Question:
I’m told that regeneration is one step and that sanctification is a degree beyond which we must attain or be lost. Please explain these terms to me.
Answer:
The two words express different things. “Regeneration” means to be begotten again, born again. It is wholly of God. It is a new creation wrought by His power in the person who yields to Him. It makes a man a new creature. That was explained to Nicodemus when Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:5-7). Compare those verses with Paul’s words to Titus when he said, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” (Titus 3:5). The “washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” is that of being “born of water and of the Spirit,” being “born again.”
“Sanctification” means a separation from sin unto God. It is a setting apart to His service, in essence, holiness. (See Leviticus 20:7). It is both instantaneous and progressive. When a man gives himself wholly to God and separates from the world unto God, he is a sanctified or separated man, in which man acts his part by yielding and God His part by accepting and cleansing. The development of that setting apart comes every day as God’s truth is presented, unrolled, and revealed by the Spirit in ever-living duty. (See 2 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 7:1). So Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17). Yielding to that Word, following it, receiving and appropriating it is constant separation from the world unto God. It is a life work in the development of character. Regeneration gives new life; sanctification maintains it.
