John 17:17

John 17:17 says, Sanctify them through thy truth: Thy word is truth.  Jesus asked the Father to sanctify the disciples through His truth. What does sanctification mean?  It means to be freed from sin, to be made holy, to be purified. We cannot come into the presence of God with sin in our life.  What is the truth that they were to be sanctified through?  The Father's Word, Jesus, the Messiah.  If they could be sanctified by the teachings of the Scriptures, as Matthew Henry seems to see this as saying, then the Word, Jesus, would not have been necessary.  The Scripture helps us understand God, but my understanding is that only through Jesus Christ can we be sanctified or made right with God.  Verse eighteen, Jesus adds, As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.  As followers of Christ, we need to understand our commission.  Jesus was sent into the world to make salvation possible, and He sends us into the world to proclaim that salvation.  No matter what else we may be doing in life, as Christians the spreading of the gospel is our number one task.  It should not be something to work in around the edges of life.  Jesus is our example, and this was always His number one priority.  Verse nineteen continues, And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.  If Jesus is not sanctified, then we have no hope.  He died to pay the penalty for our sins.  If this is not true, then we cannot be sanctified.  We cannot hope to sanctify ourselves.  Just as we must ask God for forgiveness, we must look to Christ for salvation and sanctification. Since a lot was said about sanctification in this passage, I believe that we need to daily apply this truth to our lives. We are set apart to God. Jesus died not only to save us but to sanctify us through Him.  We cannot live by the world's truth but must live by the truth of Christ.