Did Jesus teach Sanctification?

The reason some people cannot find sanctification in the Word of God is the same reason that a burglar cannot find a policeman. They aren’t looking for it. There are those who say that Jesus never taught this doctrine and experience while He was in the flesh. The purpose of this article is to share some of the teachings of Christ on this subject and the necessity of all believers to understand the doctrine and seek the experience. Once we have done this it is imperative that we faithfully witness, teach, and proclaim this truth which required Jesus, the sacrificial lamb of God, to die on the cross.

Jesus used a variety of means and terms to teach this truth. Often He gave us the truth in nugget form and enlisted the writers of the Epistles to break it down into negotiable gold. These were writing to the church and were admonishing the believers to a deeper experience than they had received when they entered the kingdom by way of the new birth. For example the writer of the Hebrew letter encouraged the believers to “leave the principles of the doctrines of Christ and go on unto perfection.” (Hebrews 6:1) Paul, concerned that the new christians of Thessalonica would be “tempted and all his labor be in vain” (I Thes. 3: 5), urged them to be “sanctified wholly.” (I Thes. 5:23) And John admonishes the believers to “to walk in the light as He is in the light and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from ALL sin,” (I John 1:7) and many more such passages.

When the Truth of the Gospels is rightly divided Jesus clearly teaches that all must live a life of  “holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” Scripture often times has been wrested from its context and was forged into a pretext. One careful expositor of the Word of God gave the principle necessary to rightly divide the Scriptures when he put it into a poem:

“I kept six honest serving men,
Who taught me all I knew;
Their names are How, and What and Why,
And When, and Where and Who.”

Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount to His disciples, not to the impenitent multitude. He taught that every believer must enter into an experience that is subsequent to and distinguishable from the new birth.  He provided for this in the efficacy of the cross. “Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.” (Hebrews 13:12) Following are a few examples of his teaching of this truth.

1. By Precept:

He taught the disciples that grace went deeper than the law and that sin was not only a transgression against the law but that it was an evil principle in the heart. In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill…But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..”

In Matthew 5: 27-28 Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” In these and many other passages Jesus is teaching that the acts of sins need forgiveness but that there further remains within the heart an evil principle which must be cleansed.

In Matthew 5:1-12 Jesus gives to us the bouquet of blessings and teaches that following the new birth one has a spiritual appetite and they who “hunger and thirst after righteousness: …shall be filled.” He further taught, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God…” The negative way of stating the same thing is found in Hebrews 12:14, “Without holiness (the sanctification) no man shall see the Lord.” These scriptures teach that the pre-requisite for seeing God is a pure heart and that comes through sanctification.

He admonishes the disciples in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  Keeping the scriptures in context, the preceding verses are speaking of the dynamic of love and so this is the perfection of love. He, therefore, is not speaking of a sinless perfection but rather an affectional perfection, “love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and neighbor as yourself.”

In John 15,  Jesus teaches that, “every branch in me that beareth fruit (only a believer is a branch in the vine), he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Here we find the words purity, perfection, and purgeth are words Jesus used to teach sanctification as a second work of grace.

2. Jesus teaches it in the Parables:

For example Luke 8: 4-15 presents four classes of hearers and shows that after one is saved, there still remains in the heart that which clings to the cares and pleasures of the world. The carnal nature must be cleansed in order to produce perfect fruit.

In Matthew 25 we read the parable of the ten virgins. Five were wise and had oil (type of Holy Spirit) in their lamps; they also had their vessels full of oil . The five foolish had only their lamps full. By not having oil in their vessels as well as in their lamps, they did not have the abundant supply or the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When the bridegroom came the five foolish virgins’ lamps were going out and the door was shut against them but the five wise virgins, with lights burning, were able to enter in.

3. In His Prayers:

In Luke 23:34, Jesus prayed for the unsaved multitude. He prayed for those who were consenting to his death and even those who nailed him to the cross. He prayed, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

However in John 17 Jesus is not praying for the unsaved but for his disciples. Those who had kept his word, those he claimed to be his own, those whom the world hated, and they who were”:not of the world, even as he is not of the world.” His prayer was and is, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

If space permitted many more examples could be given to show that Jesus did teach entire sanctification as a subsequent work of grace to the new birth. He promised it, prayed for it, and provided for it through his death and resurrection. This is a precious blessing from our loving heavenly father and the privileged birthright of his obedient children.