Sanctified by the Spirit

This statement affirms that sanctification is not accomplished only by the blood of Christ and the Word of God, but also by the Holy Spirit’s work. The question, then, is: what does it mean to be sanctified by the Spirit, and how does this process of sanctification take place? To understand this, it is necessary to distinguish the Word in two dimensions: Logos and Rhema. When a person hears or studies the Word of God, that Word first works in the realm of understanding and reasoning.

Logos is the Word that is understood in the mind through teaching that is heard. For example, a person may realize God’s command, “Love your enemies.” Intellectually, this command can be grasped and even agreed with. However, such understanding does not automatically make a person able to love their enemies. For that to happen, the Word that has been understood must be tested and embodied in real life. When someone truly experiences opposition, hurt, or injustice, the Holy Spirit’s presence becomes evident.

In such concrete experiences, the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance the Word that was previously received. The Word that was once merely Logos in the mind is now made alive and applied specifically within a real situation. This is what is called Rhema—the Word that the Holy Spirit communicates personally and contextually to be obeyed. Through Rhema, the Word of God no longer remains a concept, but becomes living guidance that directs attitudes and actions.

In certain situations—especially for those who love God—the Lord sanctifies through various life experiences (Rom. 8:28). Life experiences, including suffering and hardship, become instruments of divine discipline. However, this process is effective only for those who are genuinely willing to receive the Lord’s discipline (Heb. 12:7–9). Spiritual maturity is impossible without involvement in authentic experiences that are often painful; yet it is precisely through such paths that God works to cleanse and shape our character.

In this process, the Father disciplines His children through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works within the inner being, revealing truth, convicting, strengthening, and enabling a person to obey. This is what it means to be sanctified by the Spirit. Holiness is not achieved by human strength, nor by sheer willpower or self-discipline alone, but by the help of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the “fa” ility of salvation” t” at God provides to guide believers toward the perfection He desires.

This is consistent with the words of the Lord Jesus in His prayer, when He said that He sanctified Himself so that believers might be sanctified in the truth (John 17:18–19). This statement shows that the Lord Jesus Himself underwent a process of obedience marked by struggle. He did not attain perfection easily, but through suffering and total obedience to the Father’s will. He underwent this process so that He might become the perfect example for believers and be used by God as the means of salvation.

Hebrews 5:8–9 states this very clearly: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered, and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” After the Lord Jesus completed His saving work, He opened the way for human beings to undergo a similar process of sanctification—being sanctified, processed, and used by the Father. The Apostle Paul himself experienced this sanctification when he was set apart and appointed as an instrument of God to fulfill His plan (Rom. 1:1).

Thus, true sanctification does not stop at a change of status or mere character improvement, but culminates in a life being used as an instrument in the Father’s hands to accomplish His purposes in this world. God plans to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). This understanding aligns with the meaning of the Hebrew word “holy,” qadhôš, which means “set apart for use.”