Meaning of Jehovah Mekoddishkem

In our study of the names of God, we’ve learned that the names express the nature and character of God. As we look at the meaning of Jehovah Mekoddishkem (God who sanctifies) and Jehovah Mekadesh (God who makes us holy) that point is reinforced again. These names are derived from the word kaddesh which means to sanctify.

Definition of sanctification

Before we delve into the name Jehovah Mekoddishkem, it is important to define the word sanctify within the biblical context. The 1828 Noah Webster’s dictionary definition of sanctification is: 1. The act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God's grace by which the affections of men are purified or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God. 2. The act of consecrating or of setting apart for a sacred purpose; consecration.

Be ye holy

Considering this definition, let’s look at holiness and what it tells us in relation to sanctification. First, God’s holiness distinguishes Him as the Supreme Being and represents perfect purity or integrity of moral character. He is without flaw.

It is hard to wrap our heads around God’s holiness, but it can be even harder to wrap our heads around Lev. 19:2. "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy."  How on earth can we be holy like God? 

Some might want to make the excuse that this was an Old Testament teaching and not for the church, but not so fast. In 1 Peter 1:15-16 we read “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

So we are back to the question of how do we do that? We find the answer in the sanctification process.

Meaning of Sanctify in the Bible

Let’s start with the Old Testament where every use of the word m'kaddesh is related to contact with the Holy God. For instance, the Sabbath day was set apart as holy because YHWH rested in it. Places where the Lord dwelt were considered holy (Zech. 8:3). The people of the Lord were to be holy (set apart) because He dwelt among them. When God set them apart as His people, they were intended to participate in His divine nature. This included His holiness as well as His other attributes.

God does not change. He is a righteous, holy God who loves us and desires a relationship with us. When Abraham believed, his faith was counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). This happened before the Law was instituted. James 2:23 claims that because of his faith Abraham became a friend to God. 

God who sanctifies

God still desires a relationship with each of us, but sin separates people from the Holy God (Jehovah Mekoddishkem). But thankfully He doesn't leave us to struggle in our own strength, trying to achieve a holiness impossible for us to attain. Instead, the holiness comes from Him. He is YHWH-M'Kaddesh, (The God Who Makes Holy).

How we are sanctified

Boiled down to the simplified version, sin is doing what we want instead of what God wants. At its core, it is a version of being your own god. When you repent (change your mind about God) and place your faith in Jesus you are justified by grace through faith (saved from the penalty of sin), sanctified (saved from the power of sin) and glorified (saved from the presence of sin).

When we become born again, we are a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that he produces the fruit of the Spirit within a believer. Titus 2:14 explains it this way. He “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. (Titus 2:11-12).

The sanctification process is instantaneous but accomplished in three stages: positional, experiential, and ultimate. Positional in that in Christ we are sanctified. Experiential has to do with our life from the time we are saved until we go to be with the Lord. We can’t be "good enough" on our own but He is willing to work it in us. It is about what God does in us not what we try to do. 

Many people get this backwards, thinking good works are a requirement on our part, when the good works that matter are really the natural fruit of spiritual regeneration (Phil. 2:8-10). The reason He has called us out of sin is so that we might live a righteous, pure, and sanctified life in Him. Think of sanctification as a refining process until we get to heaven.

“In Him” is the key to our holiness. As we walk in Him, when God looks down at us, He sees the holiness of His Son.