Sanctification
Sanctification
is the state of and the process of being set apart from the world for the purpose of being used by our Lord
for His work (Heb 9:14). The work of sanctification begins at the time of salvation in that we
are cleansed by the Lord of sin and our sin nature is atoned for (Eph 5;25-27) We ourselves
then become accountable to the Lord for our activity and staying in a place of continually being forgiven for acts of sin
(1 John1 :7-9; 2 Cor 7:1). We are commanded to be holy although any attempt to do so outside of
the Lord’s help is completely useless and without value (Titus 3:5-8).
The
universal Church and local Church
The universal church
is comprised of the entire body of saints both in heaven and on earth (Matt 27:52; Heb 12;22). The
Lord Himself is the Chief Cornerstone upon which everyone else is then fitted into His spiritual body (Eph 1:22-23; 1
Pet 2:5-8).
The local church is a group of believers formed
together to perform the work of the commission in an earthly community. There are many local churches who
are in turn a part of the entire universal church. Each person is called to be a part of the local church
(1 Pet 2:5) and is an important part of it with their gifting and callings (1 Pet 4:10).
Ministry and evangelism
The work of the ministry
is the calling of every Christian and every Christian has a call to evangelize (1 Pet 3:15). Within
each church and group of churches there are those called to the ministry of serving the body as divinely appointed leadership.
The purpose of this leadership is instruct and direct the body of believers they are called to shepherd in the work
of the ministry. (Eph 4:11-16)
Divine healing
The
Lord has provided for the healing of His people as a part of His work on the cross. His blood was shed
for our spiritual healing (1 Pet 2:24), and then provides for the healing of physical sickness. The
scripture teaches us that healing comes through the prayer of faith (Jam 5:14,15) and the "gifts of healing,'
which is one of the nine expressions of the Holy Spirit's power shown through His people (1
Cor 12:9). The power to heal resides solely in the Lord.
