A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, June 28, 2026.
Today, we will continue to look at what happens in your life when you do accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. A lot of time is spent by pastors in churches throughout the globe proclaiming the gospel and the importance of salvation, and rightfully so.
It is also fitting for us to spend time on what it means to be a believer in Jesus, and the expectations that come with it. And we need to understand, first of all, in the same way that the salvation experience may differ from person to person, the believer’s experience is unique, as well. The common thread of a believer’s experience from person to person is the wonderful presence of God’s gift of sanctification.
The word “sanctification” is not used very often outside of a church or bible study setting. Let’s define it now to provide greater understanding:
Sanctification is defined in the Bible as the process of being set apart for God’s special use and purpose, which involves moral transformation into a more Christlike character. The word “sanctification” comes from the Greek word hagiasmos meaning “holiness” or separation; to be set apart from special use. Sanctification gives the believer maturity: a distinction in words and actions that are in dedication and recognition of Jesus.1
1 Peter 2:9b NLT
…you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
This verse represents the characteristics of every believer in Jesus Christ, without regard to their level of knowledge or experience as a believer. Sanctification begins at the time of conversion, and it continues for a lifetime. For the record, the sanctification process is completed when believers receive new, sin-free bodies at the second coming of Jesus. At that time, we will be fully transformed and freed from sin’s presence in eternity.2
This past Sunday, we completed a study of the need, means and results of salvation through Jesus Christ. Today, we’re going to look at the sanctification process, which fits within the “results” category of salvation. In your salvation experience, you were immediately sanctified or set apart from God.
You were chosen and set apart for holiness to be more like Jesus.
1 Peter 1:15-16 NLT
15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
Romans 8:29 NLT
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
Where does sanctification come from? It comes directly from Jesus. He is the One who sanctifies us immediately when we believe in Him. When we believe that the actions of Jesus paid for our sins in His crucifixion, we are indeed set free from sin—forever.
This moment is referred to as Positional Sanctification. It is the immediate baptism of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer.
1 Corinthians 1:2 NLT
I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
1 Corinthians 12:13 NLT
Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
Romans 6:11-14 NLT
11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
The indwelling Holy Spirit is an enrichment to every believer. He provides a living and working ministry that builds and strengthens.
He is a Comforter.
John 14:26 NLT
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
He is a Helper.
John 14:16-17 NLT
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
Romans 8:14-16, 26-27 NLT
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
He is an Illuminator. He reveals His Word to us.
1 Corinthians 2:11-13 NLT
11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
Now, before we go even deeper into this, I want you to consider a very important aspect of sanctification for the believer that some of you may have not yet experienced. This is referred to as the Crisis of Sanctification. This is when a defining, instantaneous moment of surrender to God occurs after conversion. The “crisis” is when a believer realizes that he cannot overcome sin in his own strength and willingly allows for the Holy Spirit to sanctify him and become more Christlike in behavior and action.
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
This is for every believer to consider. There has to be a point within your experience as a believer in Jesus where you decide to unequivocally and with sincerity live in complete surrender and obedience to Him.
I mention this because I made a number of challenges to believers when it comes to salvation and laying it all on the line for Jesus. This crisis moment is a step in the sanctification process that every believer must take.
Romans 12:1-2 NLT
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Psalm 119:9-11 NLT
9 How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word.
10 I have tried hard to find you—
don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
1 John 2:5-6 NLT
5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
There is another term within sanctification that involves the growth of the believer. The filling of the Spirit presents the believer with the ability to live out a Christlike existence. This is referred to as Progressive Sanctification.
2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.
2 Peter 3:18b NLT
…you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:17 NLT
…asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
Progressive sanctification brings about maturity in Christ. Maturity in godly wisdom and knowledge is something that the Spirit can and will provide if the believer makes the decision to live in obedience to Jesus Christ. This means that the believer has to choose to not just rely upon the presence of the Spirit but listen to Him and live in accordance with the will of God.
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:5b NLT
…but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
This is where believers become more familiar with Experiential Sanctification. “Experiential sanctification” is the function of the believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God.3
Romans 6:22 NLT
But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
2 Timothy 2:21 NLT
If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.
In our efforts to define the different aspects of sanctification that Jesus gives to members of the body of Christ, we must also remember that sanctification reveals believers to the world. There is evidence of sanctification because believers live the sanctified life.
1 Peter 3:15 NLT
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.
The evidence of believers is best represented through the fruits of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The Spirit also enables us with gifts to share with others.
Romans 12:4-8 NLT
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
The sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit enables and equips believers to a life of obedient service for Jesus Christ. The Spirit empowers believers to go into the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).
Acts 1:8 NLT
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The faith of a sanctified believer is not hidden. It is for everyone to see and behold.
James 2:17 NLT
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Matthew 5:14-16 NLT
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Jesus brings us from darkness to light with His finished work on the cross in His death, resurrection and ascension. As the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus, we must acknowledge that the gift of sanctification comes directly from Jesus Christ. Jesus said Himself that the Spirit follows His direction:
John 16:13-15 NLT
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
Jesus tells us, through the power of the Spirit, what we need to hear. He does it because He loves us.
Trust Him today and remain in His presence. He wants to see you grow in your faith and purpose as you live for Him.
Jesus is our Sanctifier.
Copyright © 2026 Melvin Gaines.
1 What is sanctification? what is the definition of Christian sanctification? | gotquestions.org. (n.d.-b). https://www.gotquestions.org/sanctification.html
2 The journey of Progressive Sanctification. (n.d.-b). https://www.gospelforlife.com/the-journey-of-progressive-sanctification/
3 Experiential sanctification – logos sermons. (n.d.-a). https://sermons.logos.com/sermons/715704-experiential-sanctification?sso=false
Melvin Gaines 