Sanctification

1 · Icebreaker · 7 min

Open the room

What is a piece of clothing, a uniform, or a jacket that changed how you carried yourself when you put it on?

Leader. Identity you wear. Do not ask them to list unholy things to take off. That was the journal response. Say that passing is allowed, especially the first few weeks.

2 · The word · 8 min

See it, then say it

Definition, from the book

Sanctification means God has set you apart as holy and His, and now He is making you more like Jesus.

In the original language

Greek hagiasmos — holiness, consecration, being set apart as God’s.

Memory verse · 1 Corinthians 6:11

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Together, open the flashcard for Sanctification. Say the word, the definition, and the verse once. Then put the phone away.

3 · Open the Bible · 15 min

Colossians 3:1–4, 12–14

Paul starts with “you have been raised,” then tells them what to put on. The devotion asked them to define positional and progressive sanctification and to commit to taking garments off. You will let the text show the order instead of quizzing the definitions.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another… And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Have two readers if you can. Bibles open. The excerpt is only here so a forgotten Bible does not stop the night.

From the passage

1. 1.What does Paul say is already true of them before he tells them to put anything on?Core

   Leader. Raised with Christ, died, life hidden with Christ, chosen, holy, beloved. The command lands on people who already have a status. Imperative follows indicative.

2. 2.Look at the wardrobe list in verses 12–14. Are these mostly private feelings, or ways of treating other people?

   Leader. Mostly relational: compassion, patience, bearing with, forgiving, love. Holiness shows up in the room, not only in a quiet time.

4 · Around the room · 20 min

A conversation this chapter did not assign

1. 3.1 Corinthians 6:11 puts washed, sanctified, and justified in the past tense — “such were some of you.” How should a Christian’s past be talked about: erased from honesty, or no longer in charge?Core

   Leader. Paul names the past in the previous verses and then says “were.” Honesty without ownership. The old life is not the name on the robe.

2. 4.Philippians 2:12–13: work out your salvation, for God is at work in you to will and to work. Where do we slide into “God does it, so I will not” or “I do it, so it depends on me”?

   Leader. Both slides deny the verse. We work because He works. Effort is not earning. Passivity is not faith.

3. 5.Colossians 3:4 says Christ is your life, and glory is still future. What would change this month if you believed holiness is becoming who you already are in Him, rather than becoming someone God might finally like?

   Leader. Fear-based change exhausts people. Identity-based change can tell the truth and still rejoice. Tie back to adoption and justification without reteaching them.

5 · Say it · 5 min

In one sentence

Sanctification means God has already set you apart as His, and He is making you more like Jesus.

Ask for two volunteers, not the whole circle. They may look at the sentence, then try it without looking. Clumsy and true is the goal.

6 · Pray · 8 min

Leave silence between these

1. Thank God that “holy and beloved” is already how He names His people.
2. Ask for one piece of the wardrobe — name it — to be put on this week toward a real person.
3. Ask Him to keep working in you so your effort is not a panic.