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Be Ye Holy (7)
By Dr. T.K. Koshy Vaidyan
July 2006

We Are Sanctified By Means Of the Truth In His high priestly prayer, Jesus prays for his disciples, “Sanctify them by your truth” [Jn. 17:17]. He adds, “Your Word is truth.” We must grow in sanctification through the Word of God. That the Bible is one of the chief means whereby God sanctifies His people is clearly taught in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Sin wears a cloth of deception. Therefore, the first stage of attaining holiness involves the exposure of our hearts to truth and the cleansing of our hearts from lies. This process of becoming holy is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, and the way the Spirit sanctifies us is with the truth. Once the Spirit breaks the power of deception in our lives, He can break the power of sin!!

As Satan corrupts us through falsehoods, our God sanctifies us through “the truth”. Now, why is “the truth” the instrument? It is through the truth the love of God is revealed and shed abroad in our hearts. Love is a sanctifying principle, “We love Him because He first loved us.” Love is a constraining principle, “the Love of Christ constrains us.” The truth is the instrument by which the Holy Spirit is ministered to the soul, therefore in II Corinthians 3:8, the Gospel is called “The ministration of the Spirit”.

In Galatians 3:2, the apostle asks, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of the faith,” implying that they did not receive the Spirit by the works of the law, but that they did receive the Spirit by the hearing of the faith, that is, the Gospel. Again, “the truth” is the means of our sanctification, because faith which purifies the heart is produced by the truth; “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” [Rom. 10:17].

Again, “the truth” supplies hope. In Colossians 1:5, it is thus described, “because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the Word of the truth of the Gospel.” Apostle John says, “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” [I Jn. 3:3]. Again, “the truth” is the means whereby the promises of God are bestowed: “Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” [II Cor. 7:1]. Peter the apostle reminds us that “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit” [I Pet. 1:22].

Sanctification as it respects our persons, in Christ, is absolutely and everlastingly complete: as the apostle Paul writes in Colossians 2:10, “and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” The second aspect of sanctification has reference to the effect of the truth upon our minds, and hearts, and conduct; and to this apostle directs our attention in Ephesians 4:23-25 where he fully opens out the subject: “And be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.” And then he proceeds to enforce practical duties, which are in fact fruits of faith and manifestations of our union with Him who is “Holiness to the Lord”.

In another occasion, in reference to the union between Himself and His disciples, Jesus said, “you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” [Jn. 15:3]. He had spoken of the “truth” as His Father’s Word…the words which you gave me…I have given them your Word;…the Word which they have received, The Word on account of which the world hated them…and now asks that it may be the effectual means of their sanctification: “sanctify them by your truth, your Word is truth” [Jn. 17:17].

“Your Word is Truth”. Does our Lord by this expression mean Himself or the truth which revealed Him? We have in this Gospel, “The word was God” and “The word of God”. Probably in His prayer our Lord refers to His testimony: but He certainly conveys to us by the language He uses, that the Bible of God is as true as the God of the Bible and that “the Word of God” is to us in importance only less than “The Word” Himself. See a remarkable passage in Acts 20:32, bearing on this subject: “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” You observe how remarkably the God of the Word and the Word of God, are identified in that passage. All the ability there attributed to the Word of His grace might be as truly predicted of God Himself as it is of the Gospel that reveals Him. Little do we realize how much we owe to the written Word of God:

If we are begotten in to God’s family, it is by the Word of God which lives and abides forever [I Pet. 1:23]. If our souls are quickened, “For your word has given me life” [Ps. 119:50]. If we are to grow, “as new born babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” [I Pet. 2:2]. If we are to be fed, “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” [Duet. 8:3]. If our souls are enlightened, “The entrance of your words give light”