Bless and Sanctify

In speaking about the sacrament, Elder Bednar taught this: “That we might more fully keep ourselves unspotted from the world, we are commanded to go to the house of prayer and offer up our sacraments upon the Lord’s holy day. Please consider that the emblems of the Lord’s body and blood, the bread and the water, are both blessed and sanctified. ‘O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread [or this water] to the souls of all those who partake [or drink] of it.’ To sanctify is to make pure and holy. The sacramental emblems are sanctified in remembrance of Christ’s purity, of our total dependence upon His Atonement, and of our responsibility to so honor our ordinances and covenants that we can ‘stand spotless before [Him] at the last day.’” We commonly speak of “blessing the sacrament” when referring to the actions of the priests on Sunday in Sacrament Meeting. But we could also speak of “sanctifying the sacrament” based on the words of those two sacred prayers. The important point, perhaps, is that the sacrament is meant to both bless us and to sanctify us. Both of those come through the promise in the sacrament prayers: “That they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (Moroni 4:3). His Spirit is both a blessing generally to our lives, helping us in all aspects, and specifically by enabling us to become more holy. The Savior highlighted this purpose of the Spirit when He taught the Nephites: “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20). As we receive the Holy Ghost, we are sanctified. Alma likewise highlighted this purpose of the Spirit when he questioned the wicked members of the church in Zarahemla, “Will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into this church, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which are meet for repentance” (Alma 5:54). One of the primary roles of the Holy Ghost is to sanctity us, helping us to become pure in preparation for our return to the presence of God. And the sacrament plays a central role in making that happen.  

                Although these scriptures speak of sanctification through the Holy Ghost, that is only possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. In fact, I believe that both are essential; sanctification comes only as we receive the Holy Ghost and only because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. One revelation puts it this way: “And we know also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:31). Another, speaking specifically of children, says this: “But little children are holy, being sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ; and this is what the scriptures mean” (Doctrine and Covenants 74:7). Whereas little children are sanctified by the atonement of Jesus Christ because they are innocent, we too are sanctified through the atonement when we repent. Paul taught in his epistle to the Hebrews, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12). He suffered outside the walls of Jerusalem on the cross so that He could sanctify us through the shedding of His blood. In other words, He died not just to forgive our sins but to make us holy. Peter summarized how both the Spirit and the blood of Christ work together to sanctify the saints: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (1 Peter 1:2). We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit through the blood of Jesus Christ. Each time we partake of the sacrament the bread and water are sanctified to remind us that His body and blood will sanctify us as we receive His Spirit.