The word “sanctify” is used six times in the New Testament. The word “sanctification” is used five times. “Sanctified” is used 16 times. 

    But never even once, in those 27 places, is sanctification ascribed to the will or works of man. It is always ascribed to God and his glorious grace. We are said to be sanctified…

1. “Through the truth” (John 17:19). 
2. “By faith” in Christ (Acts 26:18). 
3. “By the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:16). 
4. “In Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2).
5. “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).
6. “By the will of God, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 10:10).
7. “By God the Father” (Jude 1).

    But never, not even once in the New Testament, is sanctification said to be the result of any man’s will or work. It is the work of God’s free-grace!