Sanctification
August 24, 2025
What if God’s will for your life could be summed up in one word? In 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul spells it out succinctly: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified ….” But what does it actually mean to be “sanctified”? In our “Lost in Translation” series, we’re dealing with big biblical words that many of us struggle to understand and apply. Sanctification is one of the most important words in the Bible, yet we don’t hear much about it anymore. Sanctification literally means “to be set apart,” but the problem is, most Christians today aren’t set apart at all. Like the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin that looked so much like a quarter, it confused everyone and had to be removed from circulation, Christians today often look so much like non-believers that no one can tell the difference. A recent Barna survey showed that born-again believers were just as likely as unbelievers to gamble, gossip, lie, steal, visit pornographic websites, drink excessively, and use illegal substances. But God calls His children to be holy, to look like Him through His transforming work of sanctification.
Topics: Sanctification
In this series
Lost in Translation
I don’t believe there has ever been a time that the church needs to hear more sound theology than today. There is no more important doctrine to discuss than what the entire Bible is all about. But sometimes, what the Bible says can get lost in translation, and that’s what I want to make sure doesn’t keep happening as we dive into this series. As you read about salvation in the Bible, salvation seems a lot like a kaleidoscope. When you begin to turn it, you see different aspects, different virtues, different qualities, and different colors. There are various words that are used to describe the whole process of salvation from beginning to end and that is what we’re going to look at in this series. As we do, I pray that together we will gain a better understanding of God’s Word and His definitions and descriptions of salvation.
