Bible Question:
By the blood of Jesus, believers are called righteous and saved. As believers, in our process of sanctification in our life time, is it a must that we undergo all sorts of trials, tests, and sufferings, etc.(the refining process of fine gold)? Is sanctification referred to what Paul said in 1 Cor 10:24 as the reward? How should I understand the relationship between being saved and sanctified? With this I mean, some believers believed and were baptized just before the moment of their death, there was no way for them to undergo the process of sanctification as such described in Zech 13:9. Hope I have expressed my question clear. Thanks for your help. Shalom Azure |
Bible Answer: Dear Azure, Perhaps I can answer your question, without detracting from some of the things that others have already posted. Sanctification, as Scripture uses the term, is really two things: (1) a position; and (2) a process. As a position, it refers to our belonging to the Lord (Jude 1). As a process, it refers to our growth in holiness (Hebrews 1214) -- we speak of this as "progressive sanctification." We will be perfectly conformed to the image of the Son only upon glorification (something for another discussion). As a position, sanctification is done objectively. That is, it is something which God has done to us (John 19:30). As a process, sanctification is something done subjectively, or experientially. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives working our sanctification, even as we diligently pursue holiness. In one sense, progressive sanctification might be thought of as cooperative (see post #166420); while positional sanctification is done entirely independent of our experience, in other words, without our participation. Every saved person grows in sanctification. Indeed, it is one of the evidences of salvation. Its absence is one of the evidences of the lost. The Puritans used to say that if a person was not battling sin, then that person should question whether they are a Christian at all! There are three things that God uses in our lives for our sanctification: People (Proverbs 27:17), circumstances (Psalm 119:67), and spiritual disciplines (1 Timothy 4:7). Only one of these do you have any real "control" over, and that's the last of the three. The spiritual disciplines include such things as study of the Word, prayer, meditation, and active participation/submission in a local church. A lack of the proper understanding of these dual aspects of sanctification is at the root of a great meany theological errors. Below are some quotes that might be helpful to you. In Him, Doc "What is Sanctification? 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. "What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification? The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification are: * assurance of God’s love * peace of conscience * joy in the Holy Ghost * increase of grace * and perseverance therein to the end." From these two questions it is obvious that sanctification in the Puritan mind encompasses all Christian living -- the entire process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. It is a process which begins at the moment of the new birth, and presses on throughout the entire life of the believer until his last breath. The Puritans wanted to see people growing up into strong assurance of God’s love, great peace of conscience, and authentic joy in the Holy Spirit. They said that the way to receive these blessings is through Spirit-worked sanctification. They advised their people: If you don’t seek sanctification, you not only dishonor God, but you also impoverish your own spiritual life." --Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 35 "Indeed, the more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Savior, the more he must recoil against every lack of conformity to the holiness of God. The deeper his apprehension of the majesty of God, the greater the intensity of his love to God, the more persistent his yearning for the attainment of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the more conscious will he be of the gravity of the sin that remains and the more poignant will be his detestation of it... Was this not the effect in all the people of God as they came into closer proximity to the revelation of God's holiness." --John Murray "Justification by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone does not lead to more sinning. On the contrary, it is the only sure and hopeful base of operations from which the fight against sin can be launched. All the bombers that go out to drop bombs on the strongholds of sin remaining in our lives take off from the runway of justification by faith alone. The missiles that we shoot against the incoming attack of temptation are launched from the base of justification by faith alone. The whole lifelong triumphant offensive called 'operation sanctification' -- by which we wage war against all the remaining corruption in our lives -- is sustained by the supply line of the Spirit that comes from the secure, unassailable home-base of justification by faith alone. And it will be a successful operation -- but only because of the unassailable home base." --John Piper |