SANCTIFICATION

What is sanctification?

As we saw in the section on God's Holiness, the Greek word for 'sanctified' basically means to be 'made holy'. The word 'holy' means 'set apart' and thus to be sanctified in the Biblical sense means to be 'set apart' for God. The word 'saint' is derived from the same word and means 'a sanctified one' - a person who has been 'set apart' for God. In this sense, all Christians are saints.

There are two aspects to our sanctification. God sanctifies us in that He sets us apart for Himself. At the same time we are called to sanctify ourselves - i.e. to set ourselves apart for God.

When God sanctifies us He declares that we are His people and that we belong to Him on the basis that we have been purchased 'by the blood of the Lamb'. Jesus paid the price of our redemption. He 'bought us back' to belong to God. And God indicates that He has accepted us as His people on this basis by marking us out with a seal to show that we belong to Him: 'When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit' (Ephesians 1: 13).

At the time when Paul was writing, royal documents were sealed using a piece of wax on which an impression was made by the King's signet ring as a way of showing that the document had come from the King and had his approval.

'Impressing a dollop of wax against the lip of an envelope with the king’s signet ring reassured the recipient that contents were untouched and deterred thieves, traitors, and other criminals from tampering. Anyone found breaking the Roman seal would suffer the punishment of an unpleasant death.' 

To be sealed by the Spirit gives us assurance that God has truly accepted us and confirms to us and to others that we genuinely belong to Him. It also guarantees us protection from Satan's attacks; he may tempt us, threaten us, obstruct us or even hurt us, but he can never succeed in snatching us away from God. Our ultimate salvation is secure. Just as we jealously guard our possessions, so God jealously guards those who are His so that no thief can ever steal them away from Him. We are 'kept safe by God's power' (1 Peter 1: 5 GNT).

The wonderful truth is that as a result of the atoning death of Jesus, God has accepted us as His people and assured of this by giving us the seal of the Holy Spirit. In this sense God has already sanctified us. But there is more to our sanctification than the declaration that we belong to God. 

Having purchased us for Himself and set us apart as His people, God then begins the process of making us holy - enabling us to become all that He wants us to be in order that we might fulfill the purpose He has for us. It is as if the building has been paid for and the title deeds have been signed. But then comes the process of renovation - during which, room by room, the building is transformed so that it becomes all that its new owner intends it to be. In this sense sanctification is a process; it is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus.

As we have already observed, in the section on God's Holiness, this sanctifying process involves the blood of Jesus (e.g. 1 John 1: 7-9), the Word of God (e.g. Psalm 119: 9) and the work of the Spirit in our lives (e.g. Galatians 5: 16, 18, 23.) But it is not automatic. Our active and ongoing cooperation is required. We must daily 'confess our sins', 'live according to God's Word' and 'keep in step with the Spirit' in order that we may increasingly reflect the beauty of Jesus in all we say and do.

God sets us apart as His people and begins the work of transforming us into the image of Christ but we also have a part to play. Just as God has set us apart for Himself, so we must also set ourselves apart for God. 

Prior to God coming to dwell and to perform wonders among His people in the Old Testament He often instructed them to 'sanctify' or 'consecrate' themselves in preparation for this. For example, prior to crossing the Jordan, Joshua told the people: 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you' (Joshua 3: 5). And again, after the defeat at Ai as a result of Achan's (as yet undiscovered) sin, God told Joshua to tell the people: 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them' (Joshua 7: 13).

To sanctify oneself is to get rid of all known sin - confessing it and repenting of it. It is to seek forgiveness from and to put things right with anyone we have offended as well as offering forgiveness and restoration to anyone who has offended us. It is to surrender ourselves fully to God and to His purposes each day - prayerfully seeking to know and to do what He asks of us, whatever the cost, in order that we might be useful in His service and bring blessing to others. 

Paul puts it this way: 'I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God... Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will' (Romans 12: 1-2). 

Like the people of Israel in the Old Testament, if we want to enjoy all the privileges and blessings of being God's people, and if we want to see His purposes fulfilled in our lives, we must be prepared to sanctify ourselves - to surrender our lives fully to Him - not only on special occasions but daily as a way of life. 

What does the process of sanctification involve?

There are differing views on what the process of sanctification involves. Some emphasise particular post-conversion experiences that every believer should seek. One of these is known popularly as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is usually said to be a post-conversion experience through which a Christian receives the fullness of the Spirit. It is said to result in a higher level of devotion and an increased awareness of the Spirit's presence and to involve the receiving of gifts to empower the Christian for service. Some also claim that it brings perfection of character or freedom from the sin nature. However, in his review of the book 'Five Views of Sanctification'2 Mike Sullivan concludes that Biblically speaking:

'The Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion and involves the placement of a new convert into the body of Christ and the receiving of the indwelling presence of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12: 13). Nowhere does the Bible urge Christians to seek a second baptism of, in, by or with the Holy Spirit after their conversion.'3

Nevertheless, it seems to me that we also need to recognise that while the Baptism of the Spirit always happens at a particular point, this is not always true of conversion. Conversion can be a process - especially for children growing up in the church. It is not always possible for someone who has been brought up to know and love Jesus from their earliest days to identify a particular moment at which they were converted. For these folk, a particular encounter with God may be an important step in assuring them of their salvation. Such an encounter may not represent the point at which they were converted but it may represent the point at which they were initiated into the life of the Spirit for the first time. Arguably this could be called the Baptism of the Spirit. It is part of their conversion experience - perhaps even the culmination of it - but it cannot be said to have happened at the precise moment of their conversion since, for them, no such moment exists.

Was Peter, for example, converted on the Day of Pentecost? I would say not. He had already been following Jesus for years but had not yet received the baptism of the Spirit - admittedly because the Spirit had not yet been given. Nevertheless for Peter, receiving the Baptism of the Spirit was part of his conversion process but not necessarily the defining moment of his conversion. The same is true of Cornelius in Acts 10. He was already a 'righteous, God-fearing man' (Acts 10: 22) and there is no mention of his having to repent or be converted in this chapter. Again receiving the Baptism of the Spirit was the next step in a faith journey that had begun many years previously. And again in Acts 19, the disciples Paul met in Ephesus had already repented of their sins and believed in John's message of the Messiah to come but in answer to Paul's question, said: 'We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit' (Acts 19: 2). They were then baptised into the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit. Again this was the next stage in their faith journey rather than the beginning of it. Once they understood more fully the good news about Jesus and became aware that there was more than they had yet experienced they took the next step and by so doing received the Holy Spirit.

For some people, conversion happens over a period of time rather than at a single point and we must always seek to make people aware of all that is available to them in Jesus Christ and encourage them to receive from Him all that He has for them. It is possible that some who profess to believe in and to follow Jesus have not yet fully grasped the truth of the gospel and therefore have not yet fully entered into life in the Spirit. For such people a particular encounter with God during which they give themselves more fully to Him and perhaps then become more aware of the Spirit's work in their lives may be an important element in their journey of faith and preparation for service.

Furthermore, as we continue in the Christian life, all of us from time to time may experience crisis points that are significant for our growth. These might include, for example, a period of illness, a challenging ministry situation or a difficult relationship with a family member or colleague. Will we hold on to our faith and continue serving the Lord in the midst of such experiences? If so we can be sure that God will use them to strengthen our faith and to help us grow in character.

Even so, in my view the emphasis of the New Testament is not on increasing levels of sanctification through particular crisis points, but on steady, ongoing progress towards the goal of maturity and Christ-likeness. The Holy Spirit is given to every believer at - or as part of - their conversion but we must continually seek to 'be filled with (or by) the Spirit' (Ephesians 5: 18) and to 'keep in step with the Spirit' (Galatians 5: 25). In our corporate life together, we are to avoid anything that would 'grieve' the Spirit (Ephesians 4: 30-31) and we are told not to 'quench' the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5: 19) by suppressing or resisting His work among us. 

There are some who teach that sinless perfection is attainable in this life, or at least that we can be completely free from known or deliberate sin. But again it seems to me that the New Testament consistently portrays the Christian life as a struggle - we wrestle daily with the world, the flesh and the devil and will continue to do so throughout our lives. However, as we look back, there should be evidence of increasing victory over sin and increasing conformity to the character of Christ. To claim to have reached perfection is probably to have too low a view of what constitutes sin and to underestimate the subtlety of its influence over our thoughts, words and actions. Many mature Christians testify that the longer they continue on their faith journey and the closer to God they become the more aware of their sin they are and the more they have to struggle against it. This, rather than sinless perfection, is the mark of someone who is truly being sanctified. 

To be sure, Jesus told His disciples to 'be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect' (Matthew 5: 48). And this is what we are to aim for - refusing to settle for anything less. Nevertheless it is not until Jesus returns that we will finally reach this state. But the point is that as we strive for it and see evidence that the Holy Spirit is indeed transforming us into the image of Christ 'from one degree of glory to another' (2 Corinthians 3: 18 ESV) we may be confident 'that He who began a good work in (us) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus' (Philippians 1: 6). John says: 'We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is' (1 John 3: 2). Until then, as we grow in Christ-likeness, we can be assured that we truly belong to Him and testify to the reality of His saving work in our lives and to the 'hope of glory' that is ours because He lives in us (Colossians 1: 27). We are not there yet but one day we will be. 

We are never in this life free from the sinful nature with which we were born. We have been 'crucified with Christ' (Galatians 2: 20) and raised to new life with Him but that does not mean that our old nature will no longer trouble us. Rather it means that by faith we must 'consider (our)selves dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus' (Romans 6: 11 NLT). We must not give ourselves over to the sinful desires that remain within us but instead give ourselves over to God (Romans 6: 13). We must 'put off the old self' and instead 'put on the new self' (Ephesians 5: 22-24) by the power of the Holy Spirit who now dwells within us.

The reality is that all Christians face a daily struggle between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 6: 7). At times we will lose the battle but at such times the challenge is not to 'grow weary' and 'lose heart' (Galatians 6: 9, 10) but instead to 'press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called (us) heavenward in Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 3: 14). Although we may have lost this particular battle, we we have not lost the war. Ultimate victory has already been won and has been given to us 'through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 15: 58).  Therefore we may dust ourselves down, seek Him afresh for the strength we need and resolve to fight on in that part of the battle-field to which He has called us.

Sanctification and the cross

It is important to note that our sanctification, our holiness, is one of the express purposes of the cross. The cross is central not just to our justification, reconciliation and redemption; it is central also to our sanctification. Paul tells us clearly that Christ died to make us holy: 'Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless' (Ephesians 5: 25-6).

The problem is that the doctrine of penal substitution obscures this fact and seems to impose a separation between our justification and our sanctification. The cross is solely concerned with our justification and sanctification therefore appears to be separate from this and thus is seen be many as an optional extra. One can be justified, it seems, without being sanctified.

We noted this problem earlier in the section on Unchanged Lives And An Unjust Sentence. For example, we quoted Greg Boyd who writes:

'What is the intrinsic connection between what Jesus did on the cross and how we actually live? The Penal Substitution view makes it seem like the real issue in need of resolution is a legal matter in the heavenly realms between God’s holy wrath and our sin. Christ’s death changes how God sees us, but this theory says nothing about how Christ’s death changes us. This is particularly concerning to me because every study done on the subject has demonstrated that for the majority of Americans who believe in Jesus, their belief makes little or no impact on their life. I wonder if the dominance of this legal-transaction view of the atonement might be partly responsible for this tragic state of affairs.'4

This is a huge problem and in my view it arises out of the fact that justification and sanctification are seen as two separate things; the cross relates to the one but not to the other. However, Paul will not allow us to separate the two. He insists that Christ died to make us holy. The saving work of Christ includes our sanctification as well as our justification. Both are made available to us through the cross. We cannot have one without the other - they go together and must not be separated.

The sharp separation between justification and sanctification turns up these days in the debate that is taking place between the proponents of what is known as Lordship Salvation and those of what is known as Free Grace. Lordship Salvation is the idea that unless Jesus is your Lord, He cannot be your Saviour. Trusting Jesus for salvation requires surrendering to Him as Lord. 

The doctrine of Free Grace on the other hand asserts that salvation is a free gift which is received by faith without any conditions attached. It is argued that salvation is free, whereas discipleship is costly; therefore the two must be separate. If one has to be a disciple in order to be saved, then salvation, it would seem, is no longer free. Discipleship requires commitment, obedience and perseverance and this sounds very much like salvation by works. 

From the Free Grace point of view, there is a clear separation between salvation and discipleship. First, one accepts Jesus as Saviour and thereby receives the gift of salvation. Then one surrenders to Jesus as Lord and begins to live a life of discipleship and service. These are two separate steps that are both necessary in order to enter into the fullness of life that Jesus wants us to have. Ideally the one should follow from the other, but this is not essential for salvation. In other words, it is possible to know Jesus as Saviour, without having surrendered to Him as Lord. 

However, in answer to the rich young ruler's question 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus told him: 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' At this we read that he 'went away sad' (Mark 10: 17-22). To have eternal life, it seems, one must be willing to surrender to Christ as Lord. There is  no such thing as accepting Christ as Saviour without at the same time surrendering to Him as Lord. 'The gift of God is eternal life' says Paul, 'through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Romans 6: 23, emphasis mine). Salvation is a gift of free, unmerited grace - but it comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. And true faith is costly; it involves commitment, obedience and perseverance. But this does not mean that we are saved by our 'works'. As we shall see later, it is our faith that matters but true faith always results in 'works' of compassion and obedience. And such faith is not the means by which we earn our salvation. Rather, it is the means by which we receive it. 

The fact is that unless we are willing to count the cost of discipleship, we can never receive the gift of salvation. The man who found treasure hidden in a field had to be willing to give everything he had in order to make it his (Matthew 13: 44). Salvation is like that. It is the greatest treasure there is but we must be willing to give everything we have in order to make it ours. Only those who are willing to bow to Jesus as Lord can claim Him as their Saviour. The call to salvation is the call to discipleship and the call to discipleship is the call to salvation. They are one and the same. When Jesus says 'Follow me' it is an invitation to surrender our lives to His Lordship and at the same time to experience His salvation. 

Every true Christian is a disciple of Jesus. In Acts 11: 26 we read that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The name 'Christian' was a nickname given to the first disciples because they followed the teaching and example of Jesus in a way that could be seen in their everyday lives. Discipleship is not an optional extra. It is an essential part of what it means to be a Christian. It is not an additional calling for some; it is part of the calling all of us have received to follow Jesus. 

Justification and sanctification belong together, each made available through Christ's saving work on the cross and each received by faith in Him. But they must not be separated. You cannot have one without the other. The reason Jesus died on the cross was not just so that we could escape the wrath of God on Judgement Day. It was also so that our whole lives could be transformed. 

The link between the cross and our transformation into the image of Christ is very powerfully spelled out by Jesus in John 12: 24:

'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.' 

In short, it seems to me that Jesus is saying that the reason He had to die was so that His life could be reproduced in us. A grain of wheat has to die in order that it might produce more grains of wheat just like itself. Unless it dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces more grains of wheat which in turn produce even more until over time a bountiful harvest of wheat comes from that one single grain. 

Jesus was the only one who ever lived a perfect life on earth. He was the only one in whom no fault was ever found - the only one who was ever perfectly fitted for heaven. But He was not content to be the only one. He had no need to die - but chose to do so in order that He might not remain alone but that instead there might be others who would be like Him and would one day live with Him in heaven.  

At the beginning of John's gospel we read of Jesus that 'in Him was life' (John 1: 8) and at the end we read that John's purpose in writing his gospel was that 'by believing (we) might have life in His Name' (20: 31). The life that was in Him was true life, life in all its fullness. It was entirely free from the corruption of sin and was nothing less than the life of God Himself dwelling in human flesh so that for the first time a human being perfectly reflected the image of God in the way that all human beings were designed to do. Jesus came to earth to live this life as a prototype for the new humanity that He would bring into being through His death and resurrection. He died so that the life He lived might be passed on and reproduced in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

And this verse introduces an important principle: that life is released through death. This is a principle that was enormously significant for Jesus. In order for the life He lived to be made available to others, He had to die. And it is a principle that is of enormous significance for us too. For the next verse tells us that in order for the life of Jesus to be released in us, we too must be prepared to die. 

'Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life' (John 12: 25).

The principle is the same for us as it was for Jesus. In order to live the life that God requires of us we must be prepared to die to ourselves. The life that has been implanted in us by the Holy Spirit has the power to radically change us and to empower us for the work of the Kingdom. But it is released in us through death - death to our own selfish desires and ambitions. We live by exactly the same principle that Jesus lived by throughout His life and which was expressed in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: 'Father...not my will but yours be done'. 

Dying to ourselves is not something we do as a one-off act of surrender, although it might begin that way; it is the constant, day by day, moment by moment, step by step application of the cross to our lives. We surrender ourselves to Jesus in order that we might speak the words that He gives us and do the works He has for us in complete dependence upon Him and so bear much fruit as His disciples. This is the key to our sanctification and transformation and it flows from the cross. Jesus died so that His life might be reproduced in us in increasing measure, now!5

Implications For Evangelism and Discipleship

The separation between salvation and discipleship in my view, also distorts our understanding of evangelism and of the gospel itself since often it results in too sharp a distinction being made between evangelism and discipleship. Thus, it is thought that we must first evangelise people before we can begin to disciple them. Only once the sinner has been 'saved' do we begin to talk about discipleship. The sinner is invited to accept Jesus as Saviour and only then to surrender to Him as Lord. But this is a false distinction. Evangelism and discipleship belong together. The call to salvation and the call to discipleship are one and the same. 

This is particularly true in children's ministry. I believe it is mistaken to separate evangelism from discipleship particularly in this context. Unfortunately, however, there are those who, well-meaning as they may be, feel it is necessary to 'preach the gospel' to the children in their groups every week and every week invite them to be 'saved'. And only then, once they have made a 'decision for Christ', do they begin to teach them what it means to be a disciple. 

As someone who has spent a lifetime in children's ministry, I believe that this approach is mistaken. Children need to understand what it means to be a disciple of Jesus before they commit to becoming a disciple for themselves. Otherwise how will they know what they are signing up for? Even the youngest children can be encouraged to trust God and to live in ways that are pleasing to Him long before the stage at which they may be ready to make a fully-fledged commitment to Christ. And in learning to trust and obey God to the extent that they are able, they may be taking their first steps on a journey of faith which in God's good time will lead to them embracing Jesus fully as their Saviour and Lord. 

As we reach out to children beyond the church and encourage them to trust Jesus as their Saviour, we must at the same time teach them what being a disciple of Jesus means. And as we teach children growing up within the church to obey His commands, we must at the same time encourage them to trust Jesus personally as their Saviour. Evangelism and discipleship are intertwined.

In an important article written by Derek Vreeland for Missio Alliance, he argues that the distinction between evangelism and discipleship is based on a mistaken understanding of what it means to be a Christian:

'The Christian life is not primarily a set of beliefs - even though what we believe is massively important.

The Christian life is not primarily a personal relationship with God - even if personal faith and responsibility are absolutely necessary.

The Christian life is not primarily a religion - even though the liturgies that shape the worship and work of the church are indispensable.

The Christian life is primarily a way of living shaped by the Holy Spirit around the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It isn’t theology, religion, or personal piety that most forms our identity as Christians. It is the pattern of our life in direct reflection of the life of Jesus.'6

He then argues that dividing evangelism and discipleship has distorted our understanding of salvation and of the gospel:

'Modern evangelicals have made salvation something altogether different than discipleship.

This was true of the kind of evangelicalism that nurtured my faith in my teens and twenties. Billy Graham-style evangelism and Campus Crusade’s 'Four Spiritual Laws' shaped how I imagined evangelism. As I understood it, my role was to bear witness to Jesus in cooperation with the Holy Spirit who would convict people of the truth. Together we would work towards the goal of 'getting people saved'. Once they were 'saved' we could make suggestions regarding the next steps.

From my experience, these varied forms of follow-up normally did not produce healthy, flourishing disciples. With a fist full of yellow 'Four Spiritual Laws' booklets, my goal was to plunder hell and populate heaven. Years later, I would come to find that this form of evangelism wasn’t what Jesus had called us to do.

Jesus didn’t say: 'Go into all the world and get people saved'. He didn’t say: 'Get people to ask me into their hearts'. He said: 'Go...and make disciples of all nations'. (Matthew 28:19 ESV)'6

We are not called to invite people to accept Jesus as their Saviour or to ask Him into their hearts. We are called to make disciples. And this involves inviting people to follow Jesus and at the same time teaching them to obey His commands. By accepting the invitation to follow Jesus one chooses to become a disciple - a fully devoted, life-long follower of Jesus. This is the call of the gospel; this is what is required of us in response to what Jesus has done for us. And it is through faith in Jesus that is expressed in this way that we receive the gift of salvation.

We do not invite Jesus to come into our lives on our terms; rather we seek to enter the Kingdom on His terms. The important thing is not that we accept Jesus but that He accepts us. And in order to be accepted into His Kingdom we are required to humble ourselves and to surrender our lives to Him because we recognise that He is the One whom God has appointed as our Saviour-King; the One who came to bring salvation to His people; the only One in whom salvation is to be found. To accept Him and to bow to Him as our King is to receive the gift of salvation; to reject Him and to be unwilling to humble ourselves before Him is to forfeit it.

'Much of the language in the New Testament is about our experience 'in Christ.' The movement described is such that we enter into the life of Jesus more than Jesus enters into our lives. If we go about asking Jesus into our hearts, then it becomes easy for Jesus to become a character in the one-act play called 'Me'.

The constant call of Jesus was not 'ask me into your heart,' but 'come follow me.'6

We come to Jesus and surrender our lives to Him - because salvation is to be found in no one else; because life in all its fullness is available only in Him. It is by following Jesus and submitting to His rule that the promises of the gospel become ours. Not only are we forgiven for our sins but we also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may be made new and have life in all its fullness now.

The gospel, then is not:

ask Jesus into your heart

and accept Him as your Saviour

so that you may be forgiven for your sins

and escape the wrath of God in the future

on account of His substitutionary death in your place.

Rather, it is:

come to Jesus

and bow to Him as your King

so that you may be set free from your sins

and have new life now and forever

on account of His atoning death on your behalf. 

Justification and sanctification belong together under the Lordship of  Christ. He died not only to pay the penalty for our sins but also to make us holy.

Notes

1. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-does-it-mean-to-be-sealed-by-the-holy-spirit.html

2. https://dwellcc.org/learning/essays/five-views-sanctification#Ref46 

3. Five Views Of Sanctification edited by Stanley N Gundry

4. https://reknew.org/2015/12/10-problems-with-the-penal-substitution-view-of-the-atonement

5. I am indebted to Ken Needham from The Torchbearers Trust for these thoughts on John 12: 24-25 which come largely from a talk he gave at the University of Ulster Christian Union circa 1975.

6. https://www.missioalliance.org/weve-gotten-salvation-all-wrong-lets-reclaim-the-heart-of-christian-discipleship