Series: The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15)

The Nature of the Resurrection Body (Part 1)

1 Cor. 15.35-41

Paul knew there were people in the Church at Corinth who did not believe in the resurrection of the body. So Paul argues that if this were true, then Christ Himself has not been raised. This means that the whole of the Christian faith and the preaching of the Gospel is a giant lie. But the fact that Christ Himself was raised means that all of the dead will eventually be raised. This will happen when Christ comes again from heaven where He is now reigning. Everything has been made subject to Christ, including death itself. So Christians live in hope. If there is no hope of the resurrection then living as a Christian, which includes suffering for Christ and denying sinful pleasures, makes no sense.

If there is no resurrection then we might as well just live for the pleasures of this life. Some of the Christians at Corinth were doing that because they were ignorant. Paul would not tolerate this situation at Corinth.

The next section of Paul’s argument will get to the heart of this hope of the resurrection. Believers in Christ can look forward to having new bodies. (Actually, all of the dead will be raised in new bodies but Paul is discussing the hope of believers not the fate of unbelievers.) So Paul will now discuss the details of the resurrection body and continue to answer some of the objections those at Corinth might have had to this doctrine. Paul will also touch on what will happen at the end to those who are alive when Christ comes.

Paul’s first concern is to answer those who had questions and objections about what kind of body will be given to those who are raised. Apparently there had been some misunderstanding. The confusion about the precise nature of the resurrection body seems to have given an opportunity for some to scoff at the idea. So to explain the nature of the resurrection body Paul will use a series of analogies from nature. Paul is making a comparison and contrast here between the bodies we have now and the resurrection bodies we will have then. Paul does not want there to be any confusion about this matter because this can create an opportunity for unbelief and a corresponding loss of hope.

Paul was given a lot of revelation concerning the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection body. These details had not previously been revealed. The Jews did have the hope of the resurrection at the end of time. But it was the resurrection of Jesus that brought life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1.10). The surprising thing about the Gospel for the Jews was that the resurrection of the dead had commenced with the resurrection of Jesus. But the Gentiles had no hope of the resurrection at all. I think this is why Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was given some special insight into the resurrection of the dead. To be ignorant of the resurrection of the dead is to have no hope beyond this life.

Paul mentions the resurrection of the dead in his letter to the Thessalonians (See 1 Thess. 4.13-18). But that was not a full treatment of the subject as in this letter to the Corinthians. This is because the situation was different in Corinth and it called for a more thorough treatment of the subject. But in both contexts the concern that Paul had was that believers should have hope beyond this life. We can’t live without hope.

We are living in a generation that has lost hope. Most people live for the here and now as if there is nothing beyond this life and this world. Most people live for pleasure which is just a cover for a deep fear and despair.

People dive into sin because they do not believe that they will be held accountable for it. In the Church there is a lot of ignorance about the resurrection of the dead. Most teaching about eschatology and the coming of the Lord focuses on peripheral issues like the coming of the Antichrist. What is often generated in the Church is not hope but fear of the future, which is completely antithetical to the Gospel and to Paul’s purpose in expounding this doctrine.

The Gospel is designed to give us hope so that we will live correctly in this world. Doctrine always impacts living. Refusing to believe the Gospel is the beginning of a downward spiral into sin and, ultimately, despair.

A Foolish Question

Our text seems like an innocent question, which I believe was not innocent at all: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” It is usually difficult to hear the tone of a question in print. But Paul’s response to this question should tip us off: “You foolish person!” People today might think Paul is being rude here. But he is taking on this problem in Corinth head-on. This question was asked in unbelief with even a mocking and arrogant attitude.

We must remember that Paul is addressing people INSIDE the Church at Corinth, not the secular unbeliever. We might excuse this kind of foolish question from someone on the outside. Paul got a similar response when he preached the resurrection to the philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. But to encounter this kind of unbelief in the Church is another matter and Paul does not let this go.

Paul was very direct with these skeptics in the Church at Corinth because this kind of unbelief is completely inappropriate for people who claim to be Christians. Christians are called “Believers” in the New Testament. Faith should be the first response of Believers. I do not mean to imply that having faith means having a perfect understanding of all things. It is possible to believe something without full understanding. If this were not the case I don’t think anyone could even be a Christian at all since there are many aspects of the Faith that elude perfect understanding yet we believe to be true. But a refusal to accept the truth is completely wrong. When we hear the truth we must accept it. The Gospel is a report that is to be believed and accepted.

Jesus rebuked His disciples when they did not believe that He had been raised from the dead. They had heard the report of His resurrection from the women who had first seen Him. Then there was Thomas who refused to take anyone’s word for it but had to experience seeing the resurrected Christ Himself. But Thomas was not blessed by the Lord for his skepticism. Those who believe without seeing are blessed (See John 20.29).

Jesus also rebuked the Sadducees when they came to him with a question about the resurrection of the dead (Matt. 22.23-32). But the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection! They were not asking because they wanted to know the truth. They were asking in unbelief in order to try to catch Jesus in his words. And Jesus told them “you know neither the Scripture nor the power of God.” Jesus’ answer to their question then revealed just how ignorant and unbelieving the Sadducees really were. And nobody wanted to ask Jesus any more foolish questions!

Now some people would contend that a little doubt and skepticism can be healthy. After all, we don’t want to just believe everything we hear. Discernment is a necessary thing. But just as we can’t believe everything we hear, neither should we be skeptical of everything. At some point we have to doubt our doubts and believe. The person who persists in doubt after having heard the truth is unstable and double-minded (James 1.6-8). That person will not receive anything good from the Lord.

Others might contend that there must be some freedom of opinion in the Church. Some Christians believe a particular doctrine but another group might have a different interpretation. Should we not be free to have different interpretations and still be Christians? But let’s not confuse those disputable matters on which we are free to maintain a good conscience and those matters which are the pillars of the Christian Faith. There are some truths that are not open to interpretation but must be believed. The resurrection is perhaps the most important pillar of the Faith. There can be no group of Christians who are free to reject or reinterpret the resurrection. That would be tantamount to overthrowing the Faith. Those who reject the Foundation are not building the same thing that Christ is building.

So some foolish questions can come from skepticism or unbelief. There are also foolish questions that come from spiritual slackness or laziness. Jesus and the Apostles were probably not as patient as some people think. Jesus expected His disciples to believe and understand and He rebuked them when they were “slow of heart.” Understanding is traced to the heart, not the intellect. If the heart is set right the mind will follow.

But most of us manage to do what we want to do. If someone really wants to understand the things of God, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can ultimately stop that from happening. We are limited only by our affections. Some people do not understand the Scriptures because they are not really trying to understand. Paul clearly expected more from the Corinthians.

A Profound Answer

In spite of the skepticism and spiritual lethargy of the Christians at Corinth, Paul is giving them an answer to their questions. This does speak to the patience of the Spirit of God. The Church at Corinth had not yet been written off. Paul is going to answer this question: “With what kind of body do they come?” That is, what will the resurrection body be like?

What may have been in the mind of some of the Corinthians was that Paul was teaching that these same mortal bodies would be raised back to life, along with all our weaknesses and infirmities. Perhaps some might even picture a kind of living death in which we are trapped in bodies that are subject to corruption. Why would we want these mortal bodies to be raised to life again?

Remember that the Greeks thought of the body as a liability that needed to be removed so that the immortal soul could be free from its prison. Without any other revelation to consider, this view does seem logical. Why would we want to live forever in these mortal coils? That is a legitimate concern and question. And Paul will address that concern directly in this text.

To do so Paul utilizes several analogies to objects in nature. Nature can teach us something about the resurrection.

The Power of the Creator seen in Creation

The created order declares the glory of God. That is, nature has the fingerprints of God all over it. By what is created men should know that there is a Creator. Creation has been cursed by the Creator and subjected to the futility of corruption and death, yet it still is evidence of the Divine Power (Rom 1.18-23).

The revelation of the glory of God in creation is inferior to the special revelation in Scripture and especially in the Gospel. But if creation does show God’s glory we would expect it to be consistent with everything else God has revealed in His written Word. The natural world can teach us spiritual principles, or laws, about how the Kingdom of God operates. The natural is a window into the spiritual and this creation anticipates the New Creation, which is already being born. If God can turn a caterpillar into a butterfly then He can make us into new creatures (2 Cor. 5.17)!

The created world tells us something about the power of God. Creation itself is powerful. When Job thought he could question God’s rule, God challenged Job to first try to figure out and manage the mysteries of the natural world (See Job 38-39). If Mother Nature is powerful and mysterious, what does that teach us about her Creator? Consider the power of the wind, which Scripture uses to teach us about the power of the Spirit of God. Consider the sheer size of the universe and see if you don’t feel insignificant! “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4)? And what kind of God could create a Great White Shark? Creation is so powerful that we are easily overcome by it when it is pitted against us. We do not rule this creation. And if creation is powerful, so powerful we cannot control it, how much more powerful is the Divine Power that put that power in the natural world? If God has this kind of power, is it too hard to believe that He can raise the dead and give them new bodies?

Those who doubted the resurrection of the dead were doubting the power of the God who created everything and upholds it by the Word of His Power. Is anything too hard for the Lord? We live in a universe that is filled with the glory of God. And in this universe anything is possible, even the raising of the dead. In fact, God seems to especially enjoy surprising us with His power and doing what is impossible for men to do.

A Lesson from Seeds

The illustration that Paul chooses is from the cultivation of seeds, like that of wheat or some other type of grain. The planting of a seed and the growth of that seed is a picture of the resurrection of the body. (The cultivation of a seed happens within the normal course and framework of nature. Even in a cursed world seeds will sprout and grow, given the right circumstances. But this is not true of the resurrection of the dead. Resurrection is not a part of the normal course of nature. In a cursed world people die and they are not resurrected. The resurrection of Jesus was a Divine interruption in the normal course of nature and a glimpse of what is to come.)

When a seed is planted in the ground it has to die first before anything can come from it. Our mortal bodies are going to pass away. Unless we are alive when the Lord comes, our bodies must die and then pass away through corruption and decay. When that seed is planted it is gone for good.

When our bodies die that physical form is gone for good. It must pass away just like the heavens and earth must also pass away. This entire created order must pass away. That includes our physical bodies that we now have. The seed that is planted in the ground dies and passes away in the process of becoming something else.

The whole concept of Christian burial is based on this metaphor of the sowing of a seed. The Jews also buried the bodies of the dead. When a farmer sows a seed he always does so in hope of the harvest. Likewise, Christians bury their dead in the hope of a resurrection. The practice of cremation was originally a pagan one where there was no hope.

The seed that is sown in the ground is not what comes up. The body that dies and is buried in the ground is not the body that will rise at the resurrection. The seed passes away and something new and different emerges. The thing that comes from the seed is quite different from the seed itself. The seed is rather unimpressive compared to what comes from it when it dies. The seed from which a rose emerges is so unlike the beauty of the flower that it may be impossible to convince a skeptic that what you now have in your hand is actually the beginnings of a rose. In some strange and mysterious act of creative power God put the blueprint of a rose inside its seed. But when the rose emerges the original form of the seed has passed away.

What Paul is trying to clarify is that this mortal body is not going to be raised again with all of its weaknesses. Consider how frail we are! We are wonderfully made. But how easy it is for these mortal bodies to get sick, injured, or die. Some people worship the human body. But it is really quite weak and unimpressive, even if you are Mr. Universe or Miss USA! Not only do we worship the body, we also worship youth. But our bodies are subject to corruption, which is the aging process. What looks good now may be sagging in a few years! Thank God this body is not going to be raised at the resurrection of the dead!

So what body will come up at the resurrection? It is hard to tell just by looking at a seed what might come up, unless you happen to know what the seed is. God has already determined that certain kinds of seeds produce certain kinds of plants. If you plant a pumpkin seed you will not get a turnip! God has already determined its kind. The same is true of the resurrection body. God has already determined what our new bodies will be. We don’t know what we will be. We do know that we will be like Christ (Phil. 3.19-21).

I don’t think we have to worry about being something weird, like being reincarnated as an animal. Christians do not believe in reincarnation. Resurrection means there will be some continuity. When Jesus was raised He was still a man, but He was a glorified man. Jesus had a body when He was raised and we will also have bodies. That is the promise of God in the Gospel. That is the hope of full redemption (Rom. 8.23). We are currently groaning with anticipation for these new bodies and I know that whatever God gives us will perfectly satisfy the desires of the New Man.

Our mortal bodies are like tents in which we are waiting until we can make a move into our mansions that He has already made for us and that are waiting for us in heaven!

A Valuable Elaboration

The idea that God can raise the dead and give them new bodies should not surprise us who believe in and know the power of God. All we have to do is look at creation with all of its majesty and we are reminded of what God can do.

We may not know the exact nature of the resurrection body, but we do know that God has already prepared it for us. And we also know for certain that these mortal bodies that we now inhabit, with all of their weakness, sickness, and corruptibility will pass away. We don’t have to worry about these bodies coming back to hinder us again at the resurrection!

The fact of the resurrection does imply having a body. This hope that we have is not purely spiritual. Man was made with a body and God means to redeem the body. Our bodies are part of who we are. When Jesus died He not only purchased these poor, lowly, mortal bodies for Himself, He also secured for us a resurrection body.

But that resurrection body will not be like these bodies we now inhabit. The resurrection body is a different kind of body. Paul reminds us that there are different kinds of bodies even in nature. Animals have one kind of body. Some of them move on the land. Some swim in the sea. And others can even fly through the air in their bodies that God gave them. So God can make different kinds of bodies. There are also heavenly bodies like planets and stars. These heavenly bodies are entirely different from earthly bodies and have a greater glory. But God made them and so it should not surprise us that God can make new and different bodies for His children.

When the Scriptures use the word “new” it does not just mean that something has been reissued in its same form or simply improved. No. “New” means it is of an entirely different order. The New Man is not just a reformed or improved self. The New Man is a whole New Creation. In Christ we become a new KIND of person, not just an improved person. The same is true of the new bodies we will receive at the resurrection of the dead. We should probably not become overly concerned with what these bodies will LOOK like. There are other considerations.

We should remember that a body is not just for looks but for utility. Our bodies get us around and enable us to interact with this world. Our bodies were made to accomplish things. And God made our bodies to inhabit the world that He created. It is a good thing our bodies breathe oxygen, for example. If our lungs required something else we could not live on earth. So God made our bodies to inhabit the earth. God did not make us to fly or to live in the sea, though man has invented artificial means of doing those things. God’s original intention was for man to rule creation. This purpose has been interrupted by sin and the curse of death.

But man was made in the image of God, which means he was made to be God’s representative on earth and rule it as God’s steward. For this job God gave man a suitable body. This world is going to pass away and there will be a new heavens and a new earth. If God gave man a suitable body for this creation then we have every reason to believe that our new bodies will be perfectly suited to that New Creation. To be sure, we will have REAL bodies in which we will live in a REAL world. There is nothing completely spiritual or ethereal about the new heavens and earth or the new body. But perhaps the most important reason for the new body will be to match the New Man. Right now we are frustrated by having a New Creation in an old body. This causes all kinds of frustration and conflict and requires the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But these new bodies will be perfectly suited for the life of the New Man as well as life in a New World.

When God makes something new it is always superior to what is old. Perhaps the reason we have these bodies now is just to introduce us to what is to come. This world is the front porch of eternity. God has a way of preparing for what is to come. God gave the Law before He sent Christ and the New Covenant, which is a greater glory. What God has in store for us is so great it required some kind of introduction and preparation. This is just the first stage of salvation. Whatever kind of struggle and suffering we have to pass through to get to the next phase will be worth it. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). A large part of that future glory will be the resurrection body.

Special Message

“The Saints are Elect according to the 

Foreknowledge of God and 

Sanctification of the Spirit”

1 Peter 1:2

Earlier in their history the people of Israel had been judged by God and sent into exile in Babylon. They learned how to live as exiles in a land that was not their home. The Apostle Peter was writing to the “elect exiles of the Dispersion.” Some translations say strangers or aliens instead of exiles. Christians are exiles and sojourners in the world (2.11). Everything that Peter writes is designed for the edification of exiles.

Peter wanted these believers to understand more fully what salvation is all about and what it meant for their lives in the world (1.3-9). Peter wanted them to see that their salvation was part of God’s eternal purpose and is therefore something certain on which they could build their lives and their hope.

These are things that exiles need to know in order to have confidence and assurance. No matter how the world treats you, you need to know that God has saved and accepted you through faith in Jesus Christ.

Peter uses three key words in this text: 1. Elect, 2. Foreknowledge, and 3. Sanctification. All three of these words are aspects of salvation.

The first two words immediately raise us up to the lofty heights of God’s eternal purpose. This is the soaring overview of salvation and sometimes the altitude can make us dizzy. But the third word, “sanctification,” may be the most practical part of the text.

Election and Foreknowledge Clarify the Source of Salvation

Both election and foreknowledge help clarify that God is the source of salvation. Salvation is from God. It did not originate with man. Salvation was conceived in the eternal mind and purpose of God, even from before the foundation of the world, and it is all to glorify Him or make Him known. Salvation is not just God responding to our needs, as if we are the center of the universe. God is the central character and principle Mover in salvation. If you are saved it is of God and all the credit must go to Him. Peter is building our faith by taking us back to the source of everything (1.21).

Election is the Sovereign Choice of God

Our faith and hope are in God. It is God who elects to save people. To elect simply means to make a choice. God made a choice to save those who believe the Gospel of Christ. This choice was actually made by God before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1.4). Jesus told His disciples that “you did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15.16).

Election is illustrated consistently throughout Scripture. But God chose and called Abram in what may be the most important example of election in Scripture. This anticipates God’s covenant with the nation of Israel at Sinai, choosing them from out of every other nation.

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6).

God’s election of Israel was connected to His salvation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. He saved them because He had chosen them. Peter uses this same language in his epistle and applies it to believers in Christ:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Notice the connection of election and the mercy of God. In writing about election Paul also make this same connection between God’s election and God’s mercy: “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).

For some people the idea that God would have favorites is not fair. Doesn’t God love everyone the same? If God were to choose certain people and reject others then God would not be fair. My response to that is to ask: do you really want God to ONLY be fair? God doesn’t have to reveal Himself to us at all. He doesn’t have to elect anyone. The fact that God elects ANYONE is not fair, it is grace. Election is an opportunity for God to be gracious because He owes us nothing. The doctrine of election is developed so believers could praise God for His amazing grace (Eph. 2.8-10). Without that grace no one could be saved at all.

Someone has said that the Gospel is like a door with a sign that reads “Whosoever will may come.” But when you enter that door there is another sign on the inside that reads “Elect.” This is an insider’s view of salvation. There are aspects of the Gospel that are unpacked for believers only. And the inside view is much bigger than the outside view. Believers need to hear the Gospel. Scientists say that the universe is expanding and that we have not yet seen the end of it. Maybe God has made the universe as a kind of spiritual parallel to His Kingdom and salvation. It just keeps getting larger and we have not yet seen the end.

Election is offensive to modern people who think they are in control of their own destinies. We believe in free will. But part of becoming a Christian is acknowledging that everything comes from God and we are not the center of the universe.

The grace of God is especially hard for religious people to accept because we are on a work-for-pay program. We are like the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son who complained that his father was gracious. We are like those workers in the vineyard who worked all day and then complained that they were paid the same as those who only worked for an hour. The election of grace can be hard to accept.

Foreknowledge is the Kind Intention of God

The foreknowledge of God is almost always misinterpreted. This is usually understood to mean that God knew what I would do and what I would choose before I actually did it. Now God certainly does have that kind of foreknowledge. But God’s foreknowledge here does not mean God knew what WE would do before we did it, it means that God knew what HE would do. To be more precise, it means that God knew us before we knew Him, before we were even born, and before the foundations of the world were made. But surely this means more than that God knew about us, as if He simply had some information. Of course God knows all things and all people. But the kind of foreknowledge Peter is talking about is much better than God simply knowing about us.

In Scripture the word “know” is almost always used to refer to an intimate, personal knowledge. It is a relational term. God knows about all things and He knows about all people, but God does not KNOW everyone in the sense of an intimate, personal relationship. This almost seems backwards. We usually talk about us knowing God. But actually it is much more important that God knows us. God knowing us is God’s recognition and acceptance. It means He is pleased with us and loves us.
So when we think about God’s foreknowledge we are really considering the kind intentions or plan that God had for us before we were born or even before the world was made. God determined that He would recognize and accept us into an intimate relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1.4-6). So while God knows about all people, He certainly does not recognize or accept all people. But He does for those in Christ. And He planned to do this before He spoke the world into existence.

God said to Israel through the Prophet Amos: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2). Surely God knows about all the other nations. But He had an intimate, covenant relationship with the people of Israel. He knew them like a husband knows His wife. We know that before God had actually called Abraham and created the nation of Israel He already knew He was going to do that. He had already planned that. God is operating according to an eternal purpose and is not just reacting to human circumstances. God had already planned to create a people who would belong to Him.

This includes not only the descendants of Abraham, but all those Gentiles who believe in Christ. God was even planning on taking from the Gentiles a people for His Name (Acts 15.14). Formerly the Gentiles were not “known” or recognized by God (Eph. 2.11-12; 1 Pet. 2.10).

Peter also says that Christ Himself was foreknown by God (1 Pet 1.20). Does that mean God knew about His Son? Or that God knew what Jesus would choose to do? This means that Jesus was known intimately by the Father and was chosen for a specific purpose in the plan of salvation. In much the same way God knew you before the world began and He planned to make you His own through Jesus Christ.

Foreknowledge is covenant language and it teaches us about what God desired for His people. God wants an intimate knowledge or relationship with His people that can be compared to marriage, which is the closest human relationship. The husband and wife become one flesh. But those who are joined to the Lord become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6.17). Marriage is really a metaphor of the intimacy between Christ and His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5.32). This intimate union with the Lord is what God had planned for us from before the foundation of the world.

Before time began God had determined to have a People who worshiped Him alone, who were intimately involved with Him, and who loved Him with all their hearts. This is what the Gospel produces because this is what God determined from before the foundations of the earth. Where there are people who know God, live in intimate union with Him, and are in agreement with His will that is the fruit of the Gospel and evidence of God’s eternal purpose in salvation being realized.

Sanctification Clarifies the Purpose of Salvation

God has a specific purpose for the people He has elected and foreknown. We now turn to the meaning of sanctification. Election and foreknowledge clarify the SOURCE of salvation. Sanctification clarifies WHY God has saved people and WHAT He wants to do with them and through them.

In my opinion, it is sanctification that is usually skipped over by the Church. The Church talks about getting saved and going to heaven someday, but it leaves out that aspect of salvation that comes between conversion and heaven. That is sanctification. God does not just immediately take us up to heaven when we are saved. He has a purpose for us while we are still in the body and in the world. He has sanctified us for this purpose and we need to know what it is.

The Necessity of Sanctification

Those who are saved are also sanctified, or set apart, for God’s special use. Sanctification is closely related to holiness, which means to be separate. God Himself is holy. Holiness is the word most often used in Scripture to describe the nature and character of God. Holiness is the summation of all of God’s attributes. God is separate, unique, and different from everyone and everything else. This is why it is always wrong to represent God with an image. God is too holy to be represented by any created thing. When God took Israel for His People, He sanctified them, or set them apart, from every other nation on earth.

God demanded that Israel be holy because He is holy. The people of God had to be like God. “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). The entire Law was a lesson in holiness and sanctification. God was teaching Israel about Himself and what it would take for them to be His people. The ultimate goal was for God to dwell in the midst of His people. God’s presence could not dwell in the midst of unholy people. To be in the presence of a holy God was a scary experience because God’s nature is to oppose anything or anyone that is not like Him. No Israelite was casual about the presence of God.

Great care had to be taken so that God would not curse the people when they sinned and offended Him, which happened on several occasions. God’s wrath was like a fire that would break out and consume the people. So the Law warned the people to stay back. There was a separation between God and the people which was symbolized by the veil that covered the Holy of Holies where God’s presence came down to rest. One of the recurring themes in the Law was God putting up barriers of separation between Himself and the people because they were not holy. Otherwise, His wrath would flare up and break out against the people (Exodus 19:21-24).

If you want to meet with God and survive you must be holy like He is. But we are not holy. And God’s nature has not changed. God cannot compromise His holiness to accept unholy people. The people of God have to be made holy if they want to belong to God and be in His presence. No exceptions! The good news is that God has made provisions for His people to be holy. The Gospel proclaims that you can be made holy and acceptable to God. Every believer in Christ is sanctified, or made holy.

The Effects of Sanctification

The Holy Spirit has a role to play in sanctification. The Gospel promises the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit to every believer. It is the Spirit who then sanctifies us. God has cleansed us so that His Spirit can dwell in us, but the continuing presence of the Spirit is what sanctifies us. The fact that the Spirit of God is living in you sanctifies you or sets you apart for God to use. You are a sanctified vessel for the service of God in the world. The Spirit is not in you just for show or for your own private edification. The Spirit dwells in you because God wants to use you to do something. Now that He has cleansed you and made you a New Creation you are ready for God’s use. That is sanctification by the Spirit.

And if the Spirit of God is dwelling in you and if He has sanctified you then you can be sure that there will be some evidence of His presence.

Remember that Peter is writing to people who are exiles in the world. This is one of the effects of the Spirit dwelling in us. The very presence of the Spirit in our lives will make us exiles in the world. We will simply not fit in with the world because we are being driven by a different Power. Satan is the spirit at work in the disobedient (Eph. 2.2). The Holy Spirit is at work in the believer. This makes us at variance with the Spirit of the Age. When we feel this conflict with the world we should rejoice because it is evidence that we are God’s people.

The World is more than just what we call culture or society. The World has a certain spiritual quality. It is an organized system of rebellion against God that is animated by Satan, who is the ruler of this World. The World has certain values and goals, all of which are opposed to God (See 1 Jn. 2.15-17).

I think Christians get confused about what the world really is and how we should be separate from it. If the world is nothing more than culture than all we have to do to be separate from it is to just be weird. If culture zigs then we zag. We just buck the trends and we are automatically sanctified. And there is almost always some period of time that was more holy than the present and we must go back to that holy time when everything was Christian. This is all superficial. True sanctification must go beyond such shallow and external issues.

Sanctification must go into our desires, affections, thoughts, goals, and values (Col. 3.1-2). Otherwise we will end up legalists. Almost every holiness movement in the Church has ended up in legalism.

Another way the Church gets this wrong is to define holiness as physical distance. This is the mistake the Church made in the first few centuries. But many Christians still adopt this way of thinking. If we keep our physical distance from the rest of the world then we will not be able to fulfill God’s purpose in this world. Jesus said His disciples are like salt in the world and salt must be applied and be present in order to work.

You notice that sanctification is almost always defined negatively as to what we must avoid. But the goal of sanctification is not to just get away from the world. The goal is to get close to God and be used by Him IN the world.

Having said all that, sanctification does mean being separate from sin. A person who is not separate from sin has no reason to believe that he or she is even saved. How can we be saved from sin if it still dominates our lives? We know we are the children of God if we are being led by His Spirit to put to death the deeds of the Flesh (Rom. 8.12-14).

Do you want assurance that you are saved and a child of God? Are you putting to death the deeds of the Flesh? Are you ruling over your body and using it to serve God instead of serving sinful desires? If you are doing this then you are being led by the Spirit and you are a child of God who has been sanctified.

Remember that the whole point of putting sin to death is so that we can live for God. Sin is no longer our master and we are now using our physical bodies to serve the Lord (Rom. 6.22).

The Reason for Sanctification

We have the Holy Spirit living in us and this makes us different. But the Holy Spirit wants to do something in us while we are in the world. The Holy Spirit wants to make us instruments and vessels for the Lord to use. The Holy Spirit actually dwells in our bodies because God wants to use our mortal bodies in this world. Our bodies belong to the Lord because He has purchased even our bodies and then sent His Spirit to dwell in our bodies, giving life to what was once dead in trespasses and sins. The believer has no right to live for himself in the world. We have been set free from serving sin so that we can serve God. You have spent enough time in the world gratifying your own desires (1 Pet. 4.2-3).

Being saved and sanctified means we now belong to the Lord and we offer our bodies to Him as living sacrifices (Rom. 12.1-2). There is more to being saved than just going to heaven when we die. There is something for us to do now in these mortal coils.

We have to learn to live in the world as exiles as we wait for Jesus to come from heaven and bring the fullness of salvation. Living as exiles means living a different kind of life, one that is in harmony with our true homeland, and also being willing to endure suffering while in this world. As exiles we should not be surprised that we do not fit in with the rest of the world and we should not be surprised that the world treats us unkindly because we are different. Instead of adapting to the world, God’s people are to live as exiles, maintaining our distinction from the world around us, even when the people of this world reject us (4.3-4). Suffering is a part of sanctification in a world hostile to God.

We are not to do this with hostility but with gentleness and respect so that the people of the world will listen to our witness for Christ and the hope that we have in Him (3.15).

We are not to live in the world as rebels or troublemakers but are to submit to all earthly authorities so that no one will have a reason to talk against us (2.13-17). We are to be aware that the world is watching how we live. So we are to always do what is right and good, even if we suffer as a result, so that the world will have no basis for any accusation against us (2.12, 19-23). In so doing we will be living according to the example of Christ Himself, who selflessly and silently endured unjust suffering from evil men (3.16-17; 4.1, 12-16). As we live in this world as exiles we have to entrust ourselves to God, who will care for His people even as they suffer the world’s rejection (4.19).

There is more to sanctification than just the negative aspect of refraining from sin and worldliness. There is a positive aspect. The people of God should not just be known for what we don’t do but for what we do! Saints should be known for doing what is good.

We should be known for good works because this is why we were saved (Eph. 2.8-10). Letting our Light shine means doing good works so that other people can see that we are serving the Lord (Matt. 5.16). We are not to do our good works to be praised by men, but so that men might praise the God we are serving. That is the difference between good works done by the saints and the good works done by the people of the world. The people of the world don’t do their good works for the glory of God.

The objective is for Saints to live such good lives in the midst of an evil world that even the pagans have nothing bad to say about us, even if they think our faith is foolishness. This is a major theme of Peter’s epistle (1 Pet. 2.13-3.17). We should live such exceptional lives that unbelievers notice the difference and ask us why we live like we do. Our lifestyle should complement and not contradict the Gospel. We should adorn the doctrine with our lives (Titus 2.10).

Right now this is a major crisis for the Church. When the lifestyles of professed Christians does not adorn the Gospel we will have no moral capital or integrity in the world. The Church wants to have a place in the public debate, especially when it comes to moral issues. And yet the world can easily point to all of the public, moral failures of the Church, often among its leaders, and refuse to listen to what we have to say. The Church lacks integrity and moral power because it is not living a sanctified life.

It has become very popular in the Church to emphasize doing good works. But there is another part of God’s purpose for the Church that is often minimized. We have been sanctified to say something to the world. Sanctification involves both showing something to the world and saying something to the world.

We are to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2.9). God’s people are to be speakers who tell the world what God has done to save us. Every believer is a witness who has a testimony to tell the world.

Every believer ought to be able to talk about his faith intelligently to any unbeliever who is willing to listen. Collectively the Church has been sanctified for the purpose of declaring God’s message to the world. We should not expect the world to like what we have to say. But we have to say it anyway. We do not have the option of silence or compromise with the World.

It is our job to speak the truth of the Gospel. It is not our job to produce results. This is God’s purpose and He is responsible for it. He is also responsible for the care of His servants. Nothing is more exciting and satisfying than being a part of what God is doing and putting ourselves in God’s hands during our days of sojourning. When the world rejects and persecutes us we should not be surprised. We should rejoice because then we know for sure that we belong to Jesus.