The Leaders Responsibility

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. Exodus 19:10‭-‬11 KJV

My first reaction after reading this was to think of ”The Jeffersons”, an American sitcom that aired between 1978 and 1985. If Moses was anything like George in attitude, he probably would have asked God: ”Me? You should know they are a very stubborn people !”. Don’t think of what George could do next. He was not stable on his feet. Well, that is just a figment of my wild childhood imagination. What we’ve just read, is the responsibility that is accorded every leader. When you read the GNB, GW, or the CEV, versions, the story is by far different. The NLT says it well: ” Go down and prepare the people..”. That is a leaders job. In this instance the leader is to prepare them for sanctification. Sanctification is from the Greek word ” hagiamos” which means to be set apart for God’s sacred purpose, to be holy. It is a central christian teaching in both the old and new testament( 1Thes.4:3; John17:17) All believers enter into this state at salvation ( 1Cor.1:30). That is a positional sanctification, sometimes called Justification. There is also a progressive or experiential sanctification as we mature and obey God’s word daily to stand against the encroachment of sin. There will be a final sanctification, sometimes called glorification (1Thes.5:23) when Christ, our hope of glory appears.