Sanctification is God’s gracious work that enables Christians to follow God’s moral code, to love Him, to love their neighbors and to love even their enemies as themselves.

1. In sanctification human beings participate in God’s work. 

God sanctifies Christians (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 5:21; Ephesians 3:16; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:11; John 15:4; Galatians 5:22). And human beings participate, struggle, fight, work and act. Countless passages teach that human beings are responsible to work out their sanctification (Romans 8:12–13, 12:9–10; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 5:16–23; Colossians 3:5–14; Philippians 2:12–13).

Christians aren’t passive spectators sitting on the sidelines while God does all the work to win the day. Instead, Christians are active players struggling against evil. “I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body,” said Paul, “and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:26–27).

2. At its heart, sanctification is a process of self-denial and gospel renewal.

Sanctification is a process of dying and rising, of self-discipline and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. Thus Paul can describe the Christian life in these terms: “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11).

Self-denial is an essential ingredient in the process of sanctification (Luke 9:23; Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 4:22). But it’s not the only ingredient. The Holy Spirit working through the gospel must birth new life out of the ashes of an old life (Romans 10:17; Philippians 3:8–11; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Being a Christian means following Jesus in death and new life (Luke 9:23; Colossians 3:1–5). Through trusting Jesus, Christians experience a part of that new life as holiness or sanctification.

3. God has provided a plan for sanctification.

In sanctification God has promised to work through human effort and activities designed to discipline the heart. While there are forms of self-discipline that are worthless for the journey and fail to result in a holy life, there are special activities that God has promised to bless (Colossians 2:16–23). “God works to sanctify His people through their reading Scripture, hearing biblical sermons, praying and being baptized. He also works through their receiving of ordinary bread and wine during a worship service, and serving the poor, the marginalized, and anyone in need” (Colossians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 10:16).¹

Through God’s sanctifying work, Christians begin to imitate Jesus and reveal characteristics consistent with His (Ephesians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Galatians 5:22–26). This includes loving people that might feel like enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:35; Romans 12:14, 17, 20–21). Yet, even while striving to do good, Christians will fail. They will continue to struggle with harmful, evil desires and weakness of heart and body (Romans 7:15; Philippians 3:12–14; 2 Corinthians 12:7–10). The effects of sanctification in this life are real, but incomplete and imperfect. This is because the end result of sanctification is the resurrection and the fullness of new life that awaits in the next.

1. Sanctification is not perfection. ²

After reading passages like 1 John 1:8–2:2 or Romans 8, some Christians concluded that to be sanctified means never committing an intentional act of evil. For these Christians, to be sanctified means to be cleansed from all selfishness, evil or impurity to the point that it becomes impossible for a Christian intentionally to do evil. But a close reading of 1 John 1:8–2:2 only shows that Christians ought to mature to the point that doing good in the world and loving God become a habit. This fits better with other places in the Bible (Hebrews 12:4; James 5:16; Romans 7:15; Philippians 3:12–14; 2 Corinthians 12:7–10).

2. Sanctification is not natural.

In a society with psychological experts, life coaches and self-help books, Christians can sometimes mistake sanctification for productivity, self-improvement or mindfulness. These are all good pursuits and accomplishments and include good practices and disciplines. A person doesn’t have to be a Christian to be a good person, productive or mindful. Christians can use these resources, but should not confuse personal growth with sanctification no matter how good it is. 

Sanctification results from the supernatural presence and power of the Holy Spirit working in a Christian’s life (Galatians 5:22–26; Ephesians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10). It requires a change of heart, an alignment of the will with God’s will. Sanctification means learning to love what God loves and value what God values, and thus sanctification goes beyond what is natural.

3. Sanctification is not a path to earn God’s love. 

Scripture teaches that sanctification is God’s gift to people whom He already loves. God loves and desires all people to receive His gift of eternal life (John 3:16–17; 1 Timothy 2:4). Jesus’ entire life demonstrates God’s love and mercy to all people, especially the poor, marginalized, and outcasts of society. Jesus made a point to show love to the very people that felt the most unworthy of that love (Matthew 9:10–13, 21:31; Luke 7:34; Luke 15:2). God loves and accepts people who imagine that they are the worst kind of people (Romans 5:8). In the same way that a person becomes a Christian through God’s grace, a person becomes sanctified through grace (Galatians 3:1–5).

 

To understand sanctification, it’s helpful to distinguish it from another important teaching, justification. Justification and sanctification are both Christian teachings related to salvation. They both are part of the good news of Jesus Christ. Both justification and sanctification are God’s gracious gifts, received by faith. But there are also three important differences.

1. Justification is legal; sanctification is transformational.

Justification is the opposite of condemnation (Romans 8:1). It’s a change in status from being guilty before God to being called righteous, holy or perfect. Justification is God’s legal declaration that a person is both innocent of all charges made against them and immune from any future charge in God’s court of law. It’s both forgiveness and legal immunity so that the person is unable to become guilty (Romans 7:4). 

This works because by faith a person embraces Jesus as their legal representative before God. And as the work of their legal representative, Jesus’ work counts as their own, and Jesus’ death counts as their own (Romans 5:12–21). To explain further, in justification, Jesus’ status is applied to a person by faith (Romans 3:21–26).

Unlike justification, sanctification is transformational. Sanctification isn’t a change in status but an actual change in the human condition. Justification is being declared forgiven and righteous, but sanctification is being made righteous and holy.

2. Justification happens all at once; sanctification happens over a lifetime. 

As a change in status, justification is immediate, final and complete. A person doesn’t become justified over time, and a person doesn’t become more or less justified throughout their life. For Christians, justification is an event in God’s court of law that has already happened. This is why Paul described a Christian as having “been justified” in the same way that Christ died “once for all” (Romans 5:1, 6:10).

3. Jesus’ work is the grounds for justification; Jesus’ life is the pattern for sanctification.

By faith a person embraces Jesus as their legal representative before God, meaning that Christ’s work counts as their own and Christ’s death counts as their own (Romans 5:12–21). This works because Jesus, as the Messiah, came to fulfill all of God’s requirements for eternal life as a representative of humanity. Through the resurrection, Jesus enters into the eternal life that He has secured for everyone who trusts Him for salvation.

In sanctification, Jesus’ life is a pattern to follow (Ephesians 5:1–2; 1 Corinthians 11:1). In sanctification God transforms His people over time to resemble Jesus (Ephesians 4:20–24; 2 Corinthians 4:6).

¹ “Like initial conversion, sanctification is a process of growth and maturation that requires a diligent use of the public means of grace as well as ecclesial, familial, and private disciplines of prayer, meditative reading of Scripture, witness, fellowship, service to those in need, and the discerning care of faithful elders. In progressive sanctification, our focus should not be on the visibility of our experience and growth but Christ as he is given to us in the gospel” (Michael Horton, The Christian Faith, 661).

²Fred Zaspal, Warfield on the Christian Life: Living in Light of the Gospel ( Wheaton, Il: Crossway, 2012), 111–120. Zaspal also explains Warfield’s expert handling of Romans 8, making this work a good entry point into the discussion of what theologians call Perfectionism.