The Journey of Salvation Pt. 2: Sanctification
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
In our previous article, we discussed the first part of our salvation, justification. In justification we are delivered from the guilt of our sin through Christ as he takes this guilt upon Himself and pays the penalty that the law of God requires for sin…death (Romans 6:23). In this, our status has been changed from guilty to innocent, thereby putting us at peace with God. Of course, this is good news, but there is still more that He does in us. Just as Christ is our Justifier, He is also our Sanctifier.
Sanctification Defined
Sanctification can be defined as the process by which we are conformed to the image of Christ. It is, simply put, to be made holy as He is holy. It may also be defined as setting something (or someone) apart for specific use. We will focus on the holiness aspect of sanctification. Those whom God saves for His glory; He also sanctifies for His glory by conforming them to the image of Christ. An easy way of remembering it is the saying, “More like Jesus, less like me.”
A Condition Changed Over Time
Justification addresses our guilty status while sanctification addresses our unholy condition. What does this mean? In our natural state apart from Christ we are totally depraved. We do not seek God, we do not care to seek God, we care only about whatever it is we want next (Romans 3:10-18). Apart from Christ, our condition is one of utterly unholiness. This is an issue since holiness is required to enter into the kingdom of God (Hebrews 12:14). So, as a part of our salvation, there is a very real need to be made holy. Just as Christ is our righteousness in justification, Christ is our holiness in sanctification. Our condition is gradually changed over the course of our lives as we are continually made into the image of Christ.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” There are a few important parts to this verse. First, notice that Paul says specifically we are being transformed into the same image (Christ). Secondly, we can note from the phrase “from glory to glory” that there is a progression. You’ll remember we said in our definition of sanctification that it was a process. Over time, as we pursue Christ, we gradually become more like Him. The things we used to do, support, or devote our thoughts to, etc., we begin to realize are not in line with the Scriptures. This gradual change in our condition will result in a change in our desires. Before Christ we did what we desired. In Christ we do what He desires. Looking at the life of Christ as an example, we see in Him a desire to be alone with the Father (Luke 5:16). We can know He had a desire to know the word because of how He taught it and used it to defeat Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4). He had a desire to be obedient to the Father’s will (John 4:34). These are all holy desires that find their origin in a condition of holiness. Christ lived and breathed and desired to do the Father’s will unto death. As we conform to His image, our desires, and our life patterns, everything about us will transform and eventually, we will be less like the old person we were and more like Christ.
Hatred of Sin as the Fruit of Sanctification
When Paul wrote about justification to the Roman Church, he anticipated people would be opposed to the idea that we are saved by faith alone, supposing this would lead to a form of lawlessness. Brilliantly, he poses the question before they can ask it in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” It’s a fair question. After all, if we don’t have to do anything to be saved other than put our faith in Christ, then why not just do whatever and know He will save us regardless? (Looking at you, universalists). Further, if salvation ended at justification, then we could, in fact, sin that grace may abound because our salvation would be complete.
But as I’m sure you’ve realized by now; it doesn’t end there. Paul answers his own question in 6:2, “By no means! How could we who died to sin still live in it?” The most obvious fruit of sanctification in the life of a believer is the hatred of their own sin and the desire to be rid of it. No one who has truly received the gospel by grace through faith, who knows the depth of grace and mercy God has extended to them through Christ while they were yet sinners, would ever want to do that which necessitated the death of their Lord and Savior. Such a mindset is abominable in the sight of God and is nothing at all like Christ. It is a grievous thing to watch as the Church of today endorses, encourages, and even practices that which is sinful in the eyes of God. This is to live in sin so that grace may abound. This is lawlessness. It is more in line with the Anti-Christ than it is Christ, and it serves as proof that those who would hold to this while professing faith in Christ have no faith in Him at all.
By Works or by Faith?
Paul writes to the Philippians, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). Since Christ is our holiness, we must know that it is He alone who sanctifies. Because we are unholy, no amount of work will make us holy. It would be like trying to wash an oil-stained shirt with more oil. Scrub all you want, nothing will change. In fact, you’ll just make it worse. So, holding to a belief that we are sanctified by our works is to claim that the unclean can make themselves clean. It’s nonsensical.
At the same time, however, Paul encouraged the Philippians to, “Work out their salvation with fear and trembling.” This verse has been grievously taken out of context to mean that we can lose our salvation and honestly, if we took this verse in isolation, we’d have good reason to believe that.
Praise God, however, we cannot lose our salvation, but what does Paul mean? The end of the verse explains that it is God who works in us. Sanctification, just like justification, is an act of faith. I like how Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck ( 2019, 463) explains it when he says, “In short, the sanctification in an evangelical sense is a continuous activity and exercise in faith.” A continuous activity and exercise of faith. This is key. Our works do not sanctify us, but rather Christ sanctifies us through our works.
Consider what we stated earlier, how there will be a change in our desires. I can desire something all day long but if I don’t do it, what good is that desire, really? I may desire to know God, but I will also have to put work into that. My relationship with Christ in this sense is like any other relationship. Both people in a relationship, like a marriage for example, need to invest in the relationship. A one-sided relationship will not be a healthy one. If I have truly been justified, I will want to know Jesus more. I will want to be more like Him, and I will act upon this.
So, works alone do not sanctify, but we work as an act of faith that Christ will conform us to his image through those works as we invest in our relationship with Him. When I read my Bible as an exercise of faith, in essence, I am saying, “Lord I want to know You more, and I believe that I can know You by studying what You have said.” In this, we are sanctified by Christ through the work of Bible study. When I pray in faith, I am saying, “Lord I desire to walk in Your will and do what pleases You. I am coming to You because without You I have nothing.” In this, we are sanctified by Christ in prayer. Works done in faith that Christ will sanctify us will have the desired sanctifying effect.
On the other hand, I may do works, but if these works are done apart from faith, they will have no sanctifying effect on me. Reading my Bible will not sanctify me in itself. There are legions of people who read the Bible every day and know it very well, but who are as far from Christ as the worst of unrepentant sinners. Apart from faith, reading the Scriptures becomes ritualistic at best. If I pray apart from faith, I’m literally heaping up empty phrases. There are legions of people who pray not because they want to know God better or be like Christ, but because they want things from God. This is prayer apart from faith and it will have no sanctifying effect.
Now, it is true that there are so-called “dry seasons” in the Christian life where we do these things only because we know we should. For whatever reason, God feels distant from us and so our pursuit of Him becomes something we do only out of habit. I have been there myself and I am not speaking of these seasons. I am speaking of our fundamental understanding of prayer and Bible study (among other works) as a practice through which we are sanctified by Christ. We are called of God to do these works as an act of faith that our Justifier is also our Sanctifier.
Summary
Sanctification is a life-long process through which our unholy condition is gradually changed to a holy one that is more reflective of Christ than it is ourselves. It is a continuous activity and exercise of faith that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion on the day we meet Him in glory. When this happens, our salvation is complete, and we are glorified as Christ is. It is this subject of glorification that we will address in our next article.
Soli Deo Gloria
Bavinck, Herman. 2019. The Wonderful Works of God: Introduction to the Reformed Confession. 4th ed. Glenside: Westminster Seminary Press.
