Motivation is the key component when it comes to
self-sanctification. Do we have a self-sanctification in the
positive sense of separating ourselves from those things we know
that are not good for us or not good for others, not in order to
merit any more righteousness before God through that performance,
but in light of all that God has already made us to be IN Christ
(Our new identity). On the opposite end of that self-sanctification
spectrum, we have those who suppose that their behavior is the
source of their right standing with God, that is
self-sanctification negatively. They suppose that becoming more
righteous in practice will make them more righteous in God’s sight,
faulty thinking on their part, Paul called it foolish. It will not
gain them Heaven, it will not help them avoid the second death.
Paul lets us know that in the book of Romans that God did not make
Heaven for good people, God made Heaven for sinners who are
justified freely by God’s grace. Paul did not set himself apart in
order to gain a greater righteousness before God through his
performance, but that he made his life-style (to the best he could)
conform to who God had already made him to be in his sanctified or
set-apart position being joined to Christ that he might more
affectively reach others. That was Paul’s key motivation; there is
a vast difference in those two motivations. Setting oneself apart
for holiness is one thing, setting oneself apart because of the
holy standing God has already given that individual in Christ is
something altogether different.
God’s Reconciliation of Man, read more about it at http://godsreconciliation.blogspot.com/