"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."
(1Th 5:23-24)
Sanctification is a work of God. Period. To think of sanctification as anything else, is to cut at the heart of the gospel of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When Paul uses the word “salvation” he does not mean just justification. He means all of salvation! Election, calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance of the saints, and glorification are all aspects of salvation. Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel is the power of God not only in our justification, but also in our sanctification! It is not as though God gives us a jump start by justification, and then tells us to go on in our Christian walk by our own power. No. Instead we must understand, that the power of God in the gospel not only saves us, but it is saving us every day. In our struggles to kill sin, and see Christ as more valuable than anything in our lives, in our struggles to grow in holiness, and pursue the things above, we must see that the power to do these things is from God. God is the author of sanctification. In the Godhead, it is the Holy Spirit who is the means of this work in us. He reminds us of the beauty of Christ. He reminds us of the futility of our sins. He is the one who sanctifies us. We do not sanctify ourselves.
The foundational thing to understand in sanctification is that it is a work of God. To define it as anything else is to rob God of the glory due him in not only beginning our salvation, but in finishing it as well.
Go ahead, let it blow your mind. I’ll give you a second.
Ok, your second is up, let me push it further. Just as you can not justify yourself apart from the power of God in the gospel, you can not sanctify yourself apart form the power of God in the gospel.
Here are some quotes to help shatter the understanding that sanctification includes any work of man:
“Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness”
1647 Westminster Shorter Catechism
“Sanctification is declared [from the Word of God] to be a work of God’s free grace.”
Hodge, Systematic Theology vol III page 213
"Sanctification may be defined as that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit by which He purifies the sinner, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works."
Berkhof, Summary of Christian Doctrine page 143
“The author of this sanctification is here [1st Thessalonians 5:23] asserted to be God. He is the eternal spring and fountain of all holiness; there is none in any creature but what comes immediately from him; and therefore it is so emphatically expressed ‘God himself’; if he does it not, no other can; it must be wrought by God himself. He does it of himself, from his grace; by himself, or his own power; for himself, or his own glory.”
Owen, Pneumatalogia book IV page 245
“We know, however, that under the term sanctification is included the entire renovation of the man. The Thessalonians, it is true, had been in part renewed, but Paul desires that God would perfect what is remaining. From this we infer, that we must, during our whole life, make progress in the pursuit of holiness. But if it is the part of God to renew the whole man, there is nothing left for free will. For if it had been our part to co-operate with God, Paul would have spoken thus — “May God aid or promote your sanctification.” But when he says, sanctify you wholly, he makes him the sole Author of the entire work.”
Calvin, Commentaries 1st Thessalonians 5:23
Do you live your christian life with the reality that sanctification is a work of God, and not a work of man?
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