In our last post here Growing Christian Resources: P3 God’s Plan Before The Christian Life’s Beginning For Sanctification, I spent time reminding us of how the Christian life begins in regeneration, faith, and repentance. By noting that beginning, we observed how from that beginning God bestows the graces of justification, adoption, and union with Jesus Christ. All of these beginning graces set me firmly in my positional and relational standing before God.
The beginning graces just described are like a brand-new automobile purchased out of a showroom. The driver has the keys, a full tank of gas, and get this - everything is paid for by the manufacturer! What’s next? The driver needs to drive the car – that’s sanctification! The life of the car began when it was assembled at the plant and set apart in the showroom for the driver, but now that car was not built to be a showpiece. Instead, the car is meant to drive, travel, and do everyday chores.
In that last post I briefly touched upon how God had already planned sanctification to be part of the lives of His people whom He chose in Christ from1 Peter 1:1-2. What I want us to do in this post is to get the bigger picture of what Christian sanctification is all about.
I had offered the following definition of sanctification in the last post:
"sanctification speaks of the Christian life lived from its beginnings in regeneration until the believer’s homegoing at death or the rapture of the church."
The Apostle Peter lays out for us in the first chapter of his first letter an overview of the Biblical doctrine of sanctification from its origins in the mind of God in eternity through the Christian life following saving faith into eternity.
One more thing before we move forward: why does sanctification matter? Note what God says in His Word. Jesus prayed for future generations of sanctified believers in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” 1 Peter 1:15 “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” Even the Apostle Peter closes out his second letter with this command in 2 Peter 3:18 “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
Francis Schaeffer’s book, “True Spirituality”, gives this helpful insight for why we need to better grasp Christian sanctification:
"The important thing after being born spiritually is to live. There is a new birth, and then there is the Christian life to be lived. This is the area of sanctification from the time of the new birth, through this present life until Jesus comes or until we die.”
Below is an outline of the main contours of Christian sanctification that I intend to cover in the next few posts.
1. Positional sanctification. 1 Peter 1:1-4
2. Progressive sanctification. 1 Peter 1:5-7, 9-12, 1:14-2:3
3. Perfect sanctification. 1 Peter 1:8,13
