The preachers quoted here describe sanctification as the making of a person holy, the certain result of union with Christ. They say it is not a spiritual superiority complex, and they speak of it both as something God has accomplished and as a daily fight.
To sanctify, hagiazo, is to make holy or set apart;1 the noun hagiasmos is the state or process that results.2 In the Old Testament it is said of days, places and priests set apart for God; in the New it is said chiefly of people.
Scripture speaks of sanctification as already done. "Ye are washed ... ye are sanctified ... ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 6:11). "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). Every believer is in this sense a saint.
It also speaks of it as going on. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Believers "are changed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines this: "Sanctification is the work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness."3
The means are named. Christ prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). It is "sanctification of the Spirit" (2 Thessalonians 2:13), who enables believers to put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13). The Father uses discipline "that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10).
Evangelicals have held different accounts of how it proceeds. The Reformed view is of lifelong growth; John Wesley taught an entire sanctification in which the heart is perfected in love; the Keswick or "higher life" teaching of the 1870s stressed a crisis of surrender and faith. J. C. Ryle wrote his book Holiness with that last teaching in view, remarking that "The subject of sanctification is one which many, I fear, dislike exceedingly."4
All agree that sanctification is distinct from justification and never separated from it. Christ is made to us both "righteousness, and sanctification" (1 Corinthians 1:30), and "he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
- Strong's Greek 37, hagiázō: "to make holy, i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate".
- Strong's Greek 38, hagiasmós: "properly, purification, i.e. (the state) purity; concretely (by Hebraism) a purifier".
- Westminster Assembly, Westminster Shorter Catechism, "What is sanctification?".
- J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots, "Chapter 3".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Sanctification is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which true faith gives to a Christian.
J.C. Ryle
in Sanctification
Read in context
And sanctification is the making of a person holy.
G.W. North
in Sanctified, Sealed, Sent
Listen at 15:50
Sanctification is not some kind of pharisaical, spiritual, superiority complex with an attitude of, I'm holier than thou.
J. Sidlow Baxter
in Sanctification
Listen at 12:29
Sanctification is not the perfection of human character, but the impartation of the divine nature, and the union of the human soul with the person of Christ, the new Head of redeemed humanity.
A.B. Simpson
in The Spirit of Holiness
Read in context
Where they differ
Two emphases run through these sermons. One is that sanctification is God's finished provision; the other is that it is a lifelong fight.
Sanctification is accomplished for us by God.
Watchman Nee
in Sanctification
Read in context
Sanctification is always a fight, because you're in this body of flesh which is the playground for sin.
Mack Tomlinson
in Sanctification 2 of 2
Listen at 10:38
What Scripture says
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 this is the will of God, your sanctification
- John 17:17 sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth
- Hebrews 10:10 sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 changed into the same image from glory to glory
- Philippians 1:6 he who began a good work in you will perform it
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