I Thessalonians 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Introduction: Last week we cover a general lesson on sanctification and how we can be sanctified in our own lives so that, we can be blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This week, we want to cover a lesson on how the spirit of man can be sanctified wholly, so that it can be blameless in this lifetime unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the benefits of having a sanctified spirit.
The spirit of man is the part of the man that comes from God, relates directly to God, and returns to God. It is what receives impressions of the outward and material things through the soul and body.
How do you sanctify the spirit and get closer to God? But before we look into that, the first question we should ask ourselves is, why does the spirit need to be sanctified?
- Why Does the spirit need to be sanctified– Because the spirit of man is what alerts man about spiritual things and has an impact on the soul, we want to make sure the spirit doesn’t get defiled and is in constant walk with the Spirit of God.
Because we live in the world, our spirits get defiled with the things that are going on in the world and the spirit needs to be sanctified.
- The spirit Gets Defiled- Titus 1:15 “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” When our spirit gets defiled with the things of the world, it’s time to sanctify our spirit.
What we need to do is maintain ourselves pure. Because of this, something happens to our spirit in relation to God’s spirit.
- The spirit doesn’t line up with God- I Corinthians 2:9-13 Our spirit and Gods spirit need to line up, that’s the problem. We need to always be working on being conformed to the image of God.
- I Corinthians 3:1 The carnal man is capable of understanding spiritual things but minds the things of the flesh therefore, it doesn’t look for the things of God.
- How can the spirit be sanctified– The way a Christian should have his spirit sanctified, is by dealing with the inside first. If we change only the outside, and make it look better when the inside is defiled and corrupt, we become like a pharisee. Luke 11:39 “but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness”.
- Clean the spirit- II Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Asking God- Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
- By the Word – Hebrews 4:12 “piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit” John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth”.
- Keep a short Accounts of Sin- Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”. And it also bareth witness that we are in fellowship with God or not.
The spirit of man alerts us like an alarm, regarding other spirits and whether they line up with God’s spirit or not.
- Purpose in your heart- Daniel 1:8 “Daniel purposed in this heart that he would not defile himself”. The things we watch, the things we hear, the things we participate in, the people we associate with, etc., those things defile the spirit of man.
- Walk in the New Man- Colossians 3:9-10 ye have put off the old man and that you have put on the new man. Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit”. Old man is in Adam, Carnal, in the Flesh. The new man is in Christ, is Spiritual, and is in the spirit.
- God expects his people to walk in newness of life, in the new spirit and no the flesh. II Corinthains 5:17 all things are become new
- Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
- When we walk in the spirit of the world, we cannot walk in the spirt of God.
- Stay Close to God- We are spiritual beings and need to stay close to God and away from the world. Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”
Conclusion: Because the spirit of man and the Spirit of God should be in constant communication and fellowship, and because the spirit of man gets defiled, it’s important to sanctify the spirt and set it apart from the world. By doing this, we will have a better relationship with God, we will stay close to God, we walk in the new man, we will purpose in our heart to do the things of God, we will keep short accounts of sin, and most importantly, we will have a clean spirit.
Anchor Baptist Church 