Sanctification
Understand sanctification as the ongoing work of God's grace renewing the whole person after his image, enabling believers to die more to sin and live more to righteousness.
Where justification settles our standing once for all, sanctification begins a lifelong renewal. The Standards turn from what God declares us to be to what God is making us become, and they are careful to keep the two distinct while holding them inseparable.
A work of grace renewing the whole man
The Standards call sanctification a work, not an act, marking it as a continuing operation rather than a finished verdict. It is grounded in election and accomplished through the Spirit applying the death and resurrection of Christ to those who are his. Its scope is the whole man: understanding, will, affections, and conduct are all renewed after the image of God.
This renewal has two motions the Standards repeatedly join together. There is a dying to sin, as the dominion and corruption of the old nature is increasingly weakened, and a living to righteousness, as the graces of the new nature are quickened and strengthened. Sanctification is therefore both mortification and vivification, never one without the other.
Distinct from justification, yet inseparable
The Standards draw the contrast carefully. In justification God imputes the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his Spirit infuses grace and enables its exercise. In the one, sin is pardoned; in the other, sin is subdued. Justification is equal in all believers and perfect at once; sanctification is uneven and grows by degrees. Yet the two can never be separated, for the same Christ who justifies also sanctifies all whom he saves.
This distinction guards the gospel from two errors at once. It denies that our holiness contributes to our acceptance, and it denies that grace leaves us unchanged. The justified are always being sanctified, but they are never accepted on the ground of their sanctification.
Imperfect in this life
The Standards are honest about the believer's experience. Sanctification in this life remains imperfect, because remnants of corruption abide in every part, and the flesh continually wars against the Spirit. Believers are therefore often foiled by temptation and fall into many sins, and even their best works are mingled with weakness.
Yet the imperfection is not the last word. The regenerate part finally overcomes, and the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The struggle itself is evidence of life, for only those in whom the Spirit dwells feel the conflict between flesh and spirit.
Study the full text, Scripture proofs, and commentary on each:
- Read WLC 77 and list each point at which it distinguishes sanctification from justification.
- Study WCF Ch. 13 and trace how it accounts for the continuing conflict between flesh and spirit.
- Read WSC 36 and reflect on the benefits that flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification together.
See how this doctrine is stated across the Reformed confessions side by side.
Sanctification →