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Greek Words About Sanctification
The New Testament Greek word for “sanctify” is “hagiazo”. “Hagiazo” means
2
“consecrate, dedicate…purify” 1 or “to set apart to God”, when used in relation to the sanctification of people. Forms of “hagiazo” are also used in reference to things (see Matthew 23:19, 1 Timothy 4:5), Jesus as Lord in our hearts (see 1 Peter 3:15) and God’s Name (see Matthew 6:9).
According to Vine, the Greek word for sanctification which is “hagiasmos” means “(a) separation to God, 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; (b) the course of life befitting those so separated, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4, 7; Romans 6:19, 22; 1 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:14.” 3 Vine states, “Sanctification is thus the state predetermined by God for believers, into which in grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so pursue it”. 4
The main New Testament Greek word for “holy” is “hagios”. “Hagios” means “being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing essential divine qualities in contrast with what is human”. 5 Forms of “hagios” are used to refer to the absolute purity or holiness of God the Father (see John 17:11), the Lord Jesus Christ (see Luke 1:35, Acts 3:14, 4:27 and 4:30) and the Spirit of God when He is called the “Holy” Spirit (see Matthew 1:18, 1:20 and many other verses).
In the New Testament, the words “saint” or “saints” are translations of a number of words derived from the Greek word “hagios”. These specific words derived from “hagios” refer to “human beings consecrated to God, holy”. 6 Vine says that when applied to believers, the word “saints” means “all such and is not applied merely to persons of exceptional holiness, or to those who, having died, were characterised by exceptional acts of ‘saintliness.’ ” 7
Vine also says “hagios” means “separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God…This sainthood is not an attainment, it is a state into which God in grace calls men.” 8 Forms of the Greek word “hagios” are also used in the Scriptures to refer to things dedicated to God (see Matthew 24:15, Acts 6:13 and Revelation 21:2), to angels who are God’s servants (see Mark 8:38, Acts 10:22) and to describe our faith (see Jude 20).
Another Greek word “hagiosune” means “holiness”. 9 A form of the word “hagiosune” is used in Romans 1:4 in relationship to the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 7:1, a form of “hagiosune” and in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 “hagiosune” are used in relation to the holiness or purity of God being manifested in believers’ hearts.
Another New Testament Greek word is “hagiotes” which also means “holiness”. Forms of the word “hagiotes” are used of God’s nature in Hebrews 12:10 and of the manifestation of God’s holy nature in the conduct of Paul and his fellow workers in 2 Corinthians 1:12.
The words “hagiazo”, “hagiasmos”, “hagiosune” and “hagiotes” are derived from the word “hagios”. The word “hagios” is derived from the same Greek word that the Greek word “hagnos” is derived. 10 “Hagnos” means “pure, holy” 11 or “being without moral defect or blemish and hence pure”. 12 “Hagnos” or forms of it are used in Philippians 4:8, 1 Timothy 5:22, James 3:17 and 1 John 3:3. 1 Timothy 5:22 says: “…keep yourself pure.”
Words related to purity or cleansing which are derived from “hagnos” are “hagneia”, “hagnizo” and “hagnotes”. Vine says “hagneia” refers to “chastity which excludes all impurity of spirit, manner or act”. 13 “Chastity” means “purity, avoidance of unlawful sexual intercourse”. “Hagneia” is used in 1 Timothy 4:12 and 5:2. In 1 Timothy 5:2, Paul commanded Timothy to relate to younger women with absolute purity: “the older women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity.”
“Hagnizo” means “to purify, cleanse from defilement”. 14 Forms of “hagnizo” are used in James 4:8, 1 Peter 1:22 and 1 John 3:3. “Hagnotes” means “purity”. 15 A form of the word “hagnotes” is used in 2 Corinthians 6:6.
The Greek adjective “hosios” is used of God in Revelation 15:4 and 16:5 and of Christ in Hebrews 7:26. In these three contexts, “hosios” means “being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essentially divine qualities in contrast to what is human”16 or “supremely holy”. 17 A form of the word “hosios” is used in Titus 1:8 to refer to holiness of character and life and “being pleasing to God”. 18
The Greek word “hosiotes” is derived from “hosios”. Bauer argues that in Luke 1:75, the form of the word “hosiotes” here means “holiness of life”. 19 Luke 1:74-75 says in part, “might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” A form of the Greek word “hosiotes” is also used in Ephesians 4:24 to refer to the true God-given holy nature of the new man in Christ.
The Greek adverb “hosios” is also derived from the Greek adjective “hosios”. The adverb “hosios” means “in a manner pleasing to God, in a holy manner” 20 or “pure from evil conduct and observant of God’s will”. 21 “Hosios” is translated as “devoutly” in the New King James Version of 1 Thessalonians 2:10: “You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe.”
1 Bauer, pages 8-9.
2 Vine, page 307.
3 Ibid, page 545.
4 Ibid, page 307.
5 Louw and Nida, page 745.
6 Bauer, page 9.
7 Vine, page 544.
8 Ibid, pages 307-308.
9 Bauer, page 10.
10 Vine, page 498.
11 Bauer, page 12.
12 Louw and Nida, page 746.
13 Vine, page 498.
14 Ibid, page 499.
15 Bauer, page 12.
16 Louw and Nida, page 745.
17 Perschbacher, page 298.
18 Bauer, page 583.
19 Ibid, page 585.
20 Ibid. 21 Vine, page 308.
Varnel Watson
LOVE IT
Varnel Watson
Greek Words About Sanctification
The New Testament Greek word for “sanctify” is “hagiazo”. “Hagiazo” means
2
“consecrate, dedicate…purify” 1 or “to set apart to God”, when used in relation to the sanctification of people. Forms of “hagiazo” are also used in reference to things (see Matthew 23:19, 1 Timothy 4:5), Jesus as Lord in our hearts (see 1 Peter 3:15) and God’s Name (see Matthew 6:9).
According to Vine, the Greek word for sanctification which is “hagiasmos” means “(a) separation to God, 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; (b) the course of life befitting those so separated, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4, 7; Romans 6:19, 22; 1 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:14.” 3 Vine states, “Sanctification is thus the state predetermined by God for believers, into which in grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so pursue it”. 4
The main New Testament Greek word for “holy” is “hagios”. “Hagios” means “being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing essential divine qualities in contrast with what is human”. 5 Forms of “hagios” are used to refer to the absolute purity or holiness of God the Father (see John 17:11), the Lord Jesus Christ (see Luke 1:35, Acts 3:14, 4:27 and 4:30) and the Spirit of God when He is called the “Holy” Spirit (see Matthew 1:18, 1:20 and many other verses).
In the New Testament, the words “saint” or “saints” are translations of a number of words derived from the Greek word “hagios”. These specific words derived from “hagios” refer to “human beings consecrated to God, holy”. 6 Vine says that when applied to believers, the word “saints” means “all such and is not applied merely to persons of exceptional holiness, or to those who, having died, were characterised by exceptional acts of ‘saintliness.’ ” 7
Vine also says “hagios” means “separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God…This sainthood is not an attainment, it is a state into which God in grace calls men.” 8 Forms of the Greek word “hagios” are also used in the Scriptures to refer to things dedicated to God (see Matthew 24:15, Acts 6:13 and Revelation 21:2), to angels who are God’s servants (see Mark 8:38, Acts 10:22) and to describe our faith (see Jude 20).
Another Greek word “hagiosune” means “holiness”. 9 A form of the word “hagiosune” is used in Romans 1:4 in relationship to the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 7:1, a form of “hagiosune” and in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 “hagiosune” are used in relation to the holiness or purity of God being manifested in believers’ hearts.
1
Bauer, pages 8-9.
2
Vine, page 307.
3
Ibid, page 545.
4
Ibid, page 307.
5
Louw and Nida, page 745.
6
Bauer, page 9.
7
Vine, page 544.
8
Ibid, pages 307-308.
9
Bauer, page 10.
Another New Testament Greek word is “hagiotes” which also means “holiness”. Forms of the word “hagiotes” are used of God’s nature in Hebrews 12:10 and of the manifestation of God’s holy nature in the conduct of Paul and his fellow workers in 2 Corinthians 1:12.
The words “hagiazo”, “hagiasmos”, “hagiosune” and “hagiotes” are derived from the word “hagios”. The word “hagios” is derived from the same Greek word that the Greek word “hagnos” is derived. 10 “Hagnos” means “pure, holy” 11 or “being without moral defect or blemish and hence pure”. 12 “Hagnos” or forms of it are used in Philippians 4:8, 1 Timothy 5:22, James 3:17 and 1 John 3:3. 1 Timothy 5:22 says: “…keep yourself pure.”
Words related to purity or cleansing which are derived from “hagnos” are “hagneia”, “hagnizo” and “hagnotes”. Vine says “hagneia” refers to “chastity which excludes all impurity of spirit, manner or act”. 13 “Chastity” means “purity, avoidance of unlawful sexual intercourse”. “Hagneia” is used in 1 Timothy 4:12 and 5:2. In 1 Timothy 5:2, Paul commanded Timothy to relate to younger women with absolute purity: “the older women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity.”
“Hagnizo” means “to purify, cleanse from defilement”. 14 Forms of “hagnizo” are used in James 4:8, 1 Peter 1:22 and 1 John 3:3. “Hagnotes” means “purity”. 15 A form of the word “hagnotes” is used in 2 Corinthians 6:6.
The Greek adjective “hosios” is used of God in Revelation 15:4 and 16:5 and of Christ in Hebrews 7:26. In these three contexts, “hosios” means “being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essentially divine qualities in contrast to what is human”16 or “supremely holy”. 17 A form of the word “hosios” is used in Titus 1:8 to refer to holiness of character and life and “being pleasing to God”. 18
The Greek word “hosiotes” is derived from “hosios”. Bauer argues that in Luke 1:75, the form of the word “hosiotes” here means “holiness of life”. 19 Luke 1:74-75 says in part, “might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” A form of the Greek word “hosiotes” is also used in Ephesians 4:24 to refer to the true God-given holy nature of the new man in Christ.
The Greek adverb “hosios” is also derived from the Greek adjective “hosios”. The adverb “hosios” means “in a manner pleasing to God, in a holy manner” 20 or “pure from evil conduct and observant of God’s will”. 21 “Hosios” is translated as “devoutly” in the New King James Version of 1 Thessalonians 2:10: “You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe.”
10
Vine, page 498.
11
Bauer, page 12.
12
Louw and Nida, page 746.
13
Vine, page 498.
14
Ibid, page 499.
15
Bauer, page 12.
16
Louw and Nida, page 745.
17
Perschbacher, page 298.
18
Bauer, page 583.
19
Ibid, page 585.
20 Ibid. 21
Vine, page 308.
Varnel Watson
This is good This is very very good Joe Absher
Joe Absher
That counts me out
Louise Cummings
In 1 Corinthians 1:30. But of Him are you in Christ Jesus,Who Of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption. It pertains. To this great Plan of God which is far beyond all wisdom of the world. ; we are in Christ Jesus by virtue of the Cross. But I can’t find any other words it would apply to.
Varnel Watson
You are either sanctified or you are not
Varnel Watson
YES still a thing for the church Joe Absher Melvin Harter
Joe Absher
What would a college class on sanctification look like? How many hours?
Melvin Harter
Joe Absher 3 hour course.
Varnel Watson
ha – you should consult a Wesleyan school but 3 for starters
Link Hudson
Overall a good article. It is an example of how to break down a Greek language topic in a comprehensible way for a regualar audience.
I do wonder if some of the definitions are oversimplified–theological definitions rather than Greek scolarship…the type of definitions Bearded Bill might have broken down with Rashi’s method.
Varnel Watson
its actually just a dictionary entry 🙂
George Hartwell
Does anyone feel that we have lost what the early Methodists experienced in terms of sanctification? How they went to the altar to pray. What exactly they prayed for. What their sign of receiving the ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ was?
Varnel Watson
YES – hence the BACK to the BASICS series http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/?s=BACK+to+the+BASICS
George Hartwell
Troy Day Hmmm. I think I am going to like looking at this set of teachings.
Varnel Watson
pls post anything you find to the original methodist
Chad Macdonald
Teaching on sanctification is much needed today.
Varnel Watson
also your video teaching from last conference
Varnel Watson
Charles Page may have studied these words too
Charles Page
All I need to know about sanctification starts wit the absence of sanctification in Romans 8:30.
You seek for sanctification when you realize you are called, justified and glorified. In pioneer terms we say we have been saved – sanctified – and then filled with the Holy Spirit and power.
Varnel Watson
r u a seeker of entire sanctification or not?
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce Charles Page be happy to discuss ANY of them with you as well as the THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/back-to-the-basics-of-the-role-of-the-holy-spirit-in-entire-sanctification-in-the-writings-of-john-wesley/
RichardAnna Boyce
‘Vine says that when applied to believers, the word “saints” means “all such and is not applied merely to persons of exceptional holiness, or to those who, having died, were characterised by exceptional acts of ‘saintliness.’ ”” All believers receive fullness of Holy Spirit the moment they believe for eternity. …. Ephesians 1:13-14
1:13. Now Paul gives us the final blessing from the Father through the Son based on the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Paul again reminds the Gentile believers in Ephesus that in Him [Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. The gospel is the message that brings salvation. After hearing the message the Ephesians believed and then instantaneously were sealed by the Holy Spirit. Sealing suggests security (cf. Eph 4:30). The moment one believes in Jesus Christ he is sealed by the Holy Spirit and is thus secure and safe forever. Believers can know that the moment they trust in Christ as their Savior they are sealed by the Holy Spirit and are safe forever. Believers have the assurance of salvation based on Christ’s promises (cf. John 5:24; 6:35; 11:26). Sealing also suggests ownership. The Holy Spirit’s seal reminds believers that they belong to God (Rom 8:16-17).
1:14. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. The word guarantee means a pledge or down payment. The Holy Spirit given to believers guarantees their future inheritance. The redemption of the purchased possession will take place when Jesus Christ returns and establishes His righteous kingdom. All believers are His purchased possession since He has bought them. The redemption mentioned in this verse differs from that referred to in v 7. Justification is the focus in v 7, and glorification is in view in v 14. God will complete His plan of redemption when He gives believers glorified bodies and removes all taint of sin from the earth and the universe. As before, the work of God through the Holy Spirit in His sealing of believers is to the praise of His glory.
May God be praised for all the blessings He has given because of the believers’ union in Christ which comes by faith.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce VINES is really a basic lexicon tool I advise my students strongly to use KIttle, Thayer or Weust
RichardAnna Boyce
i was quoting your OP. But Epistles are written to the Saints at……. Corinth for example 🙂
Varnel Watson
oh wow I was trying to share from biblestudytools com / search
and FB gave THIS MSG
Your comment couldn’t be shared, because this link goes against our Community Standards
If you think this doesn’t go against our Community Standards let us know.
RichardAnna Boyce
Troy Day you have to prove you are FG first hehehehe
Varnel Watson
nope – I think I give enough proof below
Varnel Watson
Original Word from Thyers Lexicon
agioß from hagos (an awful thing)
Definition
exciting reverence, venerable, sacred
pure
pure from carnality, chaste, modest
pure from every fault, immaculate
clean
NAS Word Usage – Total: 232
Holy 92, holy 62, Holy of Holies 1, holy one 5, holy ones 1, holy place 7, most holy 1, saint 1, saints 59, saints’ 1, sanctuary 2
Varnel Watson
You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine.
Leviticus 20:26
20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:20-21
9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.
Hebrews 10:10
Synonyms: Holiness, dedication, being set apart for God’s special use
In the time of Moses, the tabernacle, or tent of worship, had rooms called the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 9:1-3). These rooms were hallowed, sacred, dedicated, set apart for God and devoted to his use. That is what it means to be “holy”.
Holy, sanctified…
The words “holy” and “sanctified” mean the same thing. Translators use these words interchangeably to render the same Greek word. Thus, where one version has “sanctified” another might have “holy”.
Saint…
The word “saint” is closely associated with the word “sanctified”. When the scriptures speak of “saints”, we should take that to mean “those who are sanctified”, or “those who have been made holy”.
The term “saint” is one of several that denote Christians. For example, in Acts 9:36-42, the Christians in Joppa are called “disciples” in verse 38, and “saints” in verse 41. “Those who have been sanctified, saints by calling,” was a description of the entire congregation of Christians in Corinth (1Corinthians 1:2).
Scripture: Romans 12:1, 1Corinthians 1:30, 1Corinthians 6:11, Ephesians 5:26, 2Thessalonians 2:13, Hebrews 2:11, 1Peter 1:2
Related ideas: fellowship, purification, blood, priesthood, Holy Spirit
Synopsis: Sanctification or holiness is what makes people saints —a Bible term for Christians, God’s holy or sanctified people. Saints enjoy purification from evil, separateness (but not isolation) from the world, fellowship with all other “saints”, and enlightenment from God. What’s more, they enjoy this sanctification from the moment they become Christians. It’s not a “second blessing” for which they must wait.
Greek References: `αγιασμος (hagiasmos) 38 (Strong) cf 37-42.
RichardAnna Boyce
Acts 19:2
Undoubtedly Peter’s experience with Cornelius set the pattern for reception of the Holy Spirit during the church age—belief in Jesus and the immediate accompanying reception of the Holy Spirit
RichardAnna Boyce
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
6:9-10. Paul points the Corinthians to fact that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. The word unrighteous has no definite article in the Greek, unlike v 1 where the same word appears. This serves to emphasize character rather than position. It can describe both believer and unbeliever who lack godly character. Unbelievers will neither inherit nor enter the kingdom. Unrighteous believers will enter but not inherit.
Some think Paul is referring to believers who because of the practice of unrighteous deeds lose their salvation. Others say it is referring to those who prove they were never true believers in the first place. Both positions equate inheriting the kingdom of God with entering God’s kingdom. However, in the near context Paul is talking to believers who would suffer loss at the Bema (cf. 3:13-15), but not the impossible loss of eternal salvation. They have eternal life that can never be lost.
Yet these believers will not inherit the kingdom of God because of their practice of unrighteousness. The word inherit (kl¢ronomeœ) is often used in the OT to express the wider meaning of entering into full possession of a family inheritance. In other words inheriting the kingdom of God is not equivalent to entering God’s kingdom. To inherit simply means to possess and it includes ruling with Christ (cf. 1 Cor 4:8; 2 Tim 2:12). Both the OT and NT illustrate the possibility that some believers may lose their inheritance (Gen 22:15-18; 27:38-40; 2 Tim 2:12; Heb 12:16-17). Therefore Paul informs the Corinthians that they could renounce their inheritance privilege by their sinful lifestyles. They could live in the future kingdom but not possess it if they continued to live in their sins.
He told them not to be deceived about those who are fornicators (a general term describing one who practices sexual immorality), idolaters (idolatry is the committing of unlawful deeds related to an idol), adulterers (sexual sins related to marriage), homosexuals (men who allow themselves to be misused homosexually), sodomites (male homosexuals). Neither should they be deceived concerning those who practice sins against others: thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. Believers who fail to live for God will not possess the kingdom of God.
6:11. Paul reminds them that such were some of the Corinthians. But (strong adversative) they were washed, sanctified, and justified. Though they had practiced such things, and though some of them were still doing so (cf. 3:3; 5:1), they had been washed from their sins, sanctified (positionally set apart to God; cf. Titus 3:5), and justified (declared righteous) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. These truths are true of the position of every believer, even unrighteous ones. Implicitly here Paul is calling for the readers to live up to their position.
Varnel Watson
1 Corinthians 6:11 is another important example of the definitive use of the verb ἁγιάζω. In context Paul warns the Corinthians that those who persist in unrepentant unrighteousness “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9), going on to list a variety of offenses that will exclude one from the kingdom (6:9–10). In 6:11 Paul sharply contrasts these unrepentant sinners with the believers in Corinth: “such were some of you.” This radical change in their spiritual conditions took place when “you were washed” (ἀπελούσασθε), “you were sanctified” (ἡγιάσθητε), and “you were justified [ἐδικαιώθητε] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” As Murray notes, Paul here coordinates believers’ “sanctification with effectual calling, with their identity as saints, with regeneration, and with justification.”35 These are all aspects of the salvation accomplished by Christ and applied at the moment of conversion by the Spirit.36 Sanctification, here, does not indicate a process, any more than does justification or washing.
The definitiveness of this sanctification perhaps can be seen no more clearly than in Ephesians 5:26, which like 1 Corinthians 6:11, places sanctification at the beginning of the Christian life. In this verse Paul writes of Jesus having given himself up for the church so “that he might sanctify [ἁγιάσῃ] her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” Evoking the language of priestly consecration, this sanctification is said to be brought about through the cleansing that occurs in the “washing of water with the word,” a phrase which (whatever else it invokes) refers to the moment of conversion, and the instrumentality of the preached word in that conversion.
Varnel Watson
Protestants have traditionally understood sanctification as God’s work of gradual spiritual transformation over the entire life of every believer. Recent biblical scholarship has argued that such a definition does not actually correspond with the meaning of biblical terminology for sanctification, which refers to a single and definitive setting apart of believers at conversion. Some have also insisted that this calls into question the wisdom of using the word “sanctification” to describe how God transforms Christians throughout their lives. This article examines these competing perspectives, concluding that biblical terminology for sanctification, while indeed definitive in nature (indicating a once-for-all action occurring at conversion), is also integrally connected in the Bible with the process of spiritual transformation begun at conversion. The article then provides some reflections on how definitive and progressive dimensions of sanctification can (and should) be held together in a doctrine of sanctification.
Hagiazo (a verb; found twenty-eight times) is rendered by such terms as “sanctify” (Eph. 5:26), “hallow” (Mt. 6:9), or “be holy” (Rev. 22:11).
Hagiasmos (noun; ten times) may be “holiness” (Rom. 6:19) or “sanctification” (Heb. 12:14, ASV).
Hagios (adjective; 233-234 times) may be rendered “holy” (Acts 2:38), “saints” (Phil. 1:1), “holy one” (Mk. 1:24), or “holy thing” (Lk. 1:35).
Hagiotes (noun; two times) is “holiness” (Heb. 12:10).
Hagiosyne (noun; three times) is found as “holiness” (Rom. 1:4).
RichardAnna Boyce
Hebrews 10:9-10
By that will, (i.e., the will of God that planned the offering of the body of Jesus as a once-for-all sacrifice for sins), all true believers in Christ Jesus are sanctified (hagiazœ). In this context, as in Heb 2:11, the author is thinking of our positional sanctification because of Christ’s redeeming blood, whereby we are given a righteous standing before God once for all.
Varnel Watson
This sense of definitive, positional sanctification is particularly evident in Hebrews. Hebrews 9:13 is perhaps the most obvious text in the letter where ἁγιάζω refers to consecration at a single moment in time. This verse speaks of the way in which the blood of OT sacrifices sanctifies (ἁγιάζω) “defiled persons” (priests in particular) creating an external “purification of the flesh.” At the moment blood was sprinkled on them they became ritually pure and were thereby consecrated for their priestly duties. In 9:14 this outward purification is contrasted with the spiritual, inward cleansing of the hearts of believers that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood purifies (καθαρίζω) the consciences of believers from their sinful (“dead”) works, which means that the crippling sense of standing under God’s condemnation has been dealt with once-and-for-all.28
There is a close connection in 9:13–14 between sanctification and purification, which is further fleshed out in chapter 10. In 10:1–4 we read that the OT sacrifices could not “perfect” (τελειόω) the worshippers of God who drew near to Him in the tabernacle (10:1). Perfection in Hebrews does not refer to flawless moral uprightness, but rather to God’s people having their sense of standing under His condemnation (their “consciousness of sins” [συνείδησιν ἁμαρτιῶν]) washed away, or cleansed (10:2). Perfection essentially means “wholeness” with regard to one’s sense of their standing before God.29 Animal sacrifices in and of themselves could not perfect, or cleanse, anyone, or else they would have ceased once they had done so (10:2). Instead, they remind God’s people that their sins have yet to be fully and finally dealt with (10:3).
Finally, the use of ἁγιασμός is Hebrews 12:14 should also be understood in the same way: if people do not “pursue” (διώκω) “holiness” (ἁγιασμός) throughout their lives they will not see the Lord (i.e., be saved) in the end. Even though ἁγιασμός means separateness from defilement and sin, this separateness must be continually manifest throughout the Christian life. Believers are set apart as holy, and they must strive to preserve that holy status until the final judgment. As Anthony Thiselton puts it, believers must be “holy in life, as a habituated pattern which has become reflected in settled character.”70 Thus, even in Hebrews, where the definitiveness of sanctification is the most pronounced in the whole NT, it is seen that sanctification/holiness must be maintained over the entirety of a believer’s life.71
The connection between definitive consecration at conversion and subsequent Christian growth can also be seen in two final texts that show the necessity of believers living in accordance with the holy status they have received in Christ.
Varnel Watson
John Wesley insists that “by sanctification we are saved from the power and root of sin, and restored to the image of God” and that this is a process that “gradually increases” until the very end of the believer’s life.9 In sum, whatever differences there might be in parsing out the details of the doctrine, Protestant and Evangelical theologians in the past have consistently maintained that sanctification is the gradual, Spirit-worked transformation of believers into the image of Christ.
This basic definition of sanctification, however, has more recently been challenged, particularly among biblical scholars. The debate is not over whether God in fact transforms believers throughout their lives, but rather, whether this process should be called sanctification. D. A. Carson is representative: while he notes that sanctification in the NT can refer to “the progressive purifying of the believer, the process by which he becomes increasingly holy … it is a commonplace among Pauline scholars that … it commonly refers to the initial setting aside of an individual for God at his conversion.”10
David Peterson goes even further, insisting that in “systematic theology, sanctification has” wrongly “become the basket into which every theme related to Christian life and growth has been placed.”11 Peterson insists that such a view of sanctification is premised on “an inadequate definition” which “obscures the distinctive meaning and value of the terminology in the New Testament, confusing sanctification with renewal and transformation.”12 In short, sanctification words do not connote progress, growth, or the like. Sanctification, biblically speaking, is “a once-for-all, definitive act and primarily has to do with the holy status or position of those who are in Christ.”13
RichardAnna Boyce
Consider Romans 5: 9-10: ‘Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved (JUSTIFICATION A) from wrath through Him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled (JUSTIFICATION A),
we shall be saved (SANCTIFICATION B) by His life.’
The salvation of justification is distinct from the salvation of sanctification.
The former saves us from the penalty of sin once for all.
The latter saves us from the power of sin in a lifetime process as Christ lives through us.
Justification (A) …………………. Sanctification (B)
One-time event …………. Lifetime process
Spiritual birth ………… Spiritual growth
Faith in Christ as Savior ……. Obedience to Christ as Lord
Placed into Christ ………. Transformed into Christlikeness
One condition ……………………. Many conditions
What God did for me ……… What God is doing through me
Christ died on the cross for me ……. I take up the cross for Christ
Saved from the penalty of sin ……… Saved from the power of sin
There are some who believe that justification happens in two stages,
initial justification and final justification.
In other words, a person can believe in Jesus Christ and be provisionally justified,
but must prove their justification by persevering in faith and good works
until the end of life in order to be finally justified.
Language such as “already but not yet” is used to describe their view of two justifications. One is already justified upon belief, but not yet finally justified for eternity.
Clever arguments have been offered in support,
but on the face of it this makes no sense. How can something be, yet not be?
That violates the Law of Non-contradiction
Varnel Watson
where is the PROOF of Justification (A) Sanctification (B)
One-time event Lifetime process ?
In Romans 5:20 Paul makes a claim that was bound to shock his Jewish contemporaries: God’s “law came in to increase the trespass.” God’s intention in this, however, was not simply that humans would sin more. Instead, God gave his law to stir up the sin already lying dormant in every human heart (cf. 4:15; 7:7–11). However, he did this with a more ultimate aim in view, namely, that grace might abound all the more, and that sinners would be led to seek salvation in Jesus Christ (5:21). In light of Paul’s claim in 5:20 that the increase of sin brought about an increase of grace, he anticipates that some might respond by thinking that they should “continue in sin that grace may abound” (6:1). Paul emphatically rules this conclusion out in 6:2. Why? Because “we who died to sin” (οἵτινες ἀπεθάνομεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ) simply cannot continue to “live in it” (6:2). Death to sin’s mastery comes about by being baptized into Christ and his death (6:3). The divinely directed outcome (ἵνα) of death with Christ is resurrection to “newness of life” with Christ (6:4)
RichardAnna Boyce
Romans 5:20-21
In case some are wondering about the law, Paul explains that it entered that the offense [cf. vv 15-19] might abound. The term pareiserchomai should be translated came alongside: The law came alongside with the purpose that sin might abound (lit., “increase”) and give people knowledge of sin (cf. 3:20; 7:13). The Law could not change man’s disposition. It reveals it. He implies that the Law has no primary place in the divine plan because it could not change Adam’s situation. Gal 3:19 emphasizes the same point.
But where sin increased, grace abounded much more. So immense and powerful is God’s grace that as sin reigned in death…grace might reign through righteousness. Paul spoke in vv 14,17 of death reigning, but now refers to sin’s reign as a king in death (i.e., sin reigned in the realm or sphere of death). The sphere where death reigned is the same where sin reigns as king. Nevertheless, God’s immense grace as a powerful king establishes its throne through (by means of) righteousness [dikaiosun¢] in the lives of believers by overthrowing sin’s monarchy. However, although this overthrowing of sin occurs in one sense at justification, Paul’s idea here refers to the grace-rule that believers will manifest in living righteously. Believers are to experience eternal life by overcoming the lordship of sin through Jesus Christ our Lord as the following chapter develops.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce As has been noted above, Romans 6 only employs sanctification terminology in verses 19 and 22. Neither of those instances of sanctification words has anything to do with definitive sanctification in Murray’s sense. Conceptually speaking, however, Romans 6 does speak of a “once-for-all definitive and irreversible breach with the realm in which sin reigns in and unto death.
RichardAnna Boyce
Romans 6:1–4
6:1. Paul, after having taught in 5:20 that if sin “abounded” God’s grace “abounded much more,” suggests that someone might ask: Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Perhaps legalistic people spread rumors that Paul’s teaching of God’s free grace gave people a license to sin more (3:7-8).
6:2. Certainly not! is Paul’s emphatic rejection of such absurd logic. The thought was detestable to Paul. He then asks rhetorically, How shall we who died to sin [i.e., with reference to sin’s realm] live any longer in it? Just as death transfers a person to another realm, so believers’ are transferred from the realm of sin and death’s dominion (vv 6-7,9-12,14,17-22) to a new realm of power found in resurrection life (cf. vv 4-5,8,10-11,13,18-20,22-23).
Paul does not mean that Christians cannot sin at all or that Christians do not habitually sin. He means that Christians must not sin. To deliberately continue sinning is abhorrent. It is inconceivable to think grace encourages sin. The fact is that one can abuse grace (or else why pen chaps. 6-8?), but that is repugnant to Paul. Christians should not and must not live as slaves of sin (cf. vv 12,16-22).
6:3-4. Paul elaborates fully the positional reality believers are in since they have “died to sin” (v 2). He asks rhetorically, Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized [baptizœ] into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Baptizœ means to be placed into, immersed, or identified with.
The context is not about water baptism and Scripture does not say anywhere that people get eternal life through water baptism. Rather, Paul is referring to a work of the Spirit when He places believers into the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:13; Col 2:11-12). When that occurred believers were buried with Him through baptism into death (cf. Gal 2:20). The Spirit appears in the larger context as being the instrument by which the believer is raised to new life (8:9-11). Finally, when Paul speaks of water baptism, he uses the phrase baptism in the name (1 Cor 1:13-15; cf. Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5), but when speaking of the Spirit’s baptism he uses the phrase baptism into Christ (1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27), as he does here. So this is a reference to Spirit baptism.
Believers not only die to the old realm with Christ, but God’s purpose is that just as Christ was raised from the dead (cf. 4:24; 8:11) by the glory [i.e., power] of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (cf. Gal 2:20; 5:16.). Believers become united with Christ by Spirit baptism in two ways. They are buried with Him and raised with Him. Believers now have the power to live the resurrection life which expresses a new, superior quality. The power of sin is crushed when believers live in the new resurrection life since they are also raised with Him. Christians need not, and should not, live in the old realm (cf. Gal 2:20; 5:24; 6:14). Paul unfolds this wonderful truth in the next six verses.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce Romans 6:19 and 6:22, places ἁγιασμός at the very beginning of the Christian life. When a person is united to Jesus Christ (placed by God ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ) Christ “becomes” (γίνομαι) for that person “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification [ἁγιασμός] and redemption.” In this verse the central reality depicted is Christ becoming wisdom for the believer, with each of the three subsequent nouns describing what it means for Christ to be our wisdom, rather than introducing three additional things that Christ “becomes.
RichardAnna Boyce
Romans 6:19; Romans 6:20-23
Paul now adds the disclaimer that he speaks in human terms. He uses this language because of the weakness of your flesh. The phrase weakness of your flesh refers to a lack of ability to make sound moral judgments (cf. 8:26). That is, because the flesh (fallen humanity, cf. 7:5; 8:4) desires to live independently of God, Paul uses slavery language to convey the Christian’s moral duty as he did for himself in 1:1.
Paul explains that Christians ought to have the same zeal for living righteously that they had for living sinfully. Whereas they once presented [their] members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now [they were to] present [their] members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. The contrasting imagery is startling. As service of uncleanness results in an increase of lawlessness, so doing righteousness results in being set apart in progressive sanctification through service to God (cf. v 22)
6:20-23. Paul reasons that believers should not continue in sin but present themselves as “slaves to righteousness” or else continue to be enslaved like unbelievers. The human independence that people pride themselves in is not true freedom. Rather they are only free in regard to not practicing moral righteousness. They are free to sin, which really enslaves. God’s power does not have an inner effect on the unbeliever in reference to righteousness, but it does for believers. Thus as unbelievers are enslaved by sin, believers are totally free only when they live righteously (cf. John 8:32).
Paul asks the Christians what fruit they had as unbelievers. The only fruit unbelievers have is death. While death for non-Christians becomes eternal when they die physically, it also includes a present experience of death. Paul believes that Christians, though eternally secure (cf. 8:28-39), can face this present experience of death if they do not obey God’s commands (vv 12-13,19; 8:12-13).
While disobedient believers can live experiencing death, this is always an unnatural Christian experience, which is Paul’s point contextually. He contrasts this living death with what Christians should experience: everlasting life. He writes, but now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. Since they have died to sin’s lordship (6:1-2,6,10-11) and become God’s slaves, Christians live in the realm of righteousness. Therefore, if believers present themselves voluntarily to God in obedience, they will experience the fruit (i.e., benefit) of righteousness, undergo progressive sanctification, and enjoy the fullness of eternal life (cf. John 10:10; 17:3; Rom 5:21; Gal 6:8; 1 Tim 6:12,19). Everlasting life does not begin when a believer dies, but when he first believes, and some of the benefits and blessings of everlasting life can be enjoyed and experienced now by the believer who obeys God.
Paul summarizes both contrasting aspects of life’s principles found in vv 20-22: the wages of sin is death, but the gift (lit., “grace”) of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. By using the phrase the wages of sin, Paul personifies sin as a master paying wages to slaves (cf. James 1:15). Wages provide the sustenance of life, which in this case ends in death. Sin is deceptive. While promising life, it yields only death (7:10-11).
In contrast, God provides through “grace” (unmerited favor) the means by which believers experience eternal life now. This is nothing less than the resurrection-life experience that Paul developed in 6 (cf. 5:20-21).
While the death and life motif is a general principle applicable to everyone, Paul’s primary point is for believers to overcome the deadly effects of sin and experience life to the fullest. Christian victory, as described in chap. 6, is possible by first being in Christ and second, by adhering to Him as Lord (cf. 5:21).
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce from your own copy pasted words
6:20-23. Paul reasons that believers should not continue in sin but present themselves as “slaves to righteousness”
You just defined finished completed sanctification – one single act done by God in the believer post salvation
RichardAnna Boyce
Troy Day it is a choice “believers SHOULD not continue in sin but present themselves as “slaves to righteousness” ” But of course we daily also walk in the flesh; and will do until we get to glory. The accountabilty to walk in the Spirit is that the believer will earn rewards in the Millennium.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce daily also walk in the flesh? Bible references for any of those terms please
RichardAnna Boyce
Galatians; but in experience read the comments of all of us in Pentecostal Theology as we walk in the flesh; especially about politics 🙁
Varnel Watson
The sanctification of the flesh is a one time definite event as the Bible presents it. This sense of definitive, positional sanctification is particularly evident in Hebrews. Hebrews 9:13 is perhaps the most obvious text in the letter where ἁγιάζω refers to consecration at a single moment in time. This verse speaks of the way in which the blood of OT sacrifices sanctifies (ἁγιάζω) “defiled persons” (priests in particular) creating an external “purification of the flesh.” At the moment blood was sprinkled on them they became ritually pure and were thereby consecrated for their priestly duties. In 9:14 this outward purification is contrasted with the spiritual, inward cleansing of the hearts of believers that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood purifies (καθαρίζω) the consciences of believers from their sinful (“dead”) works, which means that the crippling sense of standing under God’s condemnation has been dealt with once-and-for-all
RichardAnna Boyce
Galatians 5:16-17
5:16. The words I say then introduces an application to what Paul has been saying. Much modern teaching on what it means to walk in the Spirit is inconsistent with Paul’s meaning here in context.
To walk in the Spirit means to “live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself for me” (2:20). It is the opposite of living “under the law” (e.g., v 18 below).
This is not a matter of some special level of commitment to God. Legalists often are very committed to Him in their own minds (though they go about the Christian life in their own way, not God’s way). Nor is it simply a matter of confession of sin in keeping with 1 John 1:9, as legalists sometimes are diligent in this regard. While walking in the Spirit includes both commitment to Christ and confession of sins, the point is simply that we are walking in the Spirit, that is by faith, not in the flesh, that is, by the law.
The key to victory over the lust [or desire] of the flesh is by walking in a spiritual manner, by faith. Walking in a legalistic manner indulges the flesh.
5:17. The word translated lusts here is the verbal form of the word translated lust in the previous verse. Probably it would be better to translate it, the flesh [sets its desires] against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
Here is Rom 7 in a nutshell. There is a tension within each believer. The Holy Spirit moves him to loving service. The flesh moves him to biting conflict. These are contrary to one another. They cannot be reconciled. Victory is not found in legalistically satisfying the flesh. Only by living by faith will the Holy Spirit fulfill His desires in a believer and produce loving service.
The believer operating on his own resolve and commitment to fulfill God’s commands can not do the things that he wishes. Only by walking in the Spirit, which is living by faith in Christ, can one do what God, and one’s inner man, wishes to do.
The focus of the Christian life is on the Commander, not the commands.
RichardAnna Boyce
Hebrews 9:13-14 The benefit of Christ’s sacrifice is not limited to eternal redemption, for it also provides a cleansed conscience from dead works. Dead works may refer to the person who went through the motions of the Levitical rituals without faith and thus obtained no spiritual benefit (cf. Heb 6:1). This type of worshiper could never escape a defiled conscience. He may go through the rituals outwardly, but inwardly he still struggled under the burden of guilt. On the other hand, the worshiper who recognizes the New Covenant and thus rests in the finished work of Christ alone can enjoy a cleansed conscience altogether.
Yet this is not an end in itself. Knowing his sin is totally and eternally paid for and forgiven, he experiences the freedom to serve the living God. Note the contrast between dead works and living God. The word for serve (latrueœ) has overtones of worship and priestly service, not mundane labor. The choice of this word to describe “service” would suggest to the reader the responsibility for priestly service, drawing our attention back to chap. 3 where the author was concerned that the readers actively be part of the worshiping community as the “Son’s house.”
RichardAnna Boyce
On the other hand, the worshiper who recognizes the New Covenant and thus rests in the finished work of Christ alone CAN enjoy a cleansed conscience altogether.
RichardAnna Boyce
Yet this is not an end in itself. Knowing his sin is totally and eternally paid for and forgiven, he experiences the FREEDOM to serve the living God.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce you seem to be coping LifeWay articles Lifeway is baptist and do not believe in sanctification or ANY of our Pentecostal doctrines – the article I cited earlier is from a reform author who is showing how even reformed free grace only scholarship is moving to entire NOT progressive sanctification Also you seem to equate entire with instant sanctification which is a common mistake They are not the same You should look them up before commenting https://blog.lifeway.com/explorethebible/blog/5-things-you-should-know-about-sanctification-session-6-galatians-513-26/
RichardAnna Boyce
I have never heard of Lifeway. I am a Biblicist and neither Baptist, Calvinist, Reformed, Arminian etc etc. I am quoting FREE GRACE commentary on all Bible verses you quote brother.
RichardAnna Boyce
i am Pentecostal Free Grace, and most if not all members in FG church i belong come out of AOG.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce you;ve been copy pasting from their articles without even knowing it 🙂
RichardAnna Boyce
wrong i am posting from The Grace New Testament Commentary, Copyright © 2010 by Grace Evangelical Society. All rights reserved and only to be quoted RIGHT in Pentecostal Theology site 🙂
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce a biblicist is a person who interprets the Bible literally. How come you dont take literally all the verses and Greek words I posted proving entire sanctification ?
RichardAnna Boyce
i quote literally in context.
RichardAnna Boyce
3rd stanza .. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power, making him God’s dear child.
Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!
REFRAIN: Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All-sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name! ………………The words of this third stanza may strike some as inconsistent with Lillenas’s Nazarene theology. While members of GES generally recognize that ultimate sanctification will occur only in the presence of the Lord in Heaven, Nazarene theology teaches a doctrine of “entire sanctification,” in which the believer can and should obtain complete sanctification in this life.4 Connected to this doctrine is the Nazarene teaching that apostasy in the life of a believer can result in the loss of salvation. Thus, for the Nazarene, there is no true doctrine of eternal security, as promulgated by GES. This makes Lillenas’s words in the third stanza even more interesting, when he writes “Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity,” and even in the second stanza where he tells us that we have been “saved to the uttermost” (italics added). While these words may have meant something quite different to Lillenas, they seem equally applicable to our understanding of God’s grace in salvation, sanctification, and security.
“Wonderful Grace of Jesus” combines doctrinal truth with a buoyant melody and serves as a good vehicle for teaching the doctrine of grace. It touches on the availability, sufficiency, and efficacy of the salvation offered by grace through faith in Christ, and so carries an appropriate message for believer and unbeliever alike. Though we should be aware that Lillenas’s own theology may not line up completely with that of most GES readers , his words do carry the Gospel of grace, making this hymn worthy of the category “Hymn of Grace.”
RichardAnna Boyce
Free Grace teaches that apostasy in the life of a believer does not result in the loss of salvation.
Charles Page
nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ! Once a child of God always a child of God! (calling, justification and glorification are predetermined works of grace)
RichardAnna Boyce
Confusion Abounds about How to Have Eternal Life | Grace …
faithalone.org/…/confusion-abounds-about-how-to-have-eternal-life/
RichardAnna Boyce
Excerpt : “6. “Total sanctification.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 and 5:23-24 are his texts. Wesley, of course, famously suggested that it was possible for a born-again person to arrive at the point where he never sinned at all. He called this “entire sanctification” or “total sanctification.” Steckbauer does not think that is possible, saying: “This does not mean we become perfect in our actions, or never struggle with sin, but it does mean that our fundamental desires have been changed, and we desire wholeheartedly to do the will of God always.” He clearly sees that it will be true in the future when believers are glorified. No disagreement there. BUT Steckbauer says that total sanctification is one of the conditions on “How to Have Eternal Life.” He is applying a sanctification hope as a condition of justification/ regeneration/ receiving eternal life/ initial saving faith/ born again.
Charles Page
sanctification hope as a condition of justification/ regeneration/ receiving eternal life/ initial saving faith/ born again. — isn’t that moderated modern Calvinism?
RichardAnna Boyce
Bob Wilkin is the leader of Grace Evangelical Society
Joe Absher
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” – Luke 13:24
Varnel Watson
There is PLENTY of verse on entire sanctification in the NT
RichardAnna Boyce
Ephesians 5:26-27
Paul now gives reasons as to the purpose of Christ’s love for the Church. His goal is that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. The Bible is pictured as cleansing believers, just as water washes away dirt and grime. As believers continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), they become more and more like Christ and become clean through the Word.
5:27. Christ’s goal is that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. This pictures the Church being presented as the perfect bride of Christ. His aim is that she should be holy and without blemish.
Of course, not all believers will individually be presented as holy and without blemish before Christ at His Judgment Seat (cf. Col 1:21-23, where the same language is used). Thus Paul may be speaking of a corporate presentation here. Or he may be alluding to individual presentations at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The husband as the spiritual leader in the home is to lead his wife and family in their spiritual growth, helping them to become more and more like Christ so that when they appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ, they will be found holy and without blemish.
(from The Grace New Testament Commentary, Copyright © 2010 by Grace Evangelical Society. All rights reserved.)
RichardAnna Boyce
Luke 13:23-30
13:23-24. While Jesus continues on His journey to Jerusalem, an unnamed person inquires, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” The question deals with the promised OT Messianic deliverance—or salvation—anticipated by the godly believing remnant (cf. 1:68-75) and the number of those who will experience it.
Jesus responds to a larger group. The exhortation does not address the issue of finding “the narrow gate” (in the NT only here and Matt 7:13-14), but rather of entering through it—by belief in Him. Jesus here affirms neither that one can earn eternal life through strenuous self-effort nor that only a few will see salvation. The many refer to Jewish contemporaries of Jesus who witnessed His ministry and yet rejected Him (cf. esp. v 29). The gravity of the future consequence merits every effort in the present to avoid it.
13:25. Jesus describes a future attempt to enter the kingdom by the same contemporaries who had rejected Him. As “Master of the house” He will either exclude or welcome people into the future millennial kingdom, here pictured as a house where guests enjoy an exclusive dinner banquet. When He closes “the door” of opportunity (i.e., He returns to establish His reign), then those very contemporaries would “begin to stand outside and knock.” But because they had not expended the effort to validate Jesus’ claim to messiahship—and consequently believe in Him—“He will answer…‘I do not know you.’” Entrance into the kingdom requires a spiritual union with Jesus, which is established forever the instant that one believes in Him as Savior.
13:26. The ones outside will then attempt to help the Master’s recollection. Ironically their claim confirms their just exclusion from the house. They experienced Jesus’ compassion and teaching and yet rejected Him.
13:27. Those outside the house hear the same message again with the addition of a command: “‘Depart from me all you workers of iniquity.’” In addition to having no relationship with Jesus they did evil. The basis of their condemnation lies in the words “‘I do not know you.’” The phrase workers of iniquity describes their characteristic sin.
13:28. The Lord predicts deep regret—“weeping and gnashing of teeth”—for unbelieving Jewish people who witnessed His ministry firsthand and yet rejected Him. They will experience profound pain when they see the famous “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets” in the kingdom and they themselves barred from entering.
13:29. Not only will they not participate with their Jewish forefathers and prophets, but Gentiles—whom they typically despised will “sit down in the kingdom of God.” This close fellowship of the Gentiles with Messiah strikes a marked contrast with the exclusion of those in the chosen nation who rejected Him.
13:30. The Lord employs this saying with different senses in the Synoptic Gospels (see Matt 19:30; 20:16; Mark 10:31). Here it contrasts the last—Gentiles—with those in the Jewish nation first in privileges (cf. Rom 9:1-5).
(from The Grace New Testament Commentary, Copyright © 2010 by Grace Evangelical Society. All rights reserved.)