I have been amazed to see what fashion trends come back. Who would ever have thought that bell bottoms would be fashionable again! But it is not just the fashion world that sees pendulum swings. It happens in the theological world as well. When it comes to the doctrine of sanctification, it is important that we avoid extremes and maintain a healthy biblical balance—what I call threading the sanctification needle. J. C. Ryle in his book Holiness even argues that Satan himself may be behind unbalanced statements on sanctification because he knows too well “the power of true holiness.”1 He knows we can get sidetracked by whether sanctification is all of man or all of God. Or whether it is automatic or whether I need to put some effort into it. Or whether it is a gradual process or a one-time radical burst of growth. Or whether I can attain perfection in this life or just settle for a certain level of unholiness. In this article, I want to make a few biblically nuanced—and I hope, biblically balanced—statements to make sure that as we thread the needle of sanctification, we do not miss the eye either to the left or to the right.
When Sanctification Begins
First, salvation begins at conversion. Everyone justified is sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11). The “seeds” of our progressive sanctification and our ultimate glorification are both sown in the soil of the newly converted man. Sanctification is not something that some believers achieve while others do not—as if the latter just can’t make much headway in the Christian life. If at conversion we were sanctified, does that not assume that a true believer’s life will be marked by divine activity toward that end? After all, God’s seed remains in him or her (1 John 3:9). He that began a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). He does not begin that work at the day of Jesus Christ; that is when He brings it to completion!
What Enables Sanctification
Second, sanctification is intricately tied to our union with Christ. We are sanctified in union with Jesus Christ. It is in union with Him—specifically in His death, burial, and resurrection—that our growth in holiness occurs. Christ died so that I could die with Him (“the world has been crucified unto me,” Galatians 6:14), and Christ came back to life so that I could live (for Him “who loved me and gave Himself for me,” Galatians 2:20). Since Jesus is made my sanctification, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31)! My union with Christ has the most profound effect on my sanctification. From the moment of my union with Him, I have become empowered to grow in holiness. Some believers so emphasize second “works of grace” that they almost strip the miracle of regeneration or of union with Christ of any transformational power. However, according to Romans 6, my union with Christ at the moment of conversion severed sin’s enslavement of me.
When Sanctification Will Be Completed
Third, sanctification is both completed—Paul refers to the Corinthians as sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:2; 6:11)—and ongoing. Hebrews 10 uses the perfect and present tense of the verb “sanctify” in the same context (vv. 10, 14): we have been sanctified, and we are being sanctified. If we are being sanctified, when will that process reach completion? We quoted Philippians 1:6 earlier: the day of Jesus Christ is when God will bring to completion His work of sanctifying us. Our spirits are made perfect when we die (Hebrews 12:23); our bodies will reach complete sanctification at the coming of Christ. At His coming, He will “transform our lowly body” into conformity to His (Philippians 3:21). We shall be like Him because, when He comes, “we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
The Sanctification Balance
Lastly, sanctification is both a work of God and a condition that we are to actively pursue. Consistently in the New Testament, the verb sanctify is active when God is the subject and passive if believers are the subject. In other words, God sanctifies and we are sanctified. This wording is too undeviating to be accidental. God, not us, sanctifies. You and I cannot sanctify ourselves, and we are not commanded to do so. At the same time, we are commanded to pursue sanctification actively (Hebrews 12:14)! Jonathan Edwards made 70 resolutions regarding his personal growth in holiness, not to usurp God’s role but to faithfully do his. Understanding that God sanctifies should only heighten our efforts to pursue holiness, much as a promise of God encourages us to pray with more confidence. Our hope of complete sanctification compels us to seek sanctification— “everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). Philippians 2:12–13 provides the perfect balance: “you work out your own salvation (sanctification) with fear and trembling because God is working in you to will and to do of His good pleasure” (my loose translation). I have not threaded the needle of sanctification correctly if either I think I am sanctifying myself or if I think I need to put out no effort toward it. God is so serious about our partaking of His holiness now that He will chastise us in order to drive us to our duty (Hebrews 12:10).
The Role of Truth in Sanctification
Knowing God is at work for our sanctification, what should we do to pursue sanctification? Jesus’ prayer in John 17:17 points the way, “Sanctify them by Your truth.” Exposure to truth in God’s Word (because God’s Word is truth) is what God uses to sanctify. Truth and holiness go hand in hand (Ephesians 4:24; “holiness of the truth,” NASB). You either stand in the truth or you stand with the devil (John 8:44). Obedience to truth purifies (1 Peter 1:22). When mankind exchanges the truth of God for a lie, they end up in a horrible mess, because they are horribly unsanctified (Romans 1:25ff). Sanctification calls for an all-out pursuit of truth. We need the Spirit of truth to bear witness to Jesus and to the truth that is in Him (John 15:26; Ephesians 4:21). We must personally ransack the Scriptures to see what things are true (Acts 17:11). We must allow others to speak truth to us and dispel the Satanic lies that have destabilized us spiritually (Ephesians 4:15-16). We need full participation in the church, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:16). We evidence a failure to prioritize sanctification when we repeat Jesus’ prayer in John 17:17 (Lord, sanctify me by Your truth) but make little personal effort to answer Pilate’s dismissive question, “What is truth?” Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us “pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, emphasis mine).
1 J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (London: William Hunt and Company, 1889), p. x.