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There are three aspects of sanctification in the Scriptures:
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There is the Spirit's sanctification in seeking the God-chosen people before they repent and believe—1 Pet. 1:2.
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There is the positional sanctification by the blood of Christ at the time of the believers' believing—Heb. 13:12; 9:13-14; 10:29.
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There is the Spirit's dispositional sanctification in the believers' full course of their Christian life—1 Thes. 5:23-24; Rom. 15:16b; 6:19, 22; cf. 5:10; Rev. 22:14; 2 Pet. 1:4.
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The divine sanctification for the divine sonship is the center of the divine economy and the central thought of the revelation in the New Testament:
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The divine sanctification is the holding line in the carrying out of the divine economy to sonize us divinely, making us sons of God that we may become the same as God in His life and in His nature (but not in His Godhead), so that we may be God's expression.
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We say that sanctification is the holding line because every step of God's work with us is to make us holy— John 17:17; Eph. 5:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:11; 12:3b; Heb. 12:4-14; Rom. 8:28-29; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thes. 5:19; Rev. 2:7a; Psa. 73:16-17, 25-26:
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The seeking sanctification, the initial sanctification, is unto repentance to bring us back to God—1 Pet. 1:2; Luke 15:8-10, 17-21; John 16:8-11.
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The redeeming sanctification, the positional sanctification, is by the blood of Christ, to transfer us from Adam to Christ—Heb. 13:12.
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The regenerating sanctification, the beginning of dispositional sanctification, renews us from our spirit to make us, the sinners, sons of God—a new creation with the divine life and nature— John 1:12-13; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.
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The renewing sanctification, the continuation of dispositional sanctification, renews our soul from our mind through all the parts of our soul to make our soul a part of God's new creation—Rom. 12:2b; 6:4; 7:6; Eph. 4:23; Ezek. 36:26-27; 2 Cor. 4:16-18.
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The transforming sanctification, the daily sanctification, reconstitutes us with the element of Christ metabolically to make us a new constitution as a part of the organic Body of Christ—1 Cor. 3:12; 2 Cor. 3:18.
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The conforming sanctification, the shaping sanctification, shapes us in the image of the glorious Christ to make us the expression of Christ—Rom. 8:29.
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The glorifying sanctification, the consummating sanctification, redeems our body by transfiguring it to make us Christ's expression in full and in glory— Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:23.
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The divine, dispositional sanctification is carried out by Christ as the sanctifying Spirit in our spirit—15:16b; 8:4.
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. 1:2 Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ…Heb. 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers.
God in eternity past made an economy, and in that economy He decided to have many sons. After He created man, man became fallen. Then God the Spirit came to sanctify man (1 Pet. 1:2). We were lost in Adam, in sin, and in death…. But the Spirit came to seek us out, and He found us….This seeking sanctification resulted in our repentance to bring us back to God (Luke 15:17-21).
The redeeming sanctification, the positional sanctification, is through the blood of Christ (Heb. 13:12) to transfer us from Adam to Christ. This changed the place where we were. This is the positional sanctification, having nothing to do with our disposition. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” p. 222)
Today’s Reading
Our regeneration is a kind of sanctification. Regeneration is the beginning of the dispositional sanctification to renew us from our spirit (2 Cor. 5:17). God renewed us from the very center of our being, which is our spirit.The renewing sanctification continues our dispositional sanctification by renewing our soul from our mind through all the parts of our soul (Rom. 12:2b; Eph. 4:23)….Our soul has three parts: the mind, emotion, and will.
Ephesians 4:23 speaks of our being renewed in the spirit of our mind. This means that our regenerated spirit has entered into our mind to make us renewed entirely in our soul. This makes our soul a part of God’s new creation (Gal. 6:15). Our spirit has become a part of God’s new creation but not our soul. Through the renewing, our soul will be made a part of God’s new creation.
Second Corinthians 4:16 says that day by day our outer man, our old man, is decaying, and our inner man, our new man, is being renewed….Our entire environment, including the people around us, is the best instrument used by God to renew us. He is transforming us inwardly and metabolically with the divine element all the time.
The transforming sanctification is the daily sanctification, which reconstitutes us with the element of Christ metabolically to make us a new constitution as a part of the organic Body of Christ (1 Cor. 3:12). This is a kind of reconstitution, to discharge the old and to add in the new replacement of the element of Christ. The conforming sanctification is the shaping sanctification to shape us in the image of the glorious Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). A fruit tree has the shaping principle of life within it…. In every life there is a regulating law….We express Christ because we have been shaped by the sanctifying Spirit.
The glorifying sanctification is the consummating sanctification, the completing sanctification to redeem our body by transfiguring it (Phil. 3:21). Our vile and fallen body will be redeemed from sickness, from weakness, from death, and from lust and sinfulness to make us Christ’s expression in full and in glory (Rom. 8:23). At this point God’s salvation and God’s sanctification to carry out God’s economy have reached the highest level. This is the revelation of the divine sanctification in seven steps…. [It] is altogether the fine work of the consummated, compound, life-giving, and indwelling Spirit of Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” pp. 222-224)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” chs. 1-3; CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “Salvation in Life in the Book of Romans,” ch. 3