Sanctification Completed in 70 AD: Citizens of Zion Born from Above

 Sanctification Completed in 70 AD: Citizens of Zion Born from Above

Many believers view sanctification as an ongoing personal process, stretching across the Christian life until death or resurrection. But what if Scripture points to a completed, covenantal sanctification—a historical turning point that redefined the identity of God’s people? I believe this took place in AD 70, when the old covenant system, with its temple, sacrifices, and priesthood, came to its final end. With that end came the full arrival of the new covenant reality—a sanctified people born not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.

The End of the Old, the Birth of the New

Hebrews 9:8-10 reveals that the old tabernacle system was still "standing" as a symbol, pointing toward something better. It was “imposed until the time of reformation.” That reformation came not merely with Jesus' death and resurrection, but with the final judgment on the old covenant world in 70 AD, when Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed—just as Jesus prophesied (Matt. 24:1-2, 34).

This event marked more than national devastation—it was the divine declaration that the age of types and shadows was over. The new covenant people, sanctified once and for all by the blood of Christ (Heb. 10:10), now stood apart from the old order. Sanctification was no longer tied to proximity to temple rites or Mosaic boundary markers. The people of God had been spiritually born anew, from above (John 3:3-6), and that spiritual temple (1 Pet. 2:5) was complete.

Psalm 87: Registered in Zion

Psalm 87 offers a prophetic glimpse of this reality. The psalmist declares:

> “The Lord records as He registers the peoples,
‘This one was born there.’” (Ps. 87:6)



In this vision, Zion is no longer an ethnic homeland, but a heavenly city—the place where true identity is established. Those who receive Christ in faith are counted as having been born in Zion. This isn't biological birth, nor national citizenship. It is spiritual birth, recognized and recorded by God Himself. Paul reflects this same thought in Galatians 4, where the heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of the new covenant children.

Since 70 AD, this has become the defining mark of God's people: not circumcision, not Torah observance, not physical descent from Abraham—but new birth in the Spirit, evidenced by faith in the Messiah.

1 Corinthians 15: A People Clothed in Glory

Paul’s famous resurrection chapter in 1 Corinthians 15 is often read solely as an individual hope for future bodily resurrection. But in context, it’s also about the transformation of God’s covenant people—their transition from a perishable, dishonorable, natural body (Israel according to the flesh) to an imperishable, glorious, spiritual body (the Israel of God in Christ).

Paul writes:

> “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:44)



And later:

> “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed... For this perishable body must put on the imperishable.” (1 Cor. 15:51-53)



The imagery is covenantal and corporate. What was once characterized by weakness and flesh (Rom. 8:3) has now been raised into glory through Christ’s resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit. The old body (national Israel) has died; the new body (the unified people of God, Jew and Gentile in Messiah) has been raised.

Since the end of the age in 70 AD, this spiritual body has been fully revealed. Those who trust in Jesus are not waiting to be sanctified—they are already holy (1 Cor. 1:2), already registered in Zion (Ps. 87:6), already part of the glorious spiritual body (1 Cor. 12:27; 15:49).

Living in the Fulfilled Reality

This view of sanctification is not about dismissing personal growth or spiritual maturity. Instead, it sets the foundation: you are already holy because you are in Christ, part of the sanctified body He established. You were born in Zion. You bear the image of the man of heaven. You are the fulfillment of the promises spoken by the prophets and realized in the age to come—an age that is now present.

So live in that reality. Walk in the Spirit, not to earn sanctification, but because you already are sanctified. You are part of the resurrected body—the spiritual temple of God—no longer waiting for a city or a resurrection to come. It has come. You are the living evidence.