The word “sanctification” is a popular biblical expression, but what exactly does it mean? Today, I fear that we often hear such biblical terms, and even use them, without having a clear understanding of their meaning. Sanctification, which is sometimes translated as “holiness” or “consecration,” refers to that process whereby we are set apart completely for God’s use. Since God is holy, this is necessarily a process whereby we are also made holy. In the Bible this concept is applied to things as well as to people.
In Exodus 29:44, the Lord says, “I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office” (KJV). In the Tanakh (Old Testament) we read about the sanctification of many other items. For instance, there is the sanctification of the laver, the veil and the Temple vessels.
In the New Testament, the emphasis is almost wholly upon people as the objects of sanctification. The New Testament doctrine of sanctification seems to be a two-sided truth. First of all, as in the case of Aaron and his sons, it is God who does the sanctifying for the Christian. Sanctification is another of those gifts from God that are freely given, and we certainly cannot deserve it or attain it. It is given because of the atonement of Jesus. We see this clearly in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where Paul says, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.” It is obvious in Hebrews 13:12 that the blood of Jesus is the basis of this sanctification.
There is another side to sanctification. Like all free gifts from God, it must be worked out in our experience. Paul admonishes us: “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil.2:12). I suppose this process is much like that of becoming a father. As soon as that little gift from God is born, the husband becomes a “father.” He is a father legally, naturally, and every other way. However, during the next twenty years or so, his fatherhood will be worked out in experience. So it is with sanctification. It has to be worked out to be fully experienced and truly received.
The ancient Passover celebration speaks a great deal of the concept of sanctification. It not only speaks, but it gives us many pictures on this subject, pictures so vivid that even small children can quickly understand them. Let us look at some of the teachings in this old, old celebration.
RIDDING THE HOUSE OF LEAVEN
Days before the Passover begins, the women of Israel busy themselves with a very thorough spring cleaning. Particular attention is given to areas of the house where food has been served or stored. All foods containing leavening are entirely removed from the house. Then, shortly before the Passover celebration begins, the father carries out a symbolic search of his home. He is looking for one item – for chametz or leaven (yeast). When he finds that last tiny bit of leaven, he scrapes it up with a feather and takes it outside to be burned. All this is in answer to God’s command that no leaven is to be found in the house during this celebration (Exo.12:19). In biblical times, the person who ate leaven during Passover was cut off from the people of Israel.
We know from scripture that leaven is a type of sin. In Corinthians we are admonished by Paul to “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor.5:7). Leaven puffs up, and that is exactly what sin does. Think of a few sins like pride, anger, self-centeredness, etc. All these sins clearly puff us up, sometimes even with outward physical manifestations. Leaven does a similar thing to dough. Paul tells us “that a little yeast works through the whole batch” (1 Cor. 5:6).
God’s purpose is that we be like unleavened bread – that we be without sin. His purpose is that we feed upon the Messiah, who is the true unleavened bread. When Satan came to Jesus in the garden that night, the Lord said, “the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me” (Jn. 14:30). There was nothing in Jesus that would puff him up; nothing the devil could get his hands on. God desires that we live in exactly this way. An unleavened life is a life without pretense or hypocrisy.
On the night of Passover and for the next week, there is no leavened bread eaten in Israel. This is also true of all other leavened items. It is always interesting to watch Israel prepare for this celebration. Certain aisles in the food stores are roped off, or the leavened items are simply covered over. Instead of the normal bread and rolls, there are great stacks of boxes filled with matzot, the flat, cracker-like unleavened bread. Most bakeries simply close down for vacation during this week. Some eating establishments remain open, but they have to be experts at improvising. Ice cream is served in paper cups instead of leavened cones; pizza is served on a thick cardboard-like unleavened crusts. About the only available sweets are things like coconut macaroons, chocolate covered matzot, etc. Even the ubiquitous felafel stands close down during this week.
THE KADDESH, RITUAL WASHINGS, AND MAGID
There are several other pictures of sanctification in the Passover. The celebration itself is built around four cups of wine, two before the meal and two after. The four cups are based upon the four “I wills” of Exodus 6:6-7. God says, “I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my
own people.”
The first cup is called the “kiddush or kaddesh,” or the cup of sanctification. In this cup God is saying to his people, “I will bring you out.” God will bring us out from among them; out of bondage, slavery, darkness and death. With the drinking of this cup the leader of the celebration blesses God with these words: “Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the universe,…Thou did choose and sanctify us above all peoples.”
Immediately after the kiddush the leader washes his hands in the first of two ritual washings. Again, this seems to be another picture of sanctification. This picture reminds us of the ritual washing of hands and feet carried out by the priests in olden times as they entered the Tabernacle and Temple. This ancient washing marked their separation from the world. The Passover washing reminds us of Christian baptism, which also marks such a separation. In addition, it reminds us of the “washing with water through the word,” spoken of in Ephesians 5:26.
It was probably at this point in the Passover ceremony that Jesus introduced a shocking and significant change. He girded himself and began to wash the disciples’ feet. As Jesus explained his act to Peter, it is clear that this act was also meant to be a picture of sanctification (Jn. 13:10).
In the Passover service, the leader soon begins to recount the redemption story. This section, known as the maggid or “telling,” surveys the whole redemption drama, from the Patriarchs, to Moses, to Pharaoh, and to the plagues and the deliverance from Egypt. Throughout this story, God stresses sanctification. The plagues did not fall upon the land of Goshen where Israel lived, because God said to Pharaoh, “I will make a distinction between my people and your people” (Exo. 8:23). The first-born of Israel did not die as the Egyptians did because God shielded them through the blood of the lamb, and made a difference between them and the Egyptians. Later the Israelites were able to pass through the sea, but when the Egyptians tried to do the same thing they were all drowned.
We must remember today that God is doing the same kind of work for us. His desire is that we be different from all the people around us. His command for us today is this: “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:17).
A TASTE OF EGYPT
In the Passover ceremony, as we have seen, it is abundantly clear that God’s people are separate or sanctified from all other people on the face of the earth. This knowledge should inspire us to a devout and holy lifestyle. However, human nature being what it is, we are sometimes tempted with the craving for the leeks and garlic of Egypt. We sometimes think it possible just to take a little trip back to Egypt.
The Passover gives us a vivid and lasting message concerning the possibility of our return trips to the land of flesh and sin (Deut. 17:16). Each participant at the Passover is served a goodly portion of marror or bitter herbs (usually spicy horseradish). Soon after they taste this morsel, the guests often begin sputtering and groaning. In this vivid way, they once more remember the bitterness of Egypt. As tears come to their eyes they are reminded again that Egypt, or fleshly living, was certainly not a happy experience.
After the meal, the participants in the Passover drink the cup of redemption, which is thought to be the cup Jesus used in instituting the Lord’s Supper, and then later, after a time of singing praise Psalms, they finish the celebration with the cup of praise. When we consider all that the Lord has done for us, there is really nothing left for us to do but praise him. With this last cup God says to us, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God” (Exo. 6:7).
The completion of God’s sanctifying work is seen in 1 John 3:2, where the apostle says much the same thing as in Exodus 6: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
– Jim Gerrish
This updated article is presented courtesy of Bridges For Peace, Jerusalem. Original publication date, 1994.