Points regarding sanctification of the believer, in view of Moshiach's Bet Din

• After the new birth, are there two of me?
• How are we sanctified?
• What happens if we neglect sanctification?

After the new birth, are there two of me?

In Romans chapter 7, we find the inner man (Ephesians 3:16), that is, the regenerate spiritual man, which is called the "mind," because the Holy Spirit has made the believer's mind agree with the words of the "good" Book (I Corinthians 2:13-16). Indeed, if our "mind" is renewed, we have the mind of Moshiach.  Yet we also find in Romans chapter 7 the carnal man, in whom dwells nothing good, whose proclivity is to serve the desires of the carnal nature still present within. This is the original sin fallen old carnal nature that dwells in the believer, which is real, as surely as the Holy Spirit's indwelling is real (compare Romans 8:11 and Romans 7:17).  When we yield to Moshiach, the true "I" can act: "I live, yet not I, but Moshiach who lives in me."  But we are getting ahead of ourselves, because this is the very problem Rav Sha'ul is dealing with. Paul says that very often the other "I," the carnal man, the believer's alter ego, or, if you will, another aspect of the believer's self, this other "I" does just exactly what the other I doesn't want to do. (Or, if you don't like this terminology, let's call it the "ghost" of the old nature come back to haunt the believer in his new life in Messiah--there are various metaphors for this "divided I" phenomenon, but if it were not real, why would the Psalmist say, "Give me an undivided heart to fear Your Name" (Psalm 86:11). So the other "I" does just exactly what the true "I" doesn't want to do, and in fact the deed done or the thought entertained is the exact opposite of the good thing I know I should be doing, according to the Scriptures.  It is not the true "I" who falls short in Romans chapter 7; it is the original sin [fallen sinful nature] which lives in me.  I wish to do the thing that is right, but if I rely on my flesh, or even my old corrupt way of thinking, and especially if I rely on legalisms (Ro 7:6 rather than the power of the tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh--Ro 8:13), I fail. We are talking about the bondage of the flesh.  However, I can do all things through Moshiach who strengthens me.  Daily I must remember that I died and was co-buried with Moshiach (see (Romans 6:2-3). Therefore, Hashem considers me legally dead with Moshiach, reckoning my faith as right standing before Him (Romans 5:1) and no longer reckoning my past transgressions against me. So as a believer with my ongoing daily struggle with sin, daily I need to reckon myself dead unto sin and my members as dead and unusable as weapons of unrighteousness. The carnal man, the sinful "I", will no longer have mastery over me; for I will remind him of his deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9) and the Ya 1:14-16 yetzer hara delusions of his old carnal nature, remnants of which are still present within every believer this side of glory. Also I will resist the devil and the devilish propensity of the carnal man and I will remind the carnal man of his being nailed to the Tree of Redemption with Yeshua (Yehoshua) HaMoshiach and I will put on the whole armor of G-d and pray and sing in the Spirit and meditate on Scripture and thus resist the devil and submit to Yeshua Adoneinu and the Word of Hashem. Those who refuse to nail the old nature to Moshiach's Tree live as enemies of Moshiach's Tree (Philippians 3:18-21). Rav Sha'ul said, "In my flesh there is no good thing." The old nature is vile. The Bible says that every man may not be as evil as he is capable of becoming, but that all humanity has the same evil taint just waiting to materialize. A maggot larvae may not be a maggot and a maggot may not be a full grown house fly, but the vileness is in all. Although remnants of the Chet Kadmon old nature still lurk within the believer, by reason of Moshiach's victory over sin and by reason of the Ruach Hakodesh indwelling the believer and also by reason of the believer's regenerated spirit (Yn 3:6 and also see Ro 8:16) walking in faith and submitting to the Scriptures and Scriptural counsel, all in Moshiach may and should experience deliverance from the power of the flesh as they live by their halakhah in the Ruach Hakodesh and by every word that proceeds from the mouth of G-d; but this struggle against sin continues for the believer, is seen in the struggle of the believers in the kehillah in Galatia, and this doctrine laid out in Galatians is developed in Rav Shaul's later work written to the Romans, so the "perfect" who "thinks he stands, let such a one take care lest he fall." (See Ro 6:6-14; and Gal. 5:16-25; and Ro 8:37; and 2Co 2:14; and 10:2-5; Pp 3:12-14).  Rav Shaul emphasizes the need for self-control in 1Cor 9:27 as a real warning (counterbalanced by the assurance of 1 Cor 10:13), which throws light on the believer's struggle for sanctification in Romans 7:7-25. This section also should be read as a teaching on the futility of the Messianic Pharisee's effort to achieve mastery over the yetzer harah by mere legalistic rule-keeping rather than by the infilling and power of the Ruach HaKodesh referred to in Romans 5:5 and Romans 8:26. We are talking about an outpouring of divine love and labor pang groans not intelligibly uttered, that is, supernatural spiritual love and heavenly locution which speaks to G-d in a way that edifies (1C 14:4), drowning out the voice of the adversary and the flesh. The deceptive power of Sin lulls the legalist into thinking he is shomer mitzvot when in reality the Torah wants to show him he must pass from death unto life and only the Ruach Hakodesh and Moshiach in you the hope of glory can properly motivate you to holiness. His lifestyle may be observant and frum but his salvation and deliverance and sanctification are not by means of the dead letter which is of no value for any Ben Adam, Jew or non-Jew, against the power of Sin (Col 2:16-23). The nailing of the old nature to Moshiach's Tree is in fact following Moshiach on the road of self-denial, obedience, and suffering; and our part in this is done daily, living in faith one day at a time (Luke 9:23; and Matthew 6:34; and Proverbs 27:1). So every morning I must awake with two sets of mallets and spikes, one set to affix the alluring "world" (Galatians 6:14; I John 2:15) to public contempt and paralyzing impotence as far as I am concerned, and one set to immobilize my otherwise allured carnal nature (Galatians 5:24; 6:1; James 1:14). The unregenerate man has died. The old self has died. The spirit is dead in bondage and gross darkness. Then comes the temurah, the substitute. I am reckoned dead with Moshiach. This is the mercy of the kaparah. Moshiach's death is reckoned to me and I am reckoned dead with him. Then there is the resurrection of the spirit. It is no longer I who live. My spirit is released. My spirit is set free from the bondage of the old darkness. There is a new man. The new man is no longer the old me. Old things have passed away. The old self was put to death on the Tree with Moshiach so that the body of sin might be destroyed. Think of it this way: there is a resurrection body coming; there is a new self already here. This means the new man already belongs to the Olam HaBah. Yes, there is already a new existence. Now, even though I am a new creation, it is true to say that the old self can come back like a ghost to haunt me, or, better, Satan may arrive to sift me, because remnants of my carnal nature are still with me, and in my flesh there is no good thing. This dilemma requires daily vigilance and all the means of grace. This dilemma also requires me to walk in the light. Listen, you have to understand this! Every son of Adam, Jew or non-Jew, has been sold under sin and that means every son of Adam has been enslaved with father Adam to a Tyrant crouching at the door (see Gen 4:7 and Ro 7:17). And that Tyrant is Sin. The law of sin and death refers to that in man which is sold under sin primordially and perennially with Adam. Here is the delimma: believers by their new nature do not sin; yet human nature, the old nature, is naturally prone to sin--like father, like son; and like sinful father Adam, like sinful children of Adam. So human nature is such --that is, the old nature is such--that human beings are incapable of not sinning. So there is a tension in this age, a tension particularly endemic to believers, a tension between growing in NOT being what I was (a mere Sin-tyrannized ben Adam) and at the same time becoming what I am (a truly Sin-liberated yeled haElokim, a child of G-d). So chapter 7 of Romans prepares the way so that the child of G-d might, in his new identity, relationship, and empowerment, walk not in the oldness of the letter as a mere son of Adam dominated by sin and carnal religious legalisms, a mere pseudo-righteous fleshy legalist self-deceived under a heavy load of the rudiments of mere religion. For the oldness of the letter the deceiving Tyrant (Gen 4:7 and Ro 7:17) Sin can subvert into a Torah of Chet and Mavet for the ben Adam, haunted by the ghost of the old self and ensnared by the flesh. Even believers can get tripped up by merely human patterns of thought and behavior and by the sin-dominated pleasures and pursuits of this world. But chapter 7 of Romans is showing me that I must not be what I was (a sin-tyrannized ben Adam) but rather I must become what I am (a Sin-liberated ben Elokim with a new birth as a child of G-d). And as a child of G-d I then can mortify the flesh in the power of the Ruach Hakodesh (Ro 8:13) and I can find strength in the Ruach Hakodesh to walk in the newness of Chayei Olam. This is the Torah of Hashem after the inward man (Ro 7:22). This is the Torah of my mind (Ro 7:23) in the newness of the Spirit (Ro 7:6). This is what chapter 8 of Romans is all about. Thus it is necessary to endure temptation, to fight the good fight, to keep the faith, to finish the race, and to endure to the end. Because we have had a new birth and have a new self, we are not to have self-loathing; however, we MUST loathe the FLESH, we must distrust it and hate it with a settled contemptuous hatred, because we must hate what G-d hates (Ps 97:10) lest we make provision for the flesh and bring shame and judgment on ourselves and on the ministry. Furthermore, it says, "See to it that you fulfill your ministry," and a dirty vessel G-d will not use. Do you understand the spiritual richness of this Biblical doctrine of sanctification? Salvation is repentance (a change of mind resulting in a changed life) toward G-d and faith in Yeshua HaMoshiach Adoneinu (Ac 20:21). Titus 1:16 warns us not to pay mere lip service to these things, since some "PROFESS that they know G-d; BUT IN WORKS THEY DENY HIM, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Whoever has the hope of true salvation in him purifies himself as He is pure. For we want to be a clean vessel that the Master of the House will use for His glory.

Look at Ro 6:2... Chas v'shalom! Vi-bahlt (since) we have died to Chet, how can we still live in it?
THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL COMES FROM THE AFII COMMENTARY ON ROMANS 6:2: AT ONE TIME WE WERE BLIND SLAVES OF A TYRANT NAMED SIN. WE HAD NEITHER EARS TO HEAR OR EYES TO SEE. BUT THEN WE DIED AND WERE BURIED AND THAT LIFE WAS OVER. A SPIRITUAL RENEWAL OCCURRED AS WELL, FOR WE WALKED OUT OF A WATERY GRAVE WHEN WE WERE ZIKH GETOYV'LT IN DER MIKVE AND WE WERE NO LONGER SPIRITUALLY BLIND, DEAF MEMBERS OF ADAM'S LOST RACE. WE NOW HAD EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR. WE NOW WERE ALIVE IN THE RUACH HAKODESH. THIS IS CALLED THE NEW BIRTH. NOW AFTER SUCH A SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION AND IN VIEW OF THE COMING BODILY RESURRECTION AND ALSO OUR ARRAIGNMENT BEFORE MOSHIACH (RO 14:10), HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY STILL LIVE BLINDLY IN SIN AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED TO US? IMPOSSIBLE! IT IS TRUE THAT IN GAL RAV SHAUL HAS TO WARN BELIEVERS NOT TO INDULGE THE SINFUL NATURE AND NOT TO USE THEIR LIBERTY AS AN OCCASION FOR THE SATISFACTION OF THE SINFUL NATURE, BUT THE SINFUL NATURE HAS BEEN NAILED TO THE TREE WITH MOSHIACH AND THE OLD ME NO LONGER LIVES. IF THIS WERE NOT TRUE, THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN WOULD BE HOPELESS AND FUTILE AS IT IS FOR ALL THOSE IN THE FLESH, THAT IS, ALL THOSE WHO ARE NOT REBORN AND WHO ARE NOT REGENERATED BELIEVERS. BUT BECAUSE THERE IS A "NEW ME" IN THE RUACH HAKODESH, BECAUSE THERE IS REGENERATION AND A NEW EXISTENCE, THERE IS THE POWER TO MORTIFY THE FLESH (IT HAS ALREADY BEEN NAILED TO THE TREE WITH MOSHIACH!). THAT MEANS THERE IS THE POWER TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION AND STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN AND MORTIFY THE MISDEEDS OF THE BODY. I HAVE BEEN FOREKNOWN, PREDESTINED, CALLED, AND JUSTIFIED (RO 8:29-30), BUT BECAUSE I HAVE NOT YET BEEN GLORIFIED, I STILL HAVE "ADAM IN ME" OR, BETTER, REMNANTS OF ADAM IN ME, AND IN MY FLESH THERE IS NO GOOD THING (RO 7:18). IN THIS LIMITED SENSE THERE ARE TWO OF ME, THOUGH MY FLESH IS NOT REALLY ANOTHER ME, BUT ONLY A GHOST OF MY OLD LIFE THAT TRIES TO COME BACK TO HAUNT ME IN MY NEW LIFE AS A BELIEVER. NEVERTHELESS, THE SINFUL NATURE IS A MORAL PERIL TO ME BECAUSE IT DESIRES WHAT IS CONTRARY TO WHAT THE RUACH HAKODESH DESIRES AND THE RUACH HAKODESH DESIRES WHAT IS CONTRARY TO WHAT THE SINFUL NATURE DESIRES (GAL 5:17). THIS IS WHY I MUST NOT MAKE PROVISION FOR THE FLESH (RO 13:14), THIS IS WHY I MUST NOT GRIEVE THE RUACH HAKODESH. THIS IS WHY THE BELIEVER LIVES IN MORAL PERIL WITH SIN A CONSTANT DANGER. BUT THE SLAVE MASTER SIN NO LONGER OWNS US. AS FAR AS HIS INDENTURED SERVICE IS CONCERNED, WE DIED. THAT SAID, REMEMBER THIS: THERE IS ONLY ONE PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE WHO WAS NOT AND IS NOT SOLD UNDER ORIGINAL SIN, AND THAT IS MOSHIACH, WHO HAS NO SIN NATURE AND DID NOT SIN. AS FAR AS ORIGINAL SIN IS CONCERNED WE WERE SOLD UNDER SIN IN ADAM, AND AS FAR AS "ADAM IN ME" IS CONCERNED, THAT IS, MY FLESH OR SINFUL NATURE...THERE IS NO GOOD THING. WHEN RAV SHAUL SAYS "I DIE DAILY" HE MEANS HE FACES DEATH EVERY DAY, MEANING POTENTIAL MARTYRDOM, BUT AS FAR AS HIS FLESH IS CONCERNED, IT MUST BE MORTIFIED DAILY, IT MUST BE RECKONED DEAD DAILY (RO 6:11 AND LK 9:23). THIS WE CAN DO AND WE NEED THE PROPHETIC EDGE OF THE TEVILAH IN THE RUACH HAKODESH (RO 12:6) TO HAVE THE MORAL DISCERNMENT TO SEE THAT THIS WE MUST DO, BECAUSE WE HAVE DIED AND ARE NO LONGER SIN'S SERVANT.

How are we sanctified?

Acts 26:18 says that we are sanctified by faith in the Moshiach.  This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.  Greater is the Moshiach in us, the hope of Glory, than Satan in the olam hazeh.  When we are set apart from the dominion of Satan, our sanctification begins. The believer who prays, "Not my will, but Thine be done," should know for certain that this is the will of G-d, your sanctification (I Thes 4:3).  He wants us sanctified fully (I Thes 5:23).  This means putting to death our members as obedient pawns of uncleanness and instead presenting our members in obedience to righteousness for holiness (Romans 6:19).  This comes about by faith in the truth (II Thes 2:13; John 17:17) and by the agency of the Holy Spirit (II Thes 2:13).

What happens if we neglect sanctification?

Of course, if we judge ourselves, we will not be judged, and if we cleanse ourselves from evil, we will be vessels for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work (II Tim 2:21).  Sometimes we attempt to do something for G-d and in all our efforts we find that we make little or no progress, in spite of our good intentions.  Then we come to this matter of sanctification and submit ourselves to the L-rd.  We do this because we know that the Master will not use a dirty vessel.  We have to make a choice: which will it be? Our worldliness or service to the King Moshiach?  Hebrews 12:10 says that the L-rd may have to "discipline us for our good, that we may share His holiness."  And it is indeed for our good, because we know that without holiness no man will see G-d (Hebrews 12:14). So we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.(Pp 2:12)