Words such as “sanctification” and “holy” translate the Greek word group (see below) that means “to set apart,” with different nuances depending on context. To be sanctified or holy is to be set apart either from evil, or set apart to do good works.1 Speaking of believers in the Church dispensation, the New Testament uses sanctification three ways:
1) Positional, which speaks of how God, by the baptism of the Spirit, sets apart each born again person into Union with Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; Hebrews 10:10).
2) Experiential sanctification [aka progressive], which addresses how a believer becomes more-and-more set apart to doing God’s will (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4; Hebrews 12:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1).
3) Ultimate or final sanctification that speaks of when a believer is set-apart from mortality to immortality, which is to resurrected life in heaven (Ephesians 1:4; 5:27; Jude 24; cf., Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 22:11). ...
