The Gospel of John describes a scene where John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and he made the following statement:
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is
the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed
me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the
reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to
Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down
from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know
him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man
on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one.” (John
1:29-34)
At first sight, it seems the writer was describing the actual baptism itself, as per Matthew’s account. However, the next few days finds Jesus choosing his disciples – not going into the wilderness as the Synoptics relate it. So, is this scene a ‘revisit’ so to speak? Is it Jesus coming out of the wilderness, walking past John, at about Passover season, some months following his actual baptism?
If so, then the Gospel of John is not recording the baptism event directly, but is recording John B’s testimony of that event. In other words, John B. sees Jesus returning, and calls out, “This is the man I baptised several months ago! This is the man the dove descended upon!”
So, is the Gospel of John recording the actual baptism event, or is he recording an occasion when Jesus revisited the same place on his way back from the wilderness? The latter explanation may reconcile some of the perceived differences between John and the Synoptic Gospels.
Charles Page
Trying to post on cell phone
Wahyu
of course
T Murray Funston
Yes
Varnel Watson
yEs you need to be born again before the RAPTURE
Douglas Roberts
YES, Sanctification is before Justification. The new Birth comes first.; Then we are alive to Repent ,Trust and obey for eternal Life. Faith alone is wrong and will take one to Hell/
Varnel Watson
Sanctification is before Justification? PROVE it with some BIBLE pls Douglas Roberts
Greg Thumm
Why does everything theological have to revolve around the “rapture” for some people ? ? ?
Varnel Watson
when else would you wanna be saved? Greg Thumm
Greg Thumm
I am being saved whether or not there is a pre-trib “rapture”. The question is, what am I being saved for? To put on the full armor of God and wade into the enemy sword in hand, or to sit on a cloud and play the harp as the battle rages … The big picture question is, what is God’s purpose in tribulation.
Michael N Dineen
Yes.
RichardAnna Boyce
1. Positional Sanctification
First Corinthians 1:30 is a good verse to summarize our sanctified, or set-apart, position in Christ: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
This is an absolute, perfect, and objective thing. Positional sanctification takes place instantaneously at salvation, irrespective of how little it may or may not immediately show up in our lives. The Corinthians, who had a long way to go before they would be considered “saintly” by outside observers (and who did, after all, often have rather rough backgrounds), are addressed by Paul in these words: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11, emphasis supplied).
Many evangelicals hesitate to use the word saint for all Christians, letting the Mormons, the so-called “Latter-day Saints,” have a corner on the word.6 The NT has no such reticence, because of the doctrine of positional sanctification. Whereas the word Christian occurs only three times in the NT, the word saints (plural, not “Saint John’ or “Saint Paul”) as a term for all believers is widespread (e.g., Acts 9:13; Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; Eph 4:12; Phil 4:22; Col 1:4; Phlm 7; Heb 6:10; Rev 13:7).
William Evans writes bluntly, but truthfully, on this question of being a “saint”: “If a man is not a saint he is not a Christian; if he is a Christian he is a saint.”7
2. Progressive Sanctification
John 17:17, in our Lord’s high-priestly prayer for his saints, is a good introduction8 to the practical or experiential side of sanctification: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Although the Lord Jesus had been ministering to His disciples for three years, and eleven of them had indeed been already sanctified (positionally) by grace through faith in Him,9 He still prays for their sanctification through the application of the Word of God.
3. Perfected Sanctification
Final, ultimate, or perfect sanctification does not take place till we leave this planet through death or the Rapture. It is an event yet to come. First John 3:2 is a central passage for this:
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Jan Lang
Yes Sanctification is a process from the moment of Salvation
Jan Lang
.
Craig O'Dell
Being born again means to be born of the Spirit; because life is in the Spirit. And, being sanctified is a believer being sealed with the Holy Spirit. I believe you have to be sealed with the Holy Spirit to be considered born of the Spirit. Once you are sealed with the Holy Spirit your life is sustained is in the Spirit not flesh and blood. The Spirit marks you as a candidate for the first resurrection. So the two ideas seem to go hand-in-hand where sanctification could be regarded as the born-again step in your salvation process.