Read: Acts 26:16-18
I send you… that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Acts 26:17-18, R.S.V.).
Sanctification Is By Faith
When we have completed our consecration to God, we have almost finished with all that human endeavor can do to obtain the blessing of entire sanctification. Almost but not quite. When consecration is complete, we rest the case with God and by faith we receive the promised gift.
There is a sense in which faith is the only condition for receiving the Holy Spirit. Desire and consecration are necessary but they are foundations for our faith. They are necessary because without them faith does not function. But one may have both desire and consecration and yet not receive the blessing if faith be lacking. On the other hand, faith is the one condition that is never absent when the blessing comes, and the one condition that can never be met without the blessing following.
It is often the presence or absence of faith which accounts for the differences we see in those who seek to be sanctified. Occasionally a seeker weeps, prays, agonizes, and exhausts himself in a search which extends into weeks. In these cases the struggle seems necessary to help the seeker reach a place of faith. Others meet God’s conditions and exercise faith almost without conscious effort. Dr. J. B. Chapman, sanctified the next night after his conversion, writes: “I was not really conscious of holding anything back from God. I did answer yes to every suggestion. After an hour of prayer and searching the heart, I was able to trust for the sanctifying fullness of the Holy Spirit.”
Affirmation For Today
I believe the Bible teaches that God wants to sanctify converted Christians. I ask. Him to cleanse and fill me. I do now open my heart to the Holy Spirit and trust His promise to sanctify my soul.