Sanctification in Abraham
\nGenesis 17: 1-8
\nSanctification is the work of God\u2019s grace whereby God sets apart and makes his children consecrated unto him. It is accomplished by God the Father in divine election in Christ, by the circumcision of Christ made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the sacrifice of himself and by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
Sanctification of God (Genesis 12: 1-5.)
\nGod sanctified Abraham in the operation of grace when Abraham was 75 in a land of idolatry. Abraham was not seeking God but God sought Abraham because he was a chosen child of God. God separated Abraham from the land of idolatry to God: through the Spirit of regeneration through the gospel of promise (John 3: 3.) The result was Abraham believed God and went out (Hebrews 11: 8).
\nSanctification by the Gospel of Christ (Genesis 15: 1-6)
\nGrowth in grace is accomplished, not through the works of our hands, but through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God separated Abraham from the land of idolatry through the gospel of God\u2019s promised salvation. God grew Abraham in the knowledge of Christ declaring more clearly that Abraham\u2019s salvation was in the promised Seed, God\u2019s own Son, who would come from Abraham\u2019s lineage to crush the serpent\u2019s head and redeem God\u2019s elect (Galatians 3:16). This promise to Abraham was ordered and sure because this covenant work was entrusted to the Son of God by God the Father. Christ said of his covenant to the Father, \u201cI have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.\u201d (John 17:4). From the cross, Christ said, \u201cIt is finished.\u201d The righteousness of Christ was imputed to Abraham through faith (Romans 4: 1-8.)<\/p>\n
Sanctification by the Grace of God (Genesis 16: 1-16; 17: 1)
\nWe see that sanctification is by the grace of God when we consider the error Abraham made in this chapter. Abraham and Sara in great error tried to fulfill God\u2019s promise by their wisdom, will and work. Sara gave Abraham her handmaid, Hagar, to wife. Abraham produced a son from her (Commentary on this passage is found in Galatians 4: 21-31.) These two women represent the two covenants\u2014Hagar, the bondmaid, represents the covenant of works which genders to bondage; Sara, the freewoman, represents the everlasting covenant of grace fulfilled by God alone through the blood and righteousness of Christ. In turning to Hagar, Abraham turned from the grace of God to the works of his own hand. It was by the grace of God alone that God did not cast Abraham away, nor allow Abraham\u2019s sin to have dominion over him. Instead God turned Abraham back to God, keeping Abraham separated unto himself. God will not allow sin to have dominion over his children because those born of his Spirit are not under the law but under the power and dominion of the grace of God (Romans 6: 14.) Sanctification is by the grace of God.<\/p>\n
Sanctification by the Power of God (Genesis 17: 1)
\nAbraham was separated unto God by the revelation of God (Romans 1: 16-17.) God declared to Abraham that the Almighty God is all powerful to fulfill his own promised salvation in Christ, apart from any help from our impotent hands. Therefore God said to Abraham, \u201cWalk before me and be thou perfect.\u201d First, this is a declaration of fact because through faith in Christ, Abraham was perfect (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 10: 14). Secondly, this is a statement of promise because since Abraham was made the righteousness of God in Christ his Surety, nothing would be able to separate Abraham from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8: 32-39). Thirdly, this an effectual command by which God strengthened Abraham\u2019s faith not to turn from the promised salvation in Christ back to works of his hand (Galatians 5: 1-6). By the power of El Shaddi revealing his glory in the face of Christ Jesus through the gospel the believer is sanctified to walk by faith, not by sight.<\/p>\n
Sanctification by Circumcision without Hands (Genesis 17: 2-11)
\nEach time the Lord spoke to Abraham, the LORD God renewed his covenant to Abraham. Here again God renews his promise saying, \u201cAbraham, I will fulfill the covenant I have made to you without your help.\u201d The everlasting covenant of God is the unchanging, unchangeable, everlasting, yes and amen written on our hearts when Christ Jesus is formed in us, given for a Covenant (2 Corinthians 1: 20; Isaiah 42: 6; Romans 13: 14; Colossians 3: 10-11.) Fleshly circumcision was a temporary, outward symbol of this inward, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 2: 29; 4: 11; 2 Corinthians 1: 22; Ephesians 1: 13: 4: 30.) whereby believers are made to behold that by the death of Christ Jesus we have been circumcised from all sin (Colossians 2: 10-15).<\/p>\n
Sanctification Makes Saints (Genesis 17: 3, 5)
\nThe fruit of God\u2019s sanctifying work is always the same: \u201cAbraham fell on his face and God talked with him.\u201d This communion with God creates within the believer a new man, typified by God giving Abraham a new name. Sanctified by these promises, through the Holy Spirit, the saint repents from our former idolatry, waits for the hope of righteousness through faith which works by love and has no more confidence in the flesh (2 Corinthians 6: 17-18\u20137: 1; Galatians 5: 4-6; Philippians 3: 3.)Clay Curtis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sanctification in Abraham Genesis 17: 1-8 Sanctification is the work of God\u2019s grace whereby God sets apart and makes his children consecrated unto him. It is accomplished by God the Father in divine election in Christ, by the circumcision of Christ made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-clay-curtis","category-justification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3844,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions\/3844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}