The Doctrine of Sanctification

Sanctification

Audio and Multimedia (105)

 

Classic Essays & Articles (62)

 

Contemporary Essays & Articles (102)

 

Experiential/Progressive Sanctification (33)

 

Gospel-Driven Sanctification (57)

 

Justification & Sanctification (37)

 

Mortification (36)

 

Old Man New Man (18)

 

Other Views (12)

 

Preaching, Sanctification and the Gospel (6)

 

Romans 6 (27)

 

Romans 7 (37)

Definitive and Experiential Sanctification

Definitive sanctification, refers to the the accomplished fact that believers "have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:10) .. an irreversable event wherein Christ's single offering has perfected for all time those he came to save. This means that our just standing before God can neither be lost nor improved upon.  As defined by John Frame, it is "a once-for-all event, simultaneous with effectual calling and regeneration, that transfers us from the sphere of sin to the sphere of God’s holiness, from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God." Definitive sanctification marks us out (or separates us) as God’s chosen people – His treasured and covenantal possession (Acts 20:32; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11). So too, definitive sanctification redeems (or frees) us from the dominion (or slavery) of sin by uniting us to Christ, particularly in His death, resurrection and ascension. Sanctification, in this sense, refers to a decisive and radical break from the power of sin.

Experiential sanctification refers to the work of God in and through man which makes us more and more like Christ in our day to day lives/. The Bible declares that as we behold God's glory we are being transformed into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor 3:18)." According to John Frame, "We can think of sanctification as the outworking of the new life given in regeneration." It involves the gradual, incremental and (S)piritual work of both putting to death the remains of "indwelling sin" as well as putting on the likeness of Christ. While we work out the salvation given to us, it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for His sovereign good pleasure. (Phil 2:13).  We are sanctified in Christ and so our obedience flows from the cross.

"Union with Christ in his death and resurrection is the element of union which Paul most extensively expounds...if we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf. We share in his death (we were baptized into his death), in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ), in his ascension (we have been raised with him), in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will share in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory) (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3). This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God's activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness."

Sinclair Ferguson from Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification

Justification and Sanctification: How do they Differ?

Web Page by J C Ryle

 

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

PDF by Walter Marshall

 

The Reformed View of Sanctification

Web Page by Dr Sinclair B Ferguson

 

The Doctrine of Sanctification (eBook)

Web Page by A W Pink

 

Causes and Cures

Web Page by Dr Sinclair B Ferguson

 

Sanctification

Web Page by Louis Berkhof

 

Definitive Sanctification

PDF by John Murray

 

The Expulsive Power of a New Affection

PDF by Thomas Chalmers

 

God Glorified in Sanctification

Web Page by Kim Riddlebarger

 

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (eBook)

Web Page by Walter Marshall

 

On Glorying only in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Web Page by John Calvin

 

Sanctification (eBook)

Web Page by J C Ryle

 

6 Marks of the Believers' Growth in Grace

Web Page by J C Ryle

 

The Indicative and The Imperative: A Reformation View of Sanctification

Web Page by Dr Michael s Horton

 

All of Life is Repentance

PDF by Tim Keller

 

Sanctification

Web Page by B B Warfield, A A Hodge

 

Is Sanctification Monergistic or Synergistic? A Reformed Survey

Web Page by Kevin DeYoung

 

Christ our Sanctification: The Reformed View of Mortification and Vivification by Grace (eBook)

Web Page by John Hendryx

 

Sanctification: The Spirit and the Flesh

Web Page by Luder Whitlock

 

Crises of Faith Are Yardsticks for Growth

Web Page by J I Packer

 

The Nuts and Bolts of Sanctification

Web Page by Jon Payne

 

4 Lessons for the Bedeviling Sanctification Debate

Web Page by Timothy J Keller

 

What is Sanctification?

Web Page by Nathan W Bingham

 

Why happiness and holiness don’t have to be in conflict

Web Page by Randy Alcorn

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