SANCTIFIED

Sanctified suggests "having been separated from (something), set apart." The term is used in a variety of ways in the Bible. (a) Both God the Father and Christ the Son are to be sanctified (Num. 20:12; 27:14; 1 Pet. 3:15), which means they are to be set apart as unique and authoritative Sovereigns over our lives. (b) God sanctifies (sets apart as holy) those who respond to his truth (Jn. 17:17) in obedience to the gospel (Eph. 5:26; 1 Cor. 6:11). (c) Man sanctifies himself by exercising his power of choice and yielding to the will of God (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:15). (d) The basis of spiritual sanctification is the death of Christ (Heb. 9:13-14; 10:10). (e) Occasionally "sanctified" takes on a special sense. For example, the unbeliever who is married to a Christian is sanctified by the believer (1 Cor. 7:14). This does not mean that the marriage itself saves the non-Christian. Rather, the sense seems to be that the unbeliever, being in close proximity with the Christian spouse, is in a kind of "set apart" environment -- cut off from the extreme godless influence of the world. The end result is the happy possibility that the sinner may be won to the Lord through Christian influence. Again, elsewhere Paul speaks of the fact that "every creature of God" (i.e., every kind of meat) has been sanctified (1 Tim. 4:4-5). Under the O.T. regime, certain creatures were forbidden as food (see Lev. 11). Under Christian law, all meats are acceptable for food. They have been authorized for human consumption by the "word of God," and, by our prayers of thanksgiving, they are set apart for our good use. See also SAINT, HOLY.