Ep. 12 - Sanctification
Episode Description
What is sanctification? How does God grow a believer in holiness once he is saved? Is sanctification the believer’s work, God’s work, or both? The word can feel distant and technical, but the doctrine sits at the heart of how a Christian relates to his own walk — and to the God who has already cleansed him.
In this episode, Pastor Josh unfolds sanctification in its two tenses. There is a positional sanctification that took place the moment one believed the gospel — the Spirit of God identified the believer with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and God made Christ to be unto us sanctification. That work is done; the believer is set apart, created in righteousness and true holiness, and called a saint. But there is also a progressive sanctification — the perfecting of holiness in the fear of God, the abstaining from fornication, the cleansing of ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. The first is wholly God’s work. The second is the believer’s walk in light of what God has already done. This episode shows how the two fit together — and why the second only ever makes sense once the first is settled.
Key Scriptures
1 Corinthians 1:2 — Sanctified in Christ Jesus, Called to Be Saints
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
1 Corinthians 1:30 — Christ Made Unto Us Sanctification
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
1 Thessalonians 4:1–4 — This Is the Will of God, Even Your Sanctification
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 — Not Called Unto Uncleanness, but Unto Holiness
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
2 Corinthians 7:1 — Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ephesians 2:10 — Created in Christ Jesus Unto Good Works
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 4:24 — Created in Righteousness and True Holiness
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Romans 6:1–4 — Baptized into His Death, Walking in Newness of Life
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Titus 2:14 — A Peculiar People, Zealous of Good Works
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Episode Outline
What Sanctification Means — To be set apart and made holy — and what it implies about the condition we were in
Old Testament Background — Ritual cleansing, the tabernacle, Abraham set apart from his father’s house
Spiritual Sanctification — The focus of the New Testament — set apart in Christ Jesus
Sanctified and Called to Be Saints — 1 Corinthians 1 — the two-sided statement that frames the whole doctrine
Two Tenses of Sanctification — Positional and permanent on one side, ongoing and perfecting on the other
Christ Made Unto Us Sanctification — The setting apart we needed is exclusively in Him
This Is the Will of God, Even Your Sanctification — 1 Thessalonians 4 — the walk that follows the position
Not Unto Uncleanness, but Unto Holiness — What we have been set apart unto becomes our calling
Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God — Cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit
Romans 6 — Dead to Sin, Alive unto God — The Spirit’s baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection is the engine of it all
Sins and Sin — The shift from individual acts to the entity of sin that resides in the body
Walking in Newness of Life — The believer’s walk as the reflection of what he already possesses in Christ
Questions Discussed
What is sanctification?
How does God grow me in holiness once I am saved?
Is sanctification my work, God’s work, or both?
What does the Bible mean when it calls believers “saints”?
How can Paul say believers are already sanctified and also call them to be sanctified?
What is the difference between sins (plural) and sin (singular) in Romans 6?
If I have been made dead to sin, why do I still struggle with it?
What does it mean to possess my vessel in sanctification and honour?
How does the spiritual baptism of Romans 6 relate to sanctification?
