THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE

JOHN 17:17–19

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.… And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth”

(John 17:17, 19).

Throughout Scripture wherever there are admonitions to “put off” something, there are corresponding exhortations to “put on” something else. Where we put to death sin, we are to bring to life principles of grace. Where we are to run from temptation, we are to walk in the Spirit. Here again, we find this theme in Jesus’ prayer. He prays that we be kept from the evil one and, instead, be consecrated in the truth. In other words, “Keep them from the one, and confirm them in the other.”

The verb sanctify is related to holy (like that used in Holy Father). Hence, Jesus is saying, “Make them holy in the truth.” More fully stated the verb means, as Hendriksen puts it, “to set apart from the world by actual sanctification of life, so that in heart and mind, in thought, words, and deeds, one begins to live more and more in accordance with the law of God.” This sanctification can only take place if the person wants to be entirely governed by the truth, i.e., by God’s redemptive revelation in Christ as the ultimate standard of life and doctrine. He is the truth, and the word of the Father, which had been given to the disciples through Christ’s teaching, must be the source of truth for these men because Jesus would no longer be with them. Jesus is emphatically stating that the teaching He transmitted to the disciples is the only authority by which they are to live. This is the truth that the Spirit would bring to their minds so they could record it for generations to come. The Scriptures alone are the infallible rule for life and doctrine. It is their content that guides us as we are sanctified by God.

It is for this purpose that Christ “sanctified” Himself. This word, while the same as that referencing the disciples, does not mean moral cleansing, but consecration. It refers to Christ’s self-offering, self-dedication to the sacred task for which He had been set apart. Only when He has completed His task can His followers be truly “set apart” or “cleansed” outwardly and inwardly as the benefits of His sacrifice are applied to them. In this way, believers are sanctified by the “Word” (which is Christ), and by the Scriptures, which is the Word of God that makes men wise to salvation.

CORAM DEO

Isaiah 19–21

Ephesians 2

If you are sanctified by God according to the Scriptures, what does that mean practically? How much time do you spend studying and meditating on the Scriptures? How does it affect your growth when you avoid the Bible? Commit to joyful, regular Bible study and meditation.

For further study: Ps. 119:9 • Rom. 15:1–4 • 2 Tim. 3:16–17 • 2 Peter 1:19–21