Bible Students

Sanctification is the process of salvation after the initial justification. After the moment one has been justified by Christ’s sacrifice, they are brought into the process of sanctification, which is the continual renewal of one’s spiritual life, and the process of practical removal of sin. While no one will ever reach a state of not sinning, Christians will continually become more and more formed into the character and Image of Christ. Sanctification is the process before glorification, where sin is completely and permanently removed from the presence of the believer. Sanctification will never accomplish the purpose of glorification. 

Sanctification is accomplished both by the individual and by the Spirit of God. A helpful analogy is to imagine a robber, a bank teller, and a police officer. The robber attempts to steal from the bank teller. The teller calls the police, and the police deal with the robber. In this analogy, sin is like the robber, attacking the believer, who is the teller. The believer can attempt to handle sin on their own, but will likely not be successful. Rather, the believer must call upon the help of the Spirit, who is the police officer in this analogy. The believer must actively rely on the Spirit in sanctification and choose to pick up the phone to call for help. Practically, this looks like choosing to practice the presence of Christ rather than partake in sin. The believer must say no to sin and turn to be with God in order to become increasingly sanctified. 

Now, there may be ways the Spirit sanctifies the believer without their conscious effort. However, it seems most helpful to understand the Spirit’s work as making the path to righteousness more available and able to be walked by the believer. This is not works salvation, as the process of justification has already taken place. Rather, this is working with the Spirit to accomplish personal growth. This is an essential part of sanctification, as the process of personally removing sin from one’s live gives wisdom and understanding that no other experience could. In a sense, the process of sanctification gives knowledge of good and evil, to call back on the desire of Adam and Eve. The wisdom to know what is good and what is evil for oneself, to understand from experience why God’s Law is the way it is, must come from the personal experience of sanctification.