My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

HE WHO SANCTIFIES

Hebrews 2:11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

The apostle, (or his representative) is writing to the Hebrews, describing the salvation provided by Jesus, and that Jesus is far superior to every past blessing and experience of the faithful. In every instance of comparison, Jesus far outshines any claim to fame the faithful Hebrew might make.

There is simply no comparison! Jesus is better! Better than anything or anyone associated with the prior covenant.

Our passage highlights the act of sanctification, and the first consideration is to note that it is God who sanctifies. It is not that God tries to sanctify, or that He wants to sanctify, or that it is His pleasure to sanctify, but the He Himself sanctifies.

But what does that mean?

Well…

In the book of Hebrews there are two truths regarding sanctification, and to review these truths it is necessary to consider Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10:10-14

10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Notice in verse 10, that belivers are sanctified by the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The sanctification of the believer is complete, and completely dependent on the Lord Jesus, His past act on the cross, and according to the covenant He has provided.

It is done!

But wait. In just a few short verses, the apostle brings to us a process of being sanctified, for we must notice that he states that “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified”

The eternal perfecting of the believer, is for those who are currently being sanctified.

Hold up now. Are we sanctified once and for all or are we in process of being sanctified?

You see now why I was hesitant earlier to define what is going on in the book of Hebrews. When we see a portion of Scripture that seems to contradict itself, we must consider that a mark of inspiration, a sort of proof that truth may have two faces. Let me try to explain, at least the way I understand it .

For the believer, the blood and body of Christ on the cross was the defining moment of sanctification for the believer. In the mind and heart of God the Father, the saint was one with the Savior, fully accepted, fully set apart and fully committed to the will of the Father.

But the apostle goes further, helping the believer understand that ths sanctification is to be experienced, pursued, chased after, desired and clung to. Our positional sanctification, which is such a precious truth, such a lofty possession of the believer, such a blessing only found in Jesus, is to be experieinced in our daily lives.

It is not enough to only be sanctified in the heavens, but to be sanctified in the earth, where we get dirty, where we stumble and toss about. Sanctification in the war we live in is the battle for the believer today. To know we are fully sanctified before the Father due to the body of Christ is the magnet that keeps pulling us to Him. The draw of the Son on the believer is never ending, a ceaseless effort of the Holy One to make us holy, to be sancitified before Him.

To be before Him, we must be holy.

Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

For this we must be thankful that HE WHO SANCTIFIES is He who has sanctified us by His own death.

It is an astounding salvation, and I just need to say it one more time.

Jesus is better!

---

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible