Jehovah Mekoddishkem or M’Kaddesh means The Lord who sanctifies.

In Leviticus 20:7-8, The Lord makes it clear that He alone has the ability to cleanse, sanctify and make us holy. Jesus’ work on the cross brought about justification. It was a one and done event. Sanctification, on the other hand, isn’t.

What is Sanctification?

Sanctification is derived from the word sanctity which means to set apart, to separate. Sanctification, therefore, involves separation, consecration, purification for a particular purpose. Sanctification isn’t a one and done event. It is a continuous process. Justification happened at the cross for the purpose of eternity. Sanctification is what happens between the cross and eternity.

Many of us love the concept and the idea of justification. However, Sanctification doesn’t get equal accolades because it involves a lot of dying to the flesh. It involves change which is something we don’t naturally embrace. Sanctification is holiness.

The process of sanctification begins when we give our lives to God. It is not a behavioral modification. It is a change of heart. I remember years ago when I was struggling with my Christian walk. I wanted to do and act right. I focused so much on trying not to sin; but the more I tried, the more I failed. Don’t get me wrong, we should set our boundaries and avoid the things that drift us away from intimacy with Christ. However, if this decision isn’t coming from a changed heart, we will be frustrated just like I was. Sanctification comes from inside and manifests on the outside. The heart is the well of our lives. This is the reason why we are told to guard it.

Sanctification is a change of heart. The Bible tells us that the heart – including yours and mine is desperately wicked. He further went on to tell us that He is the One who searches the heart.

When we give our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to begin to wash and purify us so we are able to live lives worthy of our call.

Growth proceeds sanctification. Look at your life now and how it was five years ago. I hope you will discover growth. Those self-denials have resulted in spiritual growth and maturity. Things that used to make you angry and overreact, don’t really bother you anymore. You are able to overlook and tolerate others. Your perception of things has changed over the years. All of this happens due to the process of sanctification.

It’s very important to note that sanctification cannot happen if we remove the instruments God uses for this purpose from our lives.

Instruments of Sanctification

The word of God – the Bible. You cannot grow in your Christian walk if you do not read and study your bible. I’m sorry there is no fast way to go around this. How do we expect to pass the exam of life when we have refused to study the book that will lead to our success? I have said this before, reading blogs and listening to others should not replace personal devotions. If my blog is becoming an idol in your life, please by all means possible, unsubscribe and unfollow me. I am here to point you to Christ and not to pull you away from Him.

The word of God sensitizes our hearts to evil. It sharpens our spiritual knowledge so we know what God wants for and from us. It helps us to understand God and His characteristics. All of these are geared towards our growth. If you don’t study the Bible, you won’t grow spiritually.

Fellowship. You need to look for a body of believers to fellowship with. In today’s world, we commonly call this a church. We were not created to live in isolation. We need a group of people to do life with.

Yes, people will offend you in church just as you will offend others too. I describe church as a bunch of burning coal. If you isolate one of the coals, it might still burn for a while but certainly not as much as it would have been if kept with other burning coals. Come back to that isolated coal later and you will notice with time the fire has quenched and the coal had gone cold to the point where you can’t even tell if it was once hot. I have seen more people become cold when they stopped going to church than I have seen stay on fire. Iron sharpens iron. The place where you find pain might also be the place where you find healing.

Prayers. Prayers sharpen our spiritual arsenal. It makes us spiritually sensitive. It is a sign of total dependence on God. A prayerless life is a sign of pride. If we don’t pray, we are telling God we don’t need Him and that we can figure life out on our own. Prayer energizes us and makes us stay alert.

Fasting. It helps kill our fleshy desires making our mind more inclined to obedience to the word of God. It helps us with spiritual discipline. It’s also a way of fighting spiritual battles and getting rid of bad habits that are holding us down spiritually. Prayer and fasting go together. Fasting without prayer is starvation and will only result in stomach ulcers lol.

Service. We are saved to serve. A good way to rate our maturity is for us to look at our level of service. Are we willing to be self-less? Do we only want people to do things for us? I spoke in-depth about service here. So you might want to check it out.

Sanctification, as I said before, is separation and setting apart. As Christian, we have been called out of darkness into light. We are called to be separate unto God. He has set us apart for Himself. This is why we can’t just be like everyone else and do what everyone else is doing. We are in the world but not of the world. When we accepted Christ into our lives, we joined His family. Just as I expect visitors who come to my house to abide by my rules so also God expects us to abide by the rules He has laid out in His family.

I like the above verse because it talks about boundaries. The challenge is that some of us want it our way. We want to accept Christ without Him leading us. We want to do whatever we like, live our lives the way we want to and also make it to heaven. Ermmm honey, it doesn’t work like that!

Separation from the world involves more than keeping our distance from sinful practices; it means staying close to God. Some of us are trying to keep our distance from things that will lure us away; however, we are not staying close to God. The devil comes to meet us empty and idol and then he attacks our mind again. Staying close to God not only gives us protection but it also helps us to become more like Him. The more we draw near to Him, the more He reveals our heart and shows us areas where we need to work on.

Trusting and allowing The Sanctifier to do His work in us is crucial. Note, I used the word ‘allow’. We need to play our part by staying humble and teachable; allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way in us. We need to stop fighting the spirit of God and surrender to His will so He can prune us and take away the things that will prevent us from being able to do what He has called us to do. Sanctification enables us for good work.

Sanctification is a journey. In a journey, there are hurdles, curves, and bends. We can’t get to the end of our journey if we park at a bend. The hurdles, bends, and curves are trials and temptations we meet in life. We will make mistakes but it’s important we don’t pitch our tents in the ditches.

The uniqueness of our faith is embedded in the fact that we aren’t left to figure the journey out on our own. We do not have the ability to be holy in our way because we are born into sin. Jehovah Mekoddishkem helps us all through the way because He is good! Praise to Him!

 

-Efua Uke is a United Kingdom-based mentor, blogger, and contributor to Ambo TV. This article originally appeared on her website Grace Over Pain.