The Process of Sanctification
Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ in our conduct and character. The objective of this pursuit of moral integrity is to be holy as God is holy (1 Pet. 1:15, 16).
There is a great deal of debate over how sanctification occurs, however. To determine the Biblical truth, we need to answer three questions. First, who is responsible for sanctification? Is God responsible? Am I responsible? Or is sanctification a cooperative effort between God and the believer? Second, when does sanctification begin? Does it begin at salvation? Or is there a later decision that I must make to begin the sanctifying process? The third question concerns the extent of sanctification. Is sanctification an ongoing process without an earthly final conclusion or is there a plateau of obedience or perfection that I reach in this lifetime?
Before we look for these answers, we need to distinguish three ways the concept of sanctification occurs in Scripture. Positional sanctification refers to the position of the believer before God through Christ’s death (Heb. 10:10, 14). This was accomplished at Christ’s death (Heb. 13:12) and is applied to the believer at salvation. Paul told the Corinthians that they “have been sanctified” (1 Cor. 1:2) and coordinates sanctification with washing (regeneration) and justification “as though all three elements had taken place at the same time”1 (1 Cor. 6:11). Thus believers can be called “saints” or “holy ones” (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2).
Final sanctification (or glorification) is the believer’s hope (Eph. 1:4). “The eternal purpose not only pardons, but also sanctifies, absolves in order to renew, and purifies in order to bestow perfection. It is the uniform teaching of Paul that holiness is the end of our election, our calling, our pardon and acceptance.”2 Our final sanctification was provided for by Christ’s redemptive work (Eph. 1:7), but it will be finally completed when the believer meets Christ at His return (1 Thess. 3:13; 5:23).
There is little disagreement over these two forms of sanctification. The debates routinely arise concerning the third kind of sanctification. Progressive sanctification is the process by which a believer becomes more like Christ during his earthly sojourn, and it is this sanctification which this article shall address. Many discussions of sanctification are, appropriately, focused on this sanctification. A good starting point is the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833, which states,
We believe that Sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means—especially the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer (Article X).
Who is responsible for sanctification? God is responsible for the spiritual work in our lives (1 Thess. 3:13; 4:7, 8). Jesus is our “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). We are sanctified in the name of Jesus Christ and by the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes us “spiritually minded” (Rom. 8:1–11) and sanctifies us (Rom. 15:16). Jude 1:1 declares that we are “sanctified by God the Father.” While sanctification is accomplished by God, believers have a responsibility to advance their own sanctification. In Eph 4:22–24 Paul teaches that sanctification negatively involves the decision to put off the “old self” and positively, through the continual process of the mind’s renewal, to put on the “new self.” This idea of mind renewal is also found in Romans 12:1, 2 (see Andy Hudson’s article in this issue), where sanctification is identified with a conscious decision. In Ephesians 4:25ff Paul lists a string of points of conduct, sprinkled with motivators—unity (4:25), charity (4:28), love (5:2), looking to Heaven (5:5), Spirit (5:9, 18). In chapter 6 Paul identifies the Christian’s armor, which represents several elements of the Christian life. In 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 we see that Scripture was given that we might be perfect. James 1:3, 4 indicates that trials are part of our sanctification. First John 2:5 says perfection comes through keeping God’s Word. God uses the fellowship of God’s people in the local church (Heb. 3:12, 13) so that believers may be partakers of God’s holiness. We could go on, but the idea is clear. “Perhaps the real ‘secret’ of holiness consists precisely in learning to keep that balance: relying thoroughly on God as the true agent in sanctification, while faithfully discharging one’s personal responsibility.”3
When does sanctification begin? While there are passages that seem to indicate a post-conversion start to sanctification, it is more evident that sanctification, as a work of the Spirit, begins at salvation. A newly born believer desires the milk of God’s Word to grow just as a newly born infant desires physical milk (1 Pet. 2:2). Paul indicated to the Philippians that God will not stop his work of sanctification in their lives (Phil. 1:6). In Romans 8 Paul declared that through the Holy Spirit the believer is free from the power of the law, free from the power of sin, and free from the power of the flesh. This freedom begins with our unification with Christ and indwelling by the Spirit. The work of the Spirit to help us live as sons of God (v. 14) begins once we are saved. The key is our relationship to Christ. Salvation and walking in the Spirit are connected. There is no need for a second working of God’s grace now that we have a relationship with Christ.
This writer rejects the idea of a single crisis experience sometime after salvation that begins the sanctification process. However, he does acknowledge that there are often crises in believers’ lives that play a significant role in a person’s sanctification. This is frequently the case with those who accept Christ while very young. As they grow up, they enter into different areas of temptation. When they discover the “other gender,” they enter into the temptations of lust. When they get a job, they may have to deal with greed. As they finish their teen years, they have to begin to make life choices concerning college, career, and life partners, some of the most important decisions in their lives, decisions that are life-changing. Each of these is a mini-crisis, that can move their sanctification forward—or backwards, depending on how they respond.
The final question concerns the extent of salvation in this life. Everyone can agree that glorification results in perfection, but not everyone agrees on whether or not one can reach “perfection” in this life. One problem is the definition of the term. The Biblical concept of “perfect” does not necessarily refer to sinlessness. Hebrews refers to the incarnate Christ as having been made “perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10).4 There was never a need for Christ to be “made sinless.” Nevertheless, Christ was “made perfect” when He finished the task for which He was sent. While there are uses of “perfect” that refer to the sinlessness of our glorification, perfection also refers to maturity, growth in grace that leaves room for even more growth.
Saints at salvation, ongoing change during this life, and finally the glorification of these bodies of sin into our glorified bodies, where sinlessness is the norm: that is this author’s view of Biblical sanctification.
Larry Oats is the Professor of College of Bible and Church Ministries at Maranatha Baptist Seminary
(Originally published in FrontLine • July/August 2012. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)
- Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988), 1899. [↩]
- John Eadie, Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1931), 21, 22. [↩]
- Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 1164. [↩]
- D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Leicester, England, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 900. [↩]