By: Obed Pineda
On the night He was betrayed and arrested, prior to that taking place, He petitioned His Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Regrettably, there is a myriad of false doctrines that have sprung forth from an inaccurate and improper understanding of what the Lord spoke of in this pericope. Curiously, a great amount of these erroneous thoughts are linked with a dreadful misunderstanding about the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, the Calvinist mindset wrongfully concludes from Scriptures similar to the one under consideration that the Holy Spirit directly operates upon the sinner’s heart by “enlightening” him about his predestined salvation. This process, they explain, is known as the “irresistible grace,” where said individual cannot resist the power of the Holy Spirit of God and thus has no other choice but to obey the will of God. In case you are wondering, this falsity claims that man has no free will and therefore the choice of salvation is forcefully placed upon him personally by the Spirit. A major problem with this teaching is that it is saying that God violates His own law by removing man’s free will in that instance. Secondly, it makes God a liar for it denies that He is a righteous judge and His claim that He is not a respecter of persons (cf. Romans 2:5-11, 2nd Corinthians 5:10). Knowing then that God “cannot lie” it is unnecessary to continue to prove why this doctrine is incorrect and dangerous (Titus 1:2). Ergo, it behooves us to comprehend more accurately, according to the Scriptures, what the work of the Holy Spirit is in regards to our salvation. It is always wise to begin by identifying the context that surrounds that passage under consideration. For this particular Scripture, the context leading up to it commences with John 14, where the Savior is giving His final instructions to those who would soon become His witnesses after His death, burial, and resurrection. The inspired John (who was present for this discourse) records what the Master identified what the work of the Holy Spirit would be, after assuring them “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17a). The great Redeemer establishes that the Holy Spirit would teach and remind them (His disciples) of what He had previously taught them (cf. John 14:26). He also explained that the Spirit would testify of Him, Jesus Christ (cf. John 15:26-27). The Helper would also be responsible of carrying out the task to “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). Finally, the Lord revealed to His eleven (Judas had already left to betray Him, cf. John 13:30) that it would be the Spirit of God Who would “guide you [the disciples] into all truth” (John 16:13, addition OP). It was after this, that Jesus the Christ prays to His Father and makes the request of sanctification for His witnesses. Remember that He confirmed as well that this process of sanctification happens by God’s truth; His word (cf. John 17:17). This coincides with what the Lord revealed to Nicodemus as to what was necessary for him to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God (cf. John 3:3-5). Humanity’s sanctification, therefore, is part of the Holy Spirit’s work, which He exercises through the revelation of God’s will in the Bible. The apostle Paul verifies this as espoused to the Thessalonian brethren, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1st Thessalonians 2:13). In his second epistle to them, Paul elaborates on one way the Spirit worked effectively in them, stating, “we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our Gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2nd Thessalonians 2:13-14). Per Thayer’s lexicon, “sanctification” is the Greek term hagiasmos and it is interpreted to mean “consecration, purification” (Thayer, G38). Consider what the apostle to the Gentiles heard from Ananias when he was questioned by him, “and now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). John reaffirmed those enduring heavy persecution that Jesus had granted us sure victory because He “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). Verily it can be agreed that John is no way, shape, or form speaking about being washed in the literal blood of Jesus, since the Savior had left this earth several decades prior to his writing of Revelation. Thus, this establishes that the apostle John is using figurative language to speak about the Lord’s sacrifice at Calvary (cf. John 19:31-37). It is vital to observe a key component that is consistently repeated in each one of the Scriptures mentioned in this treatise. In each inspired passage, sanctification is referred to as washing away of sins, through the baptism that emulates Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (cf. Romans 6:1-4). The question then becomes how does the Spirit sanctify (i.e. wash) the person? The apostle Peter reveals the answer, penning, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever” (1st Peter 1:22-23). In the beginning of this composition, our Lord unveiled that man is sanctified by (that is to say, through) God’s truth, which is His the same as His Word (cf. John 17:17). Jesus, too, revealed to Nicodemus that entrance into the Kingdom is only through being born again of the water and the Spirit (cf. John 3:5). Holy Writ therefore, establishes that the Holy Spirit sanctifies a person, when said person obeys the inspired Word of God, the Bible, and not man-made philosophies. This illumines what Paul meant when he expressed, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). In other words, if a man’s obedience perfectly fits with the Holy Spirit’s inspired doctrine of what is approved by God for justification, then this gives that man a clear conscience that he is in good standing with God (cf. Hebrews 9:11-15, 1st Peter 3:21). Needless to say that the Holy Spirit today continues to sanctify as He did so in times past. He has always purified man through the revealed, confirmed, and inspired Word that guides mankind into all truth.