“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” – John 17:7 

This verse is found in the midst of Jesus praying for his disciples.  Interesting.

Sanctification is the process of being made holy. Jesus addressed God as “Holy Father” in John 17:11 and now prays that God would make the disciples “holy” in John 17:17.

Let’s get this straight:  You can’t sanctify yourself. You don’t have the power. Your ability to be holy came through the cross on which our sinless Savior died for the sins of the world. Jesus makes you holy.

Now what is holiness? On contemporary Christian radio you’ll find the song “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher.  In that song is a great definition: “Holiness is Christ in me.” Jesus Christ makes us holy. We need to confess him as our Savior. We need to devote our lives to him. We need his words in our brain. We need the example of his ministry guiding our life.

Jesus prays that we would be sanctified by the truth and the word of God is truth. We need to be Bible saturated people.

You should be more versed in the Bible than the latest small town gossip.

You should be more versed in the Bible than the latest news cycle.

You should be more versed in the Bible than sports statistics.

You should be more versed in the Bible than your budget numbers.

You should be more versed in the Bible than your kid’s social calendar.

You should be more versed in the Bible than Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram.

You should be more versed in the Bible than Netflix or Redbox.

You should be more versed in the Bible than songs on the radio.

You should be more versed in the Bible than your company’s mission statement.

You should be more versed in the Bible than what needs to be accomplished around the house.

… Your holiness is at stake.