ’s work of sanctifying us: “And by [the Father’s] will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (NKJV).  In other words, once Christ offered his body on the cross and its benefits were applied to each believer by faith, the state of being sanctified was completely secured.  Nothing needed to be changed, removed or added.  It was done.

Third, 10:14 gives us another aspect of sanctification.  It says, “For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (NKJV).  This may look a bit confusing at first.  Why do those who are “perfected forever” need to be sanctified?  “Perfection” in the book of Hebrews, in contrast to how Paul used the word, means salvation.  Hebrews is saying then that God’s purpose of a secure salvation is for us to “be conformed to the image” of Christ (Romans 8:29, NKJV).  This is where most Christians get into trouble, thinking that once they’re saved, they’re done.  Au contrare: they’ve just begun.

Finally, 13:12 says that Jesus had to “suffer outside the gate” of Jerusalem to sanctify his people.  The encouragement for us in the next verse to do likewise, “bearing his reproach.”  But the epitome of the sanctification process is found in seeking “the [continuing city] to come,” or heaven (v. 14), because the vanity of this world has no more appeal.  When the permanent completely overshadows the temporary, when the passion for heaven impacts everything we do, sanctification has reached its purest stage.  How strongly are you finishing your race as you enter into the glory that is his, but soon will be yours?