Sanctification is a lifelong process. How is it done? Who does it? Included in this post is a table featuring the differences between legal justification and sanctification.

Let’s begin with the basics.

I.. Introduction

A. Quick definition

Sanctification is the act and process of making the believer holy, in body, soul, and spirit. It begins at conversion because God sets him apart for his Son. That is holiness. Then the sanctification process happens throughout his lifetime, all the way to heaven at his passing or at the Second Coming. Complete sanctification or holiness is not accomplished until then.

B. Victory over the power of sin

No believer can extricate the presence of sin from his mortal body. But he continuously grows in holiness throughout his life. When he surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus and dies to self, he does not have to let the power of sin dominate him.

II.  Sanctification

A.. Literal meaning of the word sanctification

It literally means the process or act (-ion) of making (fic-) holy (sanct-). It could be called by the made-up and awkward term “holy-fication.” So once God consecrates you at your salvation-conversion, it becomes a process; don’t feel bad if you stumble once in a while. Just get up, repent, and realize that your walking in holiness is a long, long process of growing in Christ.

B.. Holiness or the sanctified life means separateness or apartness.

In the OT, Israel was called to be a separate and holy people. Deuteronomy 7:6 says that Israel were a people holy to the LORD God; the LORD has chosen them out of all the nations of the world. The people of the New Covenant are also a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people (1 Pet. 2:9). We are a holy or separate people. But this holiness does not withdraw us from the world, but encourages us to reach out to unbelievers. We can do this if we understand we are holy and evangelistic, holy while we evangelize, not holier-than-thou, but a streamlined life without encumbrances.

C.. Holiness or sanctification includes purity and cleanness.

In Exodus 19:10-11, before the LORD descended on Mt. Sinai, the people had to wash their garments, which was an outward sign of ritual purity. On the Day of Atonement, the people were to be cleansed from all their sins, indicating an interior cleansing (Lev. 16:30).

In the New Covenant, Jesus used the imagery of washing the inside and outside of the cup and plate, and it is not what goes into a man that defiles him (unclean foods), but what comes out of him—his thoughts and words, so be sure the heart is clean (Mark 7:18-19). Paul teaches us that Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds (Tit. 2:14). And he writes that we should cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in reverential awe of God (2 Cor. 7:1).

III.. Moral Perfection Now? 

A.. No sinless perfection in this life

Therefore, there are biblical reasons to challenge the assumption that we can reach sinless perfection in this life.

1.. Journey of sins and failures

Much of biblical testimony says we are on a journey with failures and sins. First John 1:9 says that if we sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. And this is clear: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:10). The verses in 1 John about those who do not sin comes in the context of wild teachers—proto-Gnostics—who said that the human body is nothing, so it is okay to sin. John replied that anyone who sins—deliberately and care-free sins—is not of God, but of the devil (3:8). In other words, the teaching is devilish, so don’t fall for it.

2. Verb tenses

In those verses the verb tense is present continuous. Therefore, when they tell us things like he who is born of God does not sin could be translated: “he does not continuously and habitually sin.” Sinning flagrantly and with abandonment and flouting God’s law as the proto-Gnostics wanted them to believe is clearly wrong and immoral.

3. Paul denies sinless perfection here in his earthly body.

However, he is progressively going towards a goal. Philippians 3:12-14: “Not that I have already taken hold or have already been perfected, but I pursue so I may take hold of that which I have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained, but one thing: forgetting what is behind, I reach towards the things in front of me; I pursue the goal, the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Then it goes on to say that if you are mature, you will think in this way. The verb “perfected” and the adverb “mature” come from the same Greek stem tel-.

4. The Scriptures affirm that certain people are relatively blameless or righteous.

Noah was a righteous and blameless man (Gen. 6:9). Daniel, Noah, and Job are named as persons of righteousness (Ezek. 14:14, 20). In the New Testament Zechariah and Elizabeth are called righteous and blameless (Luke 1:6). Paul says deacons and elders are to be blameless (1 Tim. 3:10 and Tit. 1:5-6). He also says that we are to be preserved blameless in spirt, soul, or body.

5. These figures are righteous and holy, relative to others around them.

They were mature. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:13-14 that disciples are called to attain unity of the faith and the knowledge of Christ, to mature manhood (“mature” has the Greek stem tel– in it). Satan and people around them did not have grounds to accuse them of social misconduct.

Let’s use the example of your neighbor. Your visible acts of social misconduct before your neighbor should be so minimal—or nonexistent—that he says you are blameless and a good neighbor to him. He cannot claim that you have achieved sinless, moral perfection in your soul, but your outward behavior is exemplary. So this is relative or comparative righteousness or perfection or blamelessness, from an outsider’s limited point of view.

D.. What happens at death or the Second Coming.

The disciple will be entirely sanctified. First John 3:2 says that when Christ appears we shall be like him. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 teaches Jesus would establish our hearts blameless in holiness before God and Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus. So we will achieve sinless moral perfection only in heaven and the Messianic Age.

E.. Two objections and replies

1.. However, Matthew 5:48 says Jesus’s disciples should be perfect as their Father is perfect

In reply, it would not make sense to say to be “fully mature” as the Father is “fully mature.” In its context this verse is talking loving your enemies and going beyond loving those whom you already love. What reward would you get for that? Even tax collectors do that. In the parallel verse, Luke says that we should be merciful as our Father is merciful (6:36). So perhaps we should say the Father is completely merciful and loves everyone. So should we, but only by his grace. Yet, one is allowed to say that we grow towards this perfectly or completely merciful and loving attitude. There is progress in the process, and then we will be perfectly complete when we die and receive our new bodies and more fully divine nature.

2. One option is to believe, as some Word of Faith teachers claim, that your spirit—the deepest part of you—is perfect, but your soul and body are not.

The reply to this belief is that it does not make sense because the Scriptures teach progressive sanctification of the whole being (see Roman numeral VI). You grow as you go. Another reason this belief in a perfect human spirit does not make sense is that when you face judgment, God will not treat you like a three-flavored ice cream cone—spirit (vanilla), soul (strawberry), and body (chocolate). And then he won’t say to you at judgment: “Since your spirit is perfect, I don’t need to judge it, so I’ll lay it aside. Instead, I’ll judge only your imperfect soul and body.” No, God sees you as a whole person, and sin infects all of you, spirit, soul, and body, and sanctification is for every part of you. We are a “package deal.”

G.. Warning against pride

It would create pride to believe you cannot sin in this life, after salvation and regeneration (reborn). You might strut around and claim you are perfect, through sanctification. Or it may lead you to hypocrisy because inevitably you will fail and sin, and then your words and deeds won’t match up. Or it could lead to striving and anxiety to walk on a tightrope that God never laid out for you. You may give up your faith. Or it could lead you to fear the final judgment because you don’t know whether you have done enough good deeds or been good enough in your humanity to secure your salvation. All of those options will eventually lead to self-destruction.

IV.. Consecration

A.. God’s point of view

When we are set apart, God sees us as holy. Please note, though, that 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that “[…] Christ Jesus, who has become wisdom to us from God, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” He already is our sanctification or holiness. It’s a done deal. However, perfection does not mean morally sinless, but complete maturity and growth towards the goal of being like Christ. We are positionally or declaratively sanctified, but not actually sinlessly perfect in our experience. But we instantly experience sanctification because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

B.. Working out holiness

Our holiness must be worked out as we live. Consider again this truth from 1 Corinthians 1:30. Christ has become our wisdom, but we are not perfectly wise every moment of every day, are we? No. But we can experience wisdom day by day. Similarly, he has become our holiness or sanctification, but we are not now perfectly holy or sanctified, but we can experience it.

To illustrate, once again, think of a pure white cloth covering a tall glass of water, just above the rim. Imagine the water has some dirt in it. Positionally we are holy in Christ (the white cloth). He has put the white robe of holiness on us. Now God is presently getting the dirt out of the old water by pouring in new water through the white cloth. The water spills over, and the dirty water will eventually leave and be replaced. This process takes a lifetime of growing in Christ. (J. Rodman Williams, Renewal, vol. 2, pp. 83-86).

C.. Summary

Don’t be anxious about whether you exhibit enough holiness. Let it flow out of you by the Spirit living in you.

Further, sanctification or holiness does not mean you separate yourself from the world by living in a monastery or in a closed-off Christian community.  How, then, could you proclaim the gospel to the lost world? It means that as you interact with the world and its evil, you pray and allow the Spirit to maintain your life in Christ.

Dirty jokes at work? Pray and drift away from the conversation or excuse yourself naturally, without a “holy show” that makes lost sheep feel isolated.

Were you once an alcoholic or drug addict, yet God set you free? Don’t go back in to that world. You might fall back in it.

If God clearly calls you to go back into that old world, in order to witness to your old friends, don’t go alone. Jesus sent his disciples out two by two (Mark 6:7). However, holiness can be friendly, not “holier than thou.” It just means you do not have to absorb the world’s pollution.

Sanctification is about life in the Spirit. You must live in the Spirit and watch the fruit of the Spirit grow: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). You must work with God to see the fruit grow in your inner being and behavior in society.

V.. Sanctification of Spirit, Soul, and Body

A.. Brief intro.

The work of the Holy Spirit in our life penetrates into those three parts.

B.. The human spirit

It needs sanctification. The spirit is the deepest part of human nature. A synonym is the heart. God immediately encounters man in the spirit or heart. But sin has alienated the human spirit from God, so God needs to redeem and save it. God’s Spirit witnesses to our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16).

However, the human spirit needs to be purified and refined every day. 2 Cor 7:1 admonishes us to cleanse or purify ourselves from every defilement or pollution of body and spirit. This is a daily prayer.

Ephesians 4:31-32 says to put away all bitterness, rage, anger, slander, brawling, and slander and instead to be tenderhearted and forgiving. Heart can be interpreted as spirit.

The psalmist says that his spirit faints in him and his heart dismayed (Ps. 143:4).

And David prayed after his sin with Bathsheba and his plotting the death of her husband that God would create a clean heart in him and renew a right spirit in him (Ps. 51:10). Yes, this is the Old Covenant, but people still needed to repent, even in their spirits.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians that God would establish their hearts blameless in holiness (1 Thess. 3:12-13). Heart and the deepest part of humankind—the spirit—go together and need to maintain blamelessness.

And in Romans 2:15 the conscience is placed alongside the heart, where the law is written on it, and the conscience bears witness to it. The conscience is the moral part of the heart or spirit. It is a gift of God so humans who lived before or far way from the law of Moses can still live decent and respectful lives.

A clean and clear conscience is imperative for the disciple. Please study these Scriptures: Acts 24:16; 1 Timothy 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; Hebrews 13:18; 1 Peter 3:16-21.

Renewal theologian J. Rodman Williams writes:

All three of these biblical terms, ‘spirit,’ ‘heart, and ‘conscience,’ refer to man in his responsible nature before God. In salvation, there has been a renewing of the spirit, an alteration of the heart, a purifying of the conscience. However, although this has occurred essentially (man has a new spirit / heart / conscience), there is the need for further sanctification. (vol. 2, p. 95)

C.. The human soul

It too needs sanctification. The soul is also the inner life of humanity through which the spirit expresses itself. It is the living and conscious soul or self. The mind, will, and feelings are all aspects of the soul in action.

When sin invaded, the soul was darkened and turned away from God. When salvation enters the person, the mind can ponder the things of God. Yet the soul needs daily purification.

Let’s break the soul into these parts: the mind, the feelings (emotions, desires, passions), and the will.

The mind needs to be renewed. Romans 12:2 says that we must not be conformed to this world, but we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The word “transformed” is the source of our word metamorphosis. Think of a caterpillar being transformed.

But how does this happen? Our mind needs to be renewed. And the best way is to inject into the mind wholesome things, like Scripture. Philippians 4:8 says to think on everything that is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We must counteract our soulish impulses that pull us down towards darkness and sin and raise it up. We think on Christ and his being seated at the right hand of God; think on things above (Col. 3:1-2).

As 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, we must take very thought captive. It has to be a deliberate strategy. It does not come automatically.

Next, the feelings, emotions, passions and desires need to be sanctified. Paul says the desires of the flesh oppose the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:17). We must crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:24). Paul writes to Timothy to instruct people to deny ungodliness and worldly desires (2 Tim. 2:11-12) and then he writes a little later to shun youthful passions (2 Tim. 2:21-22). And 1 John 2:15-16 says not to love the world—the cravings of sinful humans. The lust of the eyes and the boasting of what he has done—none of those things come from the Father. So the feelings, emotions, and desires need to be sanctified.

The other part of the soul—the will–needs to be sanctified, too. This can be summed up in all the above verses, because outside of Christ the will is in bondage to cravings and desires and passions. Romans 7:14-20 describes the man who struggles with what he wants to do or not wants to do but does the opposite. Only God can set him free from the power of sin. It is the process of sanctification.

D.. The body

Finally, it needs sanctification. The body houses the soul and spirit. When the body dies, we go to be with the Lord, and then the bodily desires evaporate or die with the body. But that has not happened yet. Our bodies drag us around, if we let them.

We already saw that 2 Corinthians 7:1 says to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit. First Thessalonians 4:3-4 says the will of God is our sanctification, which includes abstaining from sexual immorality and to know how to possess his own vessel (body) in sanctification and honor. Our bodies are members of Christ, so we should not mix them up with a prostitute (1 Cor. 6:15). We are not our own, but we were bought with a price, so let’s glorify God in our bodies (1 Cor. 6:19-20). But sex is not the only sin of the body—intoxication and gluttony (overeating) are problems too. Proverbs 23:20-21 is clear about not hanging out with drinkers (and other intoxicants) and the gluttonous. Bodily appetites must be controlled, or else we will die a premature death.

VI.. Reflections

A. Consecrating your life to God

When you consecrate your life to God, God considers you to be holy. As noted earlier in this post, think of a pure white cloth covering a tall glass of water, just above the rim. Imagine the water has some dirt in it. Positionally we are holy (the white cloth) in Christ. He has put the white robe of holiness on us. Now God is presently getting the dirt out of the old water by pouring in new water through the white cloth. The water spills over, and the dirty water will eventually leave and be replaced. This process takes a lifetime of growing in Christ.

B.. Differences between justification and sanctification

I trust this table will help you distinguish between forensic or legal or declared or imputed justification and sanctification.

	Forensic Justification	Sanctification
1	It is an aspect of salvation.	It is also an aspect of salvation.
2	Justification is linked to sanctification but distinct.	Sanctification is linked to justification but distinct.
3	Justifications happens at same time at the start of sanctification, but justification is logically prior.	Sanctification happens at same time as justification, but sanctification is logically after justification.
4	On your repentance and faith in his Son, God declares you holy and righteous.	At your conversion and infilling of the Spirit, you begin to live holy.
5	It is a legal / forensic declaration, as a one-time act. (This table is not about moral or ethical justification.)	It is a lifelong process, as the fruit of the Spirit grows in you.
6	God alone imputes holiness to believer.	Born-again believer cooperates with God to grow in holiness.
7	At his imputation, God sees and thinks of you as holy.	You may not feel holy, but in God’s sight you are. Now live out his holiness in you.
8	It happens outside of you, from God’s point of view.	It happens inside of you, both from God’s and the believer’s (limited) point of view.
9	It is a free gift by grace through faith in Christ, and we cannot earn it by our good works.	It is a free gift by grace through faith, but after conversion we have to work and live out salvation.
10	It is deliverance from the penalty of sin (and the penalty is death).	The Spirit enables believer to overcome the power of sin. He can overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.
11	It launches the true believer towards sanctification.	It enables the believer to become more like Christ until the Second Coming or when the believer dies.
12	It is the same for all believers.	Growing in Christ is stronger and faster in some believers than in others.

C.. Explanation of the table

As noted in the post on justification. God declares us holy only because he transfers us from darkness to light, from the profane to the sacred; we are consecrated to him, no longer to the world. But now we work it out. Justification and sanctification are linked, but distinct.

Sanctification is sometimes called “ethical justification,” by which you demonstrate by good works that you have been declared righteous or forensically or legally justified in God’s courtroom.

The order is really logical, not sequential in time, according to NT theology. That is, logically, legal declaration by God comes before we humans practice holiness and righteousness. Logically, we receive righteousness as a free gift before we can have it infused in us by the work of the Spirit. If we believed that our holiness logically came before God’s gift of righteousness, Paul would say his theology was turned upside down and out of order. Logically, your personal sanctification never launches God’s declaration of your right legal standing and your being born again (regeneration), or else Christianity would resemble other religions, which orders their followers to be holy and consecrated and then they might find Nirvana or Paradise or the Pure Land. Not so. Your repentance (by grace) and your saving faith and your new birth (by the Spirit) and God’s declared righteousness–all of this at the same time–launches your sanctification process. But logically, declared righteousness (forensic justification) is prior to the other works of the Spirit.

This is positional or declared sanctification—and yet you experience it instantly because the Holy Spirit lives in you. Compare holiness with wisdom that is also in 1 Corinthians 1:30. You are the wisdom of Christ; that’s your declared position in him, though you are not perfectly wise in practice. However, this positional or declared or promised wisdom in Christ is experienced day by day, as you work it out.

Once again, declared righteousness is logically (not chronologically) prior to the work of the Spirit.

Therefore, complete maturity and growth towards the goal of being like Christ is the ultimate quest. You do this daily by praying, reading Scripture, and staying in fellowship with believers who are more mature than you. This is the life of a disciple.  Sanctification begins when you are first saved. In fact, you are sanctified instantly, because the Holy Spirit fills you; and because Christ is your sanctification or holiness, you leave the kingdom of darkness and are placed instantly in the kingdom of light. You are now separated off from the profane and common and are consecrated to God. Remain in Christ, and he will help you to grow.

LONGER POST

Sec. 9, 1 Introduction to Doctrine of Sanctification and Practice of Discipleship

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works Cited