Set Apart by Death

 

In John 17 Jesus prays, and in this prayer, we see the heart of Jesus. He prays for Him to glorify the Father, for His followers to be in unity with Him and the Father and each other.

 

In verse 19 Jesus prays, “For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be sanctified.”

 

In verse 17 Jesus prays, “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.”

 

Jesus says that He sanctifies Himself so that His followers can also be sanctified, and what sanctifies is God’s Word because it is truth.

 

Sanctification means to be set apart. Jesus is saying that He is setting Himself apart so that His followers will also set themselves apart. Sanctification, the setting apart, is accomplished through obeying God’s Word because God’s Word is truth.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living being set apart for God’s purposes by God’s Word.

 

In John 12:26 Jesus says, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”

 

If we are really going to follow Jesus and serve Him, we must be where He is.

 

And where is Jesus?

 

He is teaching the crowd and feeding the crowd.

He is healing those with no other hope.

He is loving the immoral and dishonest.

He is socializing with outcast and sinners.

He is focusing on people, not rules.

He is doing the Father’s will by building the kingdom of God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being in the world doing what Jesus did.

 

In another prayer that Jesus prayed on the night that He was arrested, He prays in Luke 22:42, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.”

 

This is Jesus following through with His prayer John 17 that He sanctifies the Father’s will by going to the cross and dying for our sins.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is accepting that it is only through Jesus’ death that we have forgiveness of sin, by nothing we can do.

 

In Luke 9:23 Jesus says to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

 

Jesus sanctifies Himself by following God’s will and dying for our sins.

We are sanctified by denying ourselves and taking up our cross every day (dying to self).

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is dying to our will and being born to and living out God’s will.

 

Following Jesus and serving Jesus is what we were created by God to do. We do that by being sanctified, being set apart, to do God’s will.

Doing God’s will means we die to our will and live doing what Jesus did.

 

Following Jesus is about being where Jesus is, and Jesus is where the lost, the outcast, and the hurt are.

 

Sanctified by Jesus and With Jesus,

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe