Salvation and sanctification is now complete in Christ: Consecration then follows

[RBDERRICK]

only over time growing mature and holy in their daily,

There is no growing in Christ with disobedience, because there is no disobedient member of His body.

There are only obedient sons of God, that grow in Christ with continued obedience through trials of faith by temptation, sufferings, tribulations, and persecutions.

There is no being more holy to the Lord, by being less unholy with the devil.

1 Peter
{1:14} As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: {1:15} But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; {1:16} Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy

The holiness of the Lord is in all manner of our lives, not only in part. There is no progressive sanctification holiness in the Lord in part, but only whole and complete with whole repentance from the heart for His sake.

Eph
{4:22} That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; {4:23} And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; {4:24} And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

His brethren are now created in His righteousness and true holiness. There is no 'progressive creating' sinners into the form of godliness, that only does more good and less sinning.

 

[RBDERRICK]

mundane condition.

If you say so. I suppose it's an apt description for the lives of lukewarm repenters.

2 Tim
{2:15} Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. {2:16} But shun profane [and] vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

There is heaviness for the saints in times of temptation to sin, but I wouldn't call that life of obedience to God, mundane.

1 Cor
{15:19} If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Christ is not risen in them that repent not of sinning against Him. And so, we see God Himself agrees that man's religion of dull circumsion and lame sanctification, is most mundane.

They have been made "new creatures in Christ," yes, but this doesn't mean they instantly and perfectly cease from all sin. See 1 Corinthians 3, 5, 6,11, Galatians 3-5, Romans 6-8, 14, Revelation 2-3, etc.

This is a perfect example of only having a form of godliness, but denying the power of Christ to live godly and holy in all our manners.

No sinner has been made a new creature by sinning less, but is only the old creature dressed in progressively less sinful clothing.

 

[RBDERRICK]

Sanctification of Christ is quick and complete in Christ, and is only for them that repent now of all their sins and trespasses for His sake.

Colossians
{2:9} For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. {2:10} And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: {2:11} In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Sanctification of Christ is His circumcision, quick and complete.

{2:12} Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Sanctification of Christ is His baptism, completely immersed in Him.

1 Cor
{6:9} Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind... {6:11} And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Sanctification of Christ is His justification: completely sanctified and justified.

James
{1:18} Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1 Peter
{1:3} Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

The sons of God have been begotten again by the word, at once and complete.

Eph
{4:22} That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; {4:23} And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; {4:24} And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

New creatures in Christ are created whole and complete, not being progressively reshaped to do less evil than before.

Washed, sanctified, justified, circumcised, baptised, and born again into Christ, are one and the same operation of the Spirit, which is now complete in Christ for them that repent of sinning for His sake.

Separating any operation of the Spirit from another, is separating Christ from His own Spirit.

Separating salvation by one's own faith alone, apart from repentance and sanctification from dead works, also separates their own faith from justification, circumcision, baptism, and new birth of Jesus Christ.

Faith aloners demand whole salvation now, without His complete sanctification now.

They demand the blessed cart at home, without the work horse that draws it home.

 

[RBDERRICK]

The Lord's passover feast sanctifies God's people, and our sanctification is as the Lord's passover is eaten: quick and complete.

Exodus
{12:11} And thus shall ye eat it; [with] your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it [is] the LORD’S passover.

Quickly.

Numbers
{9:12} They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

Completely.

{9:13} But the man that [is] clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

Not gradually, by forebearing to repent of all sins and trespasses in the same day:

Heb
{3:15} While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. {3:16} For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. {3:17} But with whom was he grieved forty years? [was it] not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

Who provokes God with a hardened heart? Them that forebear to repent of all sins and trespasses today, and continue sinning tomorrow.

The Lord's passover is sanctification of His people, and is to be eaten quickly and completely today, certainly not gradually and never completely.

Acts
{24:25} And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

Proverbs
{1:24} Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded... {1:26} I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh... {1:28} Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

 

[Tenchi]

"The word of God" in Hebrews 4:12 is typically seen as being "the Bible", and the verse is typically seen as describing the Bible's power to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. But closer inspection reveals that God Himself is the One "to whom we must give account". "All things are naked and open" to His eyes. He is the "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart".

Well, hang on, here. You're mixing verses. It is Hebrews 4:13 that speaks of God, yes, but verse 12 that speaks of His word, the Bible. The verses refer to two different things, not the same thing.

Hebrews 4:11-13
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

About what is verse 11 speaking? God's promise of rest given to Israel (not God Himself). Verse 12, describes the essential nature of that promise, of the word of God, to Israel. Verse 13 explains why His word has such power by describing the omniscient, omnipresent nature of God Himself. I don't see, then, anything about the content or mechanics of the passage that necessitates that one understand that verse 12 and verse 13 are both speaking of God.

 

[Tenchi]

RBDERRICK:

I'm not interested in discussing anything with you. Your posts are not only hopelessly tangled, mishandling Scripture as badly as @gordon7777 does, but when this is exposed, you get very ugly in your remarks. Really, it seems to me that you're just bored and looking for stimulation, which you get by sharp, ugly argument. So, respond all you want to my posts, but you won't provoke me to engagement with them, with you, until you leave off the obnoxious, slippery posts you resort to when pressed.

 

[NewLifeInChrist]

Well, hang on, here. You're mixing verses. It is Hebrews 4:13 that speaks of God, yes, but verse 12 that speaks of His word, the Bible. The verses refer to two different things, not the same thing.

Hebrews 4:11-13
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

About what is verse 11 speaking? God's promise of rest given to Israel (not God Himself). Verse 12, describes the essential nature of that promise, of the word of God, to Israel. Verse 13 explains why His word has such power by describing the omniscient, omnipresent nature of God Himself. I don't see, then, anything about the content or mechanics of the passage that necessitates that one understand that verse 12 and verse 13 are both speaking of God.

Verse 11 says we must be diligent to actually enter God's rest and verses 12 and 13 say it is because He can see and discern and understand every little tiny bit of what's going on inside us and He knows for sure whether or not we've actually "ceased from our works" and have put all our trust in Christ.

Saying that the Bible is "living" and is able to "discern the thoughts and intents of the heart" is a bit anthropomorphic, don't you think?

And there is plenty of evidence that verses 12 and 13 are talking about God Himself, not the Bible. Have you ever noticed there are no main verbs in verse 11, and only two participles ("living" and "piercing"). The main verb, "is", is found only in verse 13 ("And there IS no creature hidden from His sight"). You may know that in Greek, it is common to imply the main verb in connected contexts. Here are the implied verbs that connect verses 12 and 13:

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:12–13)

And also, as you may know, punctuation in the NT is not inspired since the Koine Greek of the Bible was originally written in all capital letters with no spacing between the words and no punctuation (and no chapter or verse designations). Those features were added to later manuscripts for ease of reading. For example, here is what is thought to be the oldest fragment of the NT that has been discovered: Dead Sea Scroll Fragment from John's Gospel.

The point is that the end of sentence punctuation that separates verses 12 and 13 is not sacrosanct. The fact that "and" connects verses 12 and 13 is more important than the "period" at the end of verse 12. And it is easy to see that "and" is modifying and extending the concepts in verse 12, especially that God is a "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart".

The final point I would make is that the writer's use of "the word of God" in Hebrews 4:12 is most likely a reference to the words coming out of His mouth (i.e., "His voice") mentioned in Hebrews 3:7-8, 3:15, and 4:7. The discussion, which starts in chapter 3 and continues into chapter 4, highlights the fact that every day is a "today" that God is speaking to people, telling them to place their full confidence in Christ: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." (Heb 3:7-8, 3:15, 4:7). Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us He is able to accurately discern whether or not the people He is speaking to actually harden their hearts to what He is saying.