(i.) Its use outside the NT. (ii.) Its NT usage.
B. Saiictifioalion as taught in the NT.
By («) I'hrist. (ft) .St. Paul.
(el Tlie Epistle to the Hebrews. ((/) St. Peter. (e) St. .John.
C. Connected Suunnary.
Literature.
A. 'AriASMO'2.— (i.) Its vse outside the .VT.— The form of the word, indeed, suggests that emphasis should lie on the process involved. But its actual usage, which is perhaps exclusively Biblical and patristic, does not bear this out. It is true that the LXX shows traces of the active sense ; as in Jg 17^ where A has ayiaa/j.!} i]-ylacra for d7idfoi'a-a r]yiaKa of B ; Sir 7^' Ovo-ian d7ia!r/ioO k. airapx'f)'' ('the sacrifice of hallowing' being parallel to 'first-fruits') ; Ezk 4iS* ftTTai avTois (rois iepevaiv) rdwos et's otKovs d<pupitT- fi^vovs T^J dyiaafiu avTwv ; 2 Mac 2'' t6 {SaaiXeLOv k. tA lepiTcvixa k. rbv ayiaap-bv, the covenanted prerog- atives of Israel, and 14*^ ; Hyie Trarros ayiaaixov Kypie, oiaTT]pT)CTov ei's alCjva dp.lavTov rbvbe tov npotrtpd- Tus KiKaSfpiafiivov oIkov. But in Am 2'1 eXa/iov {k tQp viuii' V}xuiv el's TTpo(f>7]Tai, K. ^K rCiv yfa.vi<TKwv vp.C)v cis dyia.<rij.bv (';' = 'a halhnved thing,' where the Heb. has 'for Nazirites'), the passive sense seems to prevail (cf. 3 Mac 2'* rbv oIkov tov dyiaaiiov, ' the House of Sanctihcation,' contrasted with idol-liouses ; per- haps also Sir 17''''i"* bvofia dyi.a(7p.ov alv^uovaLv^ on the analogy of Mt 0^ dyiaffBrtTi^ rb 6voixd aov. So of Messiali it is said, in Ps-Sol 17^^ that 'he shall cleanse Jerusalem with (a state of) .sanctilication {ill ayiaa-iu.!?), as it was even at the first.' Similarly in the earliest patristic u.sage ; as in 1st Ep. of Clem. XXXV. 2, where, as gifts of God, are named i^ojTj iv d8avaffit}y XapitrpbTTjs iv bLKaio(Tvvr] iyKpdreia Iv dyia(rp,i(, and xxx. 1, dyla (ivir. lee. dylov) o^v fxepls vtrdpxovTfi irQiT)(Xiop.€v rd toD dyiafffJioO irdvTa, ipiiyovTf^ KaraXaXids, k.t.X. Hence the idea of sanctilication as a quality or state sometimes attaches to dyi.a.<rp.b%. even outside the NT ; * while in the NT it will be found to be the prevailing thought in one form or another.
(ii.) Its NT usuije. — In St. Paul the word occurs eight times, in five distinct passages. In the earliest of these, 1 Th 4'i<", it means a state of practical or realized consecration to Goil's will, conduct conformed to the ideal attitude or stand- ing of the Christian, as 'in Christ.' Such a state is the essence of God's will for man ; and it is
* Thus OCeumenius on t Th 8i* says, toOto aAT)0uf aytatr^idv, TO navjh^ pvirou xadapbi' cli-ai.
defined, in one connexion, as the ' state of abstin- ence (dTT^x^'''^'") from fornication,' the ability of a man to possess (see art. PossKss) his own vessel in a condition of hallowedness and honour, in contrast to one of lustful passion. For ' God called us not on a basis of unchastity, but in (the status of) hallowedness ' (ou . . . tiri dKadap<riq. d\\' iv dyi.aap.Cp). Similarly in 2 Th 2'^ he says that Christians were chosen of God ' in (the .status of) hallowedness due to the Spirit, and faith based on the Truth' (iv 07. irvivp.a.Ta'i k. irlard dX-qOelas) — where none would doubt that ' faith ' means a state of soul. This divinely-determined state is set forth in other but kindred terms, as one wherein the soul is 'sealed' by the Holy Spirit (2 Co 1--, Eph 113) as something devoted to God. This idea is adopted in 1 P 1-, along with explicit mention of the objective or sacrificial basis of man's consecration, ' the blood of Christ ' — the aspect emphasized in Hebrews (tli"- "■ ^ ; cf. 2"). In another passage St. Paul himself refers to this more objective side of the state of hallowedness, when, in 1 Co 1^', he calls Christ as crucified (v.-^) God's ' wisdom ' or secret as regards ' righteous- ne.ss (justification) and sanctilication and redemp- tion.' Here the thought is not of sanctitication as a process, but as a status into which a man is brought by God's act on condition of faith ; as is seen from 1 Co 6'i ' Ye were washed clean, ye were sanctified, ye were justified in (virtue of) the name of our Lord .lesus Christ, and in (virtue of) the Spirit of our God.' Every Christian as such has been put into a virtual or implicit state of clean.sed- ness from his sinful past and consecration to God's holy ends, in the same experience of faith which ushers hiin into the state of justification. These are, indeed, but different aspects of one and the same spiritual fact, and are produced by the same Divine means, both objective and subjective.
The like thought, uinler the different metaphors of death to sin and life unto God, corresponding to Christ's cross and resurrection, reappears in Ko (i. 'He that hath died hath been justified from sin' (v.') ; 'be reckoning your.selves to be dead indeed unto sin (purification), but living unto God (con- secration) in Christ Je.sus' (v.n). So saying, St. Paul passes to the practical consequences of the new attitude to sin and to God implied in sjiiritual union with Christ on the part of the justified. Status or attitude of soul must express itself in moral habit. As formerly it had been lawlessness that had expressed itself through the man's actions, so now he is to let righteousness sway him, with a .state of hallowed action as issue (eis dyiaaixSv, vv.i'J—2). Accordingly, the same apo.stle teaches, in 1 Ti 21^, that an abiding state of faith, love, and hallowedness of living must characterize the Christian. And the like is taught in He 12i», which alludes to the pursuit of peace with all men and of the holy habit of living (dyiaffpbv) befitting fellowship with God. In all these cases no stress falls upim process as entering into the state in question ; though in some there is a suggestion of it, in the notion of habit or state to be realized in conduct. The idea is that of constant reattirniation of the underlying attitude of consecration to God's will and ends. But, so far, there is no suggestion of progress ; rather of maintenance (see 1 Ti 2") of a sound attitude or condition. Progressive sanctifi- cation, a growth from less to more, whether in purity or range, is not contemplated in the word dyiaapJ)! itself. Yet it is embraced in the scope] of apostolic teaching, as we see when we proceed to examine other references to the subject of the Christian life.