Sanctification

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.