"How does this sanctifying take place?" Luther asks in the Large Catechism. Luther answers, "Just as the Son obtains dominion by purchasing us through His birth, death, and resurrection, etc., so that Holy Spirit effects our sanctification through the following: the communion of saints or Christian church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. In other words, He first leads us into the holy community, placing us upon the bosom of the church, where He preaches to us and brings us to Christ." (Large Catechism II.37).  Luther continued this thought saying, "Therefore to sanctify is nothing else than to bring us to the Lord Christ to receive this blessing, which we could not obtain by ourselves." Sanctification, or the reality that the Holy Spirit makes us holy, is not based on our work or merit, but rather is based on Jesus' mercy for us. We are not holy because we make ourselves holy, but rather because the Holy Spirit makes us holy in the preaching of the Gospel and the distribution of the sacraments.

What I'm talking about in this devotion is "Who effects our holiness?" It is not us! It is the Holy Spirit. Take Romans 6 which says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." We were buried in Baptism. We did not put our sinful selves to death, but rather we were put to death in the waters of Holy Baptism and raised to newness of life by the grace of Jesus as brought to us by the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is not our work, but the Holy Spirit's work for us. Sanctification is not our work, it is the Holy Spirit's work, as St. Paul wrote to the Galatians saying, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." We have been put to death, the Old Adam drowned, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us. Yet again declaring that Sanctification is not our work, but the work of God. The Holy Spirit brings us to Christ and declares us holy and lives in us a holy life.

This doctrine of sanctification is not a license to sin. It is not an invitation saying that because it's all God's work, we can do whatever we want and God will make us holy anyway. Rather than sanctification being a license to sin, it is instead a blessed doctrine that comforts us in the midst of our failures and our despair. The Law continues to accuse us, even though we are in Christ, the Law still accuses us and the devil still antagonizes us. When we look in the mirror we don't look that holy. When we look at our deeds, we don't appear that righteous. The only time I point to MY GOOD WORKS is when I'm trying to guilt other people about all the labor I'm doing for them. This means I only notice my appearance of holiness when I want to drag my neighbor down and make them feel bad. No, when I look into the mirror of the law all I see is my failures, doubts, anxieties, and sins against God, my wife, my kids, my church, and all around me. So, the doctrine of sanctification is there to comfort us in the reality that, even though we don't look or feel holy all the time, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and keeps us in the one true faith. It is the Holy Spirit's work, not ours. He is the one that makes us holy before our heavenly Father and presents us blameless, covered in the blood of Jesus, rather than in our wickedness.

So, repeat it all day long in the midst of your spiritual and temporal anxiety. Repeat it and meditate on it throughout the day, the readings from Scripture and the Catechism. "Sanctification is not my work, It's God's Work. It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies me and makes me holy."

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "Peace and be still. I've done all the work for you. You are holy because I am holy," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull