Sanctification

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sanctification \Sanc`ti*fi*ca"tion\, n. [L. sanctificatio: cf.
     F. sanctification.]
     1. The act of sanctifying or making holy; the state of being
        sanctified or made holy; esp. (Theol.), the act of God's
        grace by which the affections of men are purified, or
        alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme


        love to God; also, the state of being thus purified or
        sanctified.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
              through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
              the truth.                            --2 Thess. ii.
                                                    13.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The act of consecrating, or of setting apart for a sacred
        purpose; consecration. --Bp. Burnet.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sanctification
       n : a religious ceremony in which something is made holy

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Sanctification
     involves more than a mere moral reformation of character,
     brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the
     Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the
     influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul
     in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying
     on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends
     to the whole man (Rom. 6:13; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10; 1 John 4:7;
     1 Cor. 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the
     plan of redemption to carry on this work (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess.
     2:13). Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification,
     inasmuch as it (1) secures union to Christ (Gal. 2:20), and (2)
     brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby
     he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the
     threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life
     and that which is to come."
     
       Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1 Kings
     8:46; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8). See Paul's
     account of himself in Rom. 7:14-25; Phil. 3:12-14; and 1 Tim.
     1:15; also the confessions of David (Ps. 19:12, 13; 51), of
     Moses (90:8), of Job (42:5, 6), and of Daniel (9:3-20). "The
     more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing,
     self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes,
     and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral
     imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he
     laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life
     is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of
     heaven by storm, and watch while they pray. They are always
     subject to the constant chastisement of their Father's loving
     hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections
     and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the
     fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the
     least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for
     themselves.", Hodge's Outlines.