The story of the Bible is the story of God’s plan of salvation being worked out throughout history, and its authors use a variety of terms to help us better understand what the concept of ‘salvation’ really means. If we think of salvation as a beautiful diamond, these various terms are like different facets we can see as we view that diamond from different angles. Throughout scripture, we see terms like ‘justification,’ and ‘redemption,’ and we also find the very important term, ‘sanctification.’
To be sanctified means to be set apart. If you can imagine someone keeping a set of fine dishware stored away in a special location, only bringing it out for the most special occasions, you already have a good idea of what this word means. God sets us apart from the rest of humanity, making us His own and preparing us for His special use. Sanctification is a multi-faceted term in itself, and we can speak about it using two different terms—positional sanctification and progressive sanctification.
Positional sanctification refers to a change of status. It only happens once, right at the moment of salvation as we are brought from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Among other places, we can see the reality of positional sanctification in these verses—
1 Corinthians 6:11 — “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.“
Hebrews 10:10 — “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Progressive sanctification refers to the ongoing process by which those who have believed in Jesus are transformed over time to be more like Him. This aspect of sanctification begins at salvation and continues throughout a believer’s life, all the way to moment of their death. Among other places, we can see the reality of progressive sanctification in these verses—
2 Corinthians 3:18 — “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another”
Proverbs 4:18 — “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”
As with all of God’s work, sanctification is a work of all three members of the Trinity. The Father sends the Son to accomplish sanctification on our behalf and lovingly disciplines us and leads in the way we should go. The Son accomplishes our sanctification and serves as an example to us as we seek to grow more like Him. Finally, the Holy Spirit applies the work of the Son to our lives and unites us to Jesus, in whom is the only source of power to grow in our sanctification. And this process of sanctification brings us great joy. In the book Bible Doctrine, the theologian Wayne Grudem summarized the joy of sanctification excellently—
“Sanctification brings great joy to us. The more we grow in likeness to Christ, the more we will personally experience the “joy” and “peace” that are part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5: 22), and the more we will draw near to the kind of life that we will have in heaven. As we grow in holiness we grow in conformity to the image of Christ, and more and more of the beauty of his character is seen in our own lives. This is the goal of perfect sanctification which we hope and long for, and which will be ours when Christ returns.”
All the best,
Luke
