Theology 101 - Sanctification

I've already addressed justification and how it is a once and for all act of God declaring us "justified". Today we'll look at sanctification and consider how God has ordained this facet of our salvation as a process to mold and refine us into the image of His Son! No matter how you look at it, it is to His glory alone--not ours.

"Sanctification may be defined as that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit by which He purifies the sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works.

The Characteristics of Sanctification

1. God and not man is the author of sanctification. This does not mean, however, that man is entirely passive in the process. He can and should co-operate with God in the work of sanctification by a diligent use of the means which God has placed at his disposal.

2. Sanctification is not, like justification, a legal act of God, but a moral and re-creative activity, by which the sinner is renewed in his inner being and made to conform ever-increasingly to the image of God.

3. It is usually a lengthy process and never reaches perfection in this life. In cases in which regeneration and conversion are soon followed by death, the process may, of course, be very short.

4. The process of sanctification is either completed at death or immediately after it as far as the soul is concerned, and at the resurrection in so far as it pertains to the body."

(My unending debt and appreciation to Louis Berkhof!)