One of the thirty-two names of God found in the Old Testament is Jehovah M’Kaddesh (the Lord who sanctifies). “Jehovah” is a Latinized version of the Hebrew word Yahweh. We discover Jehovah M’Kaddesh in Leviticus 20:8, “Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”
The context of this verse is better understood by noting that the previous chapters, Leviticus 18-19, outlawed certain evil practices. Chapter 20 states the penalties imposed on those who broke God’s law. The same Lord who declared the precepts also declared the penalties. These laws were meant for the people of Israel, God’s covenant people. This law was the law of the land. God gave these laws to retrain sin, not necessarily to reform sinners. The penalties imposed were for the purpose of upholding His law, not improving offenders. This by no means calls believers today to seek equal penalties for the offenses mentioned. However, believers ought to strive to ensure that justice is served justly. We do this while remembering that the main call upon followers of Christ is to make disciples, and our primary tools are Scripture, prayer, love, and testimony (Acts 6:4, John 13:35, Revelation 12:11).
Leviticus 20:1-5 speak out against child sacrifice. It addresses the heinous act of worshipping Molech. His metal image was heated red hot, and little children were placed in his arms and burned to death (see 2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronronicles 33:6; Jeremiah 32:35). People who practiced such idolatry were vile, and their presence in the camp of Israel defiled God’s sanctuary and profaned His holy name. Idolaters were not tolerated because they influenced others, leading people away from worshipping the true God. Verse 6 addresses seeking out fortunetellers. Who doesn’t want to know what the future holds? We often look to others for guidance. God warns against looking to the occult for advice because, among other things, they are either fakes or in contact with evil spirits. Either way, they’re dangerous. Here’s the good news, God has given us the Bible to acquire the information we need to live the abundant life offered to us in Christ.
Then we read, “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Leviticus 20:7-8). Even amidst this list of capital crimes, God graciously offers encouragement to live morally, which is motivated by His own holiness and made possible by His workings in our lives. It’s important to remember that the motivation behind every aspect of Israel’s laws was that the people would demonstrate their distinctiveness from the nations. Israel was chosen to be a light unto the nations.
Holiness is not presented as something merely achieved by human effort but as a state created and given by the power of God. God’s people are called to maintain the holiness He has already conferred on them through His grace and redemptive work. The call is to live differently because God has made them different; therefore, be what you are.
God is Jehovah M’Kaddesh, the Lord who sanctifies you; He is the Lord who sanctifies. Sanctification is the cooperative work of God and believers by which ongoing transformation into greater Christlikeness occurs (2 Corinthians 3:18). When we turn in repentance and faith to look at Christ through the mirror of God’s Word, we are graciously transformed more and more fully into His image by the Holy Spirit. God operates in the life of Christians (Philippians 2:12-13) by, for instance, convicting them of sin and empowering them by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, they engage in spiritual disciplines such as reading and applying Scripture, praying, dealing rightly with sin, and yielding to the Spirit. Such maturing transpires particularly through the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18); Galatians 5:16-23) and the Word of God (John 17:17).
Therefore, we can think of sanctification as the salvific work of our Lord today in the life of a believer, where they are becoming practically what Christ bought for them positionally on the cross, a work that will be completed when we see Christ face to face. Through faith in Christ, I have shared in His death on the cross. As before I lived under sin, I now live in Him. This life comes from that faith in which I share not just His crucifixion but also His resurrection. I am in Christ.
I pose three responses to our Lord who sanctifies. First, receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Secondly, believe that God makes His Spirit and holy character available to all who enter into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ, while I earnestly desire this work and trust in His workings in and through me by faith. Thirdly, by the power of the Holy Spirit, grow in Christ by applying His grace rigorously to every area of life because grace must continually be appropriated through a life of faith. The “Means of grace” are the spiritual disciplines that promote growth in grace when engaged. The means of grace do not work automatically; they are instruments through which we receive grace, not machines that produce grace. God gives grace, but to grow in it, we must appropriate it.
It is no small thing that the Lord makes His sanctifying work available to us. Jesus prayed that His disciples (past, present, future) would be sanctified, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). There are three questions we need to consider. How will I respond to the Scriptures teaching on God’s work and willingness to sanctify us? Do I hunger in my spirit for more of God’s holiness? Am I willing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to grow in greater Christlikeness? Past and present, multitudes of Christians bear witness that when they put their faith in the promises of Scriptures, received Christ as Savior and Lord, and filled with His Spirit, our Lord cleansed them of sin; He sanctified them. I echo these words of Paul over us, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Soli Deo Gloria (God Alone Be The Glory)!