TOPICAL VERSE: I PETER 1:15-16
Rom 12:1- I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
The definition of being holy and being sanctify or very similar. Both define a set-apart life to God, and calls for a separation from the world to live our lives for the Lord. Also, we are to progressively strive for both the rest of our lives. The different is made clear to me through Nelson’s Bible Dictionary: “Sanctification results in holiness, or purification from the guilt and power of sin.” What an eye opener! God is holy, and needs not to sanctify Himself because holiness is the very essence of His nature. So, we must set ourselves apart that the Holy Spirit can teach us how to live and be holy. For us, sanctification comes before being made holiness because of the sin. Though He knew no sin (II Cor. 5:21), even Jesus in His humanity suit spoke about how He sanctified Himself to be an example for us (John 17:17-19)! He achieved it through the Word of God. In other words, The Living Word kept His Written Word.
In a world full of sin and the pleasures thereof, it could seem like a tall order to sanctify ourselves and live holy unto the Lord. Nevertheless, we must put aside the toys (the sinful pleasures of the mind, which will translate into acts) and mature in the Lord. When we die we will leave everything here on earth. Holiness brings the kingdom of God on earth because, as believers, we are to live as though everything on earth is dead to us (Gal. 6:14). When the pleasures and desires of our flesh are starved to death—then we have sanctified ourselves and therefore are pursuing the character of God, holiness.