Christians - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 states that...?

Question

...believers will be changed (Gr. allasso - to change, to exchange one thing for another, to transform) "In a moment, in the TWINKLING OF AN EYE, at the last trumpet" (verse 52, caps for emphasis) at the resurrection of the dead.

That being the case, what is the purpose of sanctification in the life of a Christian, as it appears that it is only temporary because the Lord will transform us all in the end, anyhow ?

Please support your answers with appropriate Scripture references.

Thanks in advance for all answers. May the Lord bless you.

Uncle Thesis -

Thank you for your reply.

The wording of your answer indicates to me that you are undoubtedly a JW.

Your interpretation of John 10:16 is incorrect. The context - Jesus, a JEWISH rabbi, in JERUSALEM, whose audience are JEWS - makes it clear that the "other sheep" which he refers to are those GENTILES that will later come to believe on Him through the preaching of the gospel.

In Ephesians 2, Paul writes of how Gentiles - through faith in Christ & His sacrifice for sin - have been made "one new man" with Jewish believers. This "one new man" in Ephesians 2:15 corresponds with the "one flock" in John 10:16.

The Watchtower often disregard CONTEXT in their exposition of Bible passages, and hence end up with erroneous interpretations of Scripture.

"ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism" Ephesians 4:5 (caps for emphasis).

May God be gracious to you.

Answer 1

Its purpose?
1. That we may show ourselves thankful to God
2. That we may be assured of the reality of our faith.
3. That we may win our neighbor to Christ
All so that God may be Glorified in us.

Answer 2

There is only one thing amiss in your presentation.
"The Lord will transform us all....."
Such a comment reveals you believe ALL Christians go to heaven.
This is not true.
Please note Jesus' words at John 10:16
“And I have other sheep, which are not of THIS fold. . ."
It would appear there are 2 folds.
In Luke 12:32 Jesus made an interesting turn of phrase:
"Have no fear, LITTLE FLOCK because your Father has approved of giving YOU the kingdom."
A little flock is given the privilege in participating in the heavenly kingdom.
If there is a little flock, there must be a larger flock.
Revelation speaks of that.
After speaking about the little flock, John wrote:
"Look! a great crowd, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues......" Revelation 7:9
Where does that great crowd spend eternity? Psalm 37:29 indicates its on a restored, paradise earth.
So, only a little flock need to be changed (in the twinkling of an eye) in order to inherit heavenly life.
Their sanctification, and endurance to the end of their earthly life, is what authorizes them to become part of the heavenly government (kingdom).

Answer 3

I agree with birdsflies that sanctification is for our souls. When we are born again our spirit is redeemed and made alive to God. The next that happens is the redemption or sanctification of our souls (our will, mind and emotions) so that our souls can be a blessing to the Lord and set apart for His service on earth. The final redemption is our bodies when the earthly bodies will be exchanged for heavenly bodies.

Answer 4

Santification comes only to the soul, as of right now the only thing that has been redeemed back to God is the soul, When This body is changed in the rapture rather the dead in Christ or the living that is the point where your body will be redeemed.

Answer 5

SORRY if this does not help , but here is what
my bible notes say:

15:50 Paul's final argument about the resurrection of the body:God's redeemed people must have newly organized , imperishable bodies to live w/ him. Flesh & blood stands for perishable ,corupt ,
weak, sinful human beings.

Answer 6

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Do you really have this hope?

Are you more alive to sin and so dead to God?

Answer 7

Sanctification is a process of making one holy, which in other words means that we are set apart for God alone. Though we live in the world, we are not part of the world. We have been chosen out of the world. (John 15:19)

Indeed, being Holy means that we are pure, spotless, blameless, and sinless because we are set apart for God who is so awesome. He cannot accept anything less. If we are to be vessels that offer Him worship and praise that is worthy of God, we ourselves need to be Holy just as God is Holy.

Sanctification is not produced outwardly by physical appearance or action, but inwardly by the work of God. The work of sanctification is made complete when we surrender entirely to Christ who is able to work freely in us by our willingness to allow Him. We are doing what God created us to do, to worship Him by offering ourselves to Him in love.

Hebrews 10:10 (NIV) says, "....we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

It is not that we are going to be sanctified or made holy, it is that we are sanctified the moment we are born again. We have been set apart by God through faith in Christ. It is by His blood we are cleansed and washed. We are righteous, not because we are righteous in and of ourselves, but because God has declared us righteous. (2 Cor 5:21; Romans 3:21-22; Phil 3:8,9)

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NIV) says, "....But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

This means that we are not pure in and of ourselves apart from Christ. We are cleansed because we have been washed by the blood. It is entirely on the basis of Christ that we are clean.

It is important to recognize our identity in Christ. We have been made one with Christ and because of this union, we are able to declare all that He is. Just as a wife takes on the last name of her husband in marriage, when we are saved, we take on the identity of Christ. We are called "Christians" and inherit all that He is. We are righteous because Christ is righteous. We are one with Christ. It is this union that makes it possible.

We need to abide in Christ. (John 15) Though we may have been set apart by God, we also need to set ourselves apart to God. We need to consecrate ourselves in acknowledgment for what He has done. (1 Peter 3:15)

In our earthly state where we yet exist in a physical body with diminished glory, we find this hard to believe. We don't see what has already happened inwardly by the work of God. In addition, we fight against the dark powers of this world that constantly tries to lead us astray.

1 Corinthians 15 speaks of a our future glory. This is not to be confused with sanctification. We are sanctified. What we are looking forward to in the future is the process of glorification where sanctification is made manifested outwardly. In the eyes of God, we have been made clean. In our own eyes and the eyes of others, we do not appear clean. The work of God will be fulfilled entirely upon our glorification when the presence of God in our lives could not be denied. As it stands now, the light of God may shine from us but the presence of God in us can be denied by ourselves and others. In our glorified state, no one will be able to deny the presence of God in us and with us. We will shine like the stars in the Heavens.