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Charles Page | PentecostalTheology.com
You must be born again to be sanctified?
Mike Partyka
Yes.
Varnel Watson
are you entirely sanctified – no?
Kyle Williams
Yes…sanctification is the work of the Holy Ghost
Varnel Watson
as in 2nd work of grace or what?
RichardAnna Boyce
of course.. Sanctification (we will use the word to mean present progressive sanctification) is by grace because the God who justified us also provides everything we need on the way to our final glorification (Rom. 8:29-32). The three persons of the Godhead all play an active role in our sanctification: The Father (John 17:17; 1 Thes. 5:23), the Son (Eph. 5:26; 1 John 1:7); and the Spirit (Rom. 15:16; 2 Cor. 3:18). God also uses various means for our sanctification such as His Word, His Spirit, the church, trials, and various other experiences. The power of His Holy Spirit that gives us new birth at justification is the same power that sanctifies us through the life of the risen Christ.
Varnel Watson
Sanctification does NOT mean progressive or positional Such is a man made humanistic logic THE BIBLE clearly commands SANCTIFY yourself TODAY – not progressive, not living in sin and struggling Couldnt get in the OT temple except if you sanctify yourself How can you get in today without being entirely sanctified ?
RichardAnna Boyce
Jesus is our sanctification and sin is progressively being overcome in our lives as we renew our mind.
Varnel Watson
RichardAnna Boyce IF sin is being progressively you are basically saying Jesus did not FINISH his work on the cross and now you are doing everything you can to help him Thank GOD the BIBLE says something completely different SANCTIFY thyself TODAY
Ray E Horton
Same old religious argument through a lack of understanding of the distinction been to between spirit and soul. My spirit, which is my true identity, is fully, completely and instantly sanctified and sealed the minute I am born again. My soul (mind, will and emotions) however, is progressively sanctified as I renew my mind to who I now am in Christ, being transformed a step at a time from glory to glory.
Steve Baker
RichardAnna Boyce, hi Ray, thanks for your post. My understanding is that we are sanctified – when we come to faith in Christ – but that we are also being sanctified. That is to say, we can cooperate with God – in the process of our sanctification – by understanding that we are justified by faith through grace. It’s the knowledge that we are Justified by faith in this way that helps us to draw near to God with confidence, and to have fellowship with God the Father and Son – through the Holy Spirit. This fellowship is necessary for the ongoing part of our walk, and also the process of our ongoing sanctification. It’s the drawing near and fellowshipping with God that helps to make us well.
Ray E Horton
Same old religious argument through a lack of understanding of the distinction been to between spirit and soul. My spirit, which is my true identity, is fully, completely and instantly sanctified and sealed the minute I am born again. My soul (mind, will and emotions) however, is progressively sanctified as I renew my mind to who I now am in Christ, being transformed a step at a time from glory to glory.
RichardAnna Boyce
1. Positional Sanctification
First Corinthians 1:30 is a good verse to summarize our sanctified, or set-apart, position in Christ: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
This is an absolute, perfect, and objective thing. Positional sanctification takes place instantaneously at salvation, irrespective of how little it may or may not immediately show up in our lives. “If a man is not a saint he is not a Christian; if he is a Christian he is a saint.”
2. Progressive Sanctification
John 17:17, in our Lord’s high-priestly prayer for his saints, is a good introduction to the practical or experiential side of sanctification: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Although the Lord Jesus had been ministering to His disciples for three years, and eleven of them had indeed been already sanctified (positionally) by grace through faith in Him, He still prays for their sanctification through the application of the Word of God.
3. Perfected Sanctification
Final, ultimate, or perfect sanctification does not take place till we leave this planet through death or the Rapture. It is an event yet to come. First John 3:2 is a central passage for this:
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Varnel Watson
1 Cor 1:30 or anywhere in the BIBLE does not have the word positional
RichardAnna Boyce
The Believer’s Responsibilities in Present (progressive) Sanctification
A. Living by Faith
Believing in Christ is a condition of both justification and present sanctification. On the one hand, only those who believe in Christ are regenerate (John 3), and only regenerate people can experience present sanctification. On the other hand, it is possible for a believer to take his or her eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2). In order to continue to grow as a Christian, we must continue to look to our Savior. While we are eternally secure from the moment we trust Christ (John 5:24; 10:27-29; Rom 8:38-39), that does not mean that our faith will never falter.
Galatians 2:20 includes a statement about the need for ongoing faith in Christ. It reads:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (emphasis added).
Likewise, 2 Cor 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (emphasis added).
An important aspect of present sanctification which many believers underestimate or ignore: continuing to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The path of righteousness begins and ends by grace through faith. If our faith falters, so, too, does our progress in holiness.
Ultimately, of course, believers are commanded to believe all aspects of God’s truth. When people become Christians they believe that Jesus Christ freely gives them eternal life. They know that they have eternal life because they trust His promise (e.g., John 6:47). However, that does not mean that they either know or believe everything the Bible says.3 They need to read and study the Bible so they can come to know and believe more and more of what it contains.
While there are thousands of vital truths to be believed in Scripture, most believers recognize a handful of basics, or fundamental truths (often called the Fundamentals). These include the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His literal bodily resurrection from the dead, His Second Coming, and the inerrancy of Scripture. For a person who has been a Christian for years to stray from the truth on one of these subjects, even if he or she remains clear on the Gospel itself, is a major problem. Compare, for example, 2 Tim 2:17-18, which concerns doctrinal defection regarding the future resurrection of our bodies, 2 Thess 2:1ff., which deals with defective thinking on Christ’s Second Coming, and Gal 2:11ff., which reports an occasion in Antioch when Peter and Barnabus withdrew from the Gentile believers there and would not eat meals with them.
Let there be no mistake. The failure of one’s faith is a grim possibility on the field of spiritual battle. To deny this is to be spiritually unprepared for the enemy’s assault.
But equally, to acknowledge it is not in any way an invitation to fall prey to satanic falsehoods—far from it. The Commander still challenges us to stand firm against our foe. He still commands allegiance to His truth.
RichardAnna Boyce
Counting the Cost. One cannot read the teaching of Jesus on discipleship without recognizing that discipleship is costly. To follow Christ on the path of obedience is to pay a price.
Putting it another way, present progressive sanctification extracts a price. To grow significantly as a Christian we must make a decision at some point in our Christian experience: Is it worth the cost to follow Christ? Am I willing to suffer for Him? Am I willing to give up my time, money, pleasures, friends, family, or whatever it takes to do what He says (cf. Luke 14:26-33)? Ultimately to be a wholehearted disciple of Christ we must be willing to give up everything we have and hope to have, including not only our possessions, but also our reputations, our comforts, and our time. Jesus said, “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33).
RichardAnna Boyce
Receiving Christian Instruction. Closely related to counting the cost is getting involved in Christian instruction. The Scriptures plainly teach that present progressive sanctification requires education. There is no such thing as instant spirituality. One does not “arrive” in the Christian life at the point of faith—or at some significant point of commitment, either. Growth takes time plus obedience to what God has said. And to learn what God has said takes instruction.
The apostle Peter ended his second epistle with these words:
You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Peter’s readers knew that growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior requires Christian instruction (cf. 1 Pet 4:10-11; 5:1-5; 2 Pet 1:12-15; 3:16).
RichardAnna Boyce
Abiding in Christ. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
One’s Christian experience is at its heart a personal progressive relationship. While there are commands to be obeyed, it is wrong to think of walking with Christ as some legalistic exercise. He cares whether we obey His commands or not because it pleases Him when we do and grieves Him when we don’t (cf. 2 Cor 5:9; Eph 4:30).
This is one of the main reasons why the Lord gave us His Supper. We are to contemplate Christ as we eat the bread, drink the fruit of the vine, and hear the Word taught (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-33; 14:26-39). Regular participation in the Lord’s Supper in a contemplative environment can do wonders for one’s walk with Christ.
We can contemplate Christ in many other ways as well: prayer, Bible reading and Bible study, fellowship, witnessing, and meditation on Scripture. Contemplation of Christ is not some great mystery reserved for monks and recluses. All believers can and should regularly contemplate Christ.
Our aim in life should be “to be well pleasing to Him” (2 Cor 5:9). Our allegiance is not to a cold set of rules. It is to a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 3:24). We are obeying a Person who loves us and whom we love (1 John 4:19: “We love Him because He first loved us”). Attitude is a key element in man’s role in present progressive sanctification. Our attitude should be an abiding determination to obey our loving Lord.
RichardAnna Boyce
Feeding on God’s Word. Present progressive sanctification relies heavily on regularly partaking of God’s Word. After all, God communicated with us so that we might know how to obey Him and that we might be continually motivated to do so.
The Psalmist said to God, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps 119:11). Paul instructed Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet 2:2). The Lord Jesus, citing Deut 8:3, said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).
RichardAnna Boyce
Praying. God delights in the prayers of His children (Psalm 147; Rev 5:8; 8:3-4). In the words, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt 6:11), it is clear that God wants us to daily beseech Him to meet our needs. The apostle Paul commanded the Thessalonian believers, and through them all believers, to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). He was asking them to do something which was characteristic of his life (e.g., “without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,” 1 Tim 1:3). Daniel made it a practice to pray three times each day, even when he knew it might well cost him his life in a lion’s den (Dan 6:10). So, too, did David (Ps 55:17).
Regular, daily prayer takes discipline and concerted effort. It is sadly possible for a believer to go through the whole day and not speak to God even once. This should not be. Prayer is a vital aspect of man’s role in present progressive sanctification.
In fact, part of our prayer life should be directed at praying for our own progressive sanctification (Ps 32:6; Matt 6:13; 26:40-41; 1 John 1:9; Jude 20) and for that of others (2 Cor 13:7; Eph 3:14-21; Phil 1:9-11; 1 Thess 5:25; 2 Thess 3:1-2; 1 Tim 2:1ff.). We should beseech God to give us strength to control our tongue, to stay free of bitterness, covetousness, envy, jealousy, and immorality, and to walk in a manner pleasing to Him.
Prayerlessness makes us vulnerable to temptation (cf. Matt 6:13; 26:41) and works against our growth. Prayer is the linchpin of present progressive sanctification.
RichardAnna Boyce
God plays a vital role in the growth of every believer. Apart from His work in our lives, growth would not take place. However, He has not arranged it so that growth takes place totally apart from the believer himself. Believers have a role to play as well (Phil 2:12-13).
The believer’s role in present progressive sanctification includes living by faith, being baptized, counting the cost, receiving Christian instruction, abiding in Christ, reading, feeding on God’s Word, praying, stirring one another up to love and good deeds, and witnessing.
The Free Grace position powerfully promotes progressive sanctification, yet without annihilating assurance or muddling motivation.
Louise Cummings
Amen.
Mike Partyka
yes, Paul shows in Romans 8 that one is the flesh can do nothing to please god.
Mike Partyka
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.