Sanctified Through Faith in Jesus Christ

A Bible study on what it means that Christ “has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.” (Heb 10:14)

1. The Foundation: One Sacrifice Makes Perfect Forever
Christ’s sacrifice is complete. The sanctifying work is applied to those who are being set apart to God.
Hebrews 10:14 (BSB)

14 Because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.

Bob’s observation: The verse holds two truths together. Christ’s offering is one complete sacrifice, and those benefiting from it are described as “being sanctified.”
Joe’s annotation: This means the sacrifice is not repeated, but the people receiving its benefit are in a sanctified condition; they are set aside to God.
Hebrews 10:10 (BSB)

10 And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Bob’s observation: Sanctification rests on God’s will and Christ’s sacrifice, not on repeated sacrifices or human merit.
2. Sanctified Means Set Apart by God’s Truth
Jesus connects sanctification directly with God’s truth.
John 17:17 (WEB)

17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.

Bob’s observation: To be sanctified is to be set apart by God through the truth of His word.
Joe’s annotation: Sanctification is not vague religious feeling. Jesus defines the instrument of sanctification as a personal knowledge of God and his truth; which Jesus Christ came to bring. Your hope, which faith is your deliverance, is your intimate personal knowledge of Jesus's words... (John 15:11-16)
3. Sanctified People Are Washed and Changed
Sanctification includes a real change from the former way of life.
1 Corinthians 6:11 (BSB)

11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Bob’s observation: Paul shows sanctification as part of a changed standing and life: washed, sanctified, and justified.
Joe’s annotation: The sanctified person is not merely labeled differently. He has been brought out of the former uncleanness and placed before God in a clean condition.
4. Sanctified People Belong to God
Those sanctified by God become His possession and are called out of darkness.
1 Peter 2:9 (WEB)

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Bob’s observation: Sanctification includes ownership. God calls a people out of darkness and makes them His own possession.
Joe’s annotation: This is why “sanctified” means more than forgiven. It means separated from the old darkness of ignorance and stupidity and brought into God’s service. It means being the new "me" God knows you to be!
5. Sanctification Continues in Holiness of Conduct
The sacrifice in our behalf is complete, but the sanctified life of each Christian continues to be refined by obedience to God through Christ. This is not a group religious sectarian process. It is an individual and personal process. There is, of course, a large group of those "individuals" undergoing that process; but who they are is not known to you! If you have been led to imagine you know who they are, you are probably not a Christian... We all see indications we hope identify people who are, but we won't know until we are perfected and with them in paradise!
2 Corinthians 7:1 (BSB)

1 Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Bob’s observation: The sanctified person continues cleansing himself from what contaminates body and spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 (WEB)

3 For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,

4 that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

Bob’s observation: Sanctification affects conduct. God’s will is not only that people be counted holy, but that they live in sanctification and honor.
Joe’s annotation: This guards against the idea that Christ’s one sacrifice removes the need for holiness. The sacrifice is perfect; the life it produces is sanctified.
6. The Work of God: Exercising Faith in Jesus Christ
Jesus identifies the work God requires: believing in the One God sent.
John 6:28-29 (BSB)

28 Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”

29 Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

Bob’s observation: Jesus does not answer by giving a list of self-saving works. He says the work of God is to believe in the One God sent.
Joe’s annotation: This is an important part of this study because it explains how a person stands in relation to God by Christ’s sacrifice: by whether we are exercising faith in Jesus Christ. That is the judgment we are all rendering over ourselves... (John 3:17-21; Mal 3:16-4:3)
Acts 26:18 (WEB)

18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Bob’s observation: Jesus says people are “sanctified by faith in me.” This directly joins sanctification with faith in Christ.
Joe’s annotation: This verse is a key bridge: sanctified people are turned from darkness to light, receive forgiveness, and are sanctified to God's service by their faith in the words of Jesus.
7. Sanctified Through Faith, Not Through Works of Law
Acts 13:38-39

38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

39 Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.

Bob’s observation: Paul explains that forgiveness and justification come through Christ in a way the Law of Moses could not accomplish.
Joe’s annotation: Sanctification is not earned by successfully keeping the ancient Law Code given Moses; or by some sectarian groups rules and regulations they each one make up to define "their" faith; and judge who is approved by them [and in "their judgmental minds" by God]. Sanctification is appointed through or because of faith in Christ and his sacrifice.
Galatians 2:15-21

Paul repeatedly states that a man is not justified by works of law but through faith in Jesus Christ.

Bob’s observation: This harmonizes with Hebrews 10:14. Those being sanctified are not perfecting themselves through law-keeping but are exercising faith in Christ.
Joe’s annotation: Christ's sacrifice is the basis of sanctification, and faith in Christ is how one receives eternal life as one of its benefits.
8. Bible Summary: What Being Sanctified Means
A sanctified person is set apart to God through faith in Jesus Christ and is living under the cleansing power of Christ’s completed sacrifice.
Study conclusion

Christ’s one sacrifice has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified. The Bible shows that being sanctified means being set apart by God’s truth, washed from the former sinful condition, made God’s possession, and called to continue in holiness [service to God]. (Mal 3:16-4:3)

Jesus also shows that the required work of God is faith in the One God sent. Acts 26:18 makes the connection direct: people are sanctified by faith in Jesus.

Bob’s conclusion: Sanctification is not self-salvation by human works. It is the result of God’s will, (2 Chron 16:9) Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, and faith in Jesus Christ's words, producing a people set apart to God.
Joe’s practical conclusion: The simple Bible answer is: Christ’s sacrifice hs been made once for all time. You believe or you don't. Those benefiting from God and his Christ are those being sanctified through faith in what Jesus was sent by God to teach.