Word studies · Greek · Strong's G38
ἁγιασμός · hagiasmós · appears 10 times in the New Testament
In one line: Becoming in practice what God has already declared you to be.
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
1 Thessalonians 4:3
Hagiasmos is sanctification — being made holy, the ongoing work of becoming in practice what God has already declared you to be.
The New Testament speaks of sanctification as God's will for believers, as the Spirit's work, and as something to be pursued. It is both a status conferred and a process worked out, which is why the same letters can call people saints and tell them to stop sinning.
Hagiasmos comes from hagiazō, “to make holy,” which comes in turn from hagios, “set apart.” The -mos ending in Greek typically names a process or its result, so the word carries the sense of holiness being brought about rather than simply possessed.
English divides justification and sanctification into two doctrines, and the split can suggest two separate transactions. The Greek keeps them tied to the same root idea of belonging to God: one names the verdict, the other the life that follows from it.
Hagiasmos (G38) appears 10 times in the New Testament, and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 states it plainly: “this is the will of God, your sanctification.”
Because sanctification is God's work and the believer's pursuit at once, Scripture can command holiness without making it self-improvement — “work out your own salvation... for it is God who works in you.” Holiness is the shape of belonging, not the price of it.
Pick the one area where your life least matches your standing in Christ, and cooperate with God there this week rather than everywhere at once. Sanctification in Scripture proceeds by particulars.
properly, purification, i.e. (the state) purity; concretely (by Hebraism) a purifier
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Romans 6:19It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:30But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:13Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
1 Timothy 2:15Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14Press and hold sanctification in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.