Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration, gradually changes our nature through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
What Is Sanctification?
- Sanctification is the evidence of our conversion. It shows that the Holy Spirit is living within us. It is an indication that we have been reconciled with God (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
Sanctification is the process of building the relationship with God that leads to righteousness (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
We are changed from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive in an instant. Changing our character to the character of God means navigating the Sanctification Road (God’s Laws Creates Peace).
Sanctification depends on us seeking God. As it is a process, we have to seek God to grow in grace and knowledge (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
It isn’t just about doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. It is about changing our character to be more Christ. It is continuing to move forward on the Sanctification Road to reach the destination of righteousness (How Are Disciples Merciful?).
We have to become godly through the process of sanctification (Godliness as a Virtue).
Sanctification should be a complete deal. It should be mind, body, and soul. We are to submit to God’s loving kindness with all of our being (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
Sanctification is a life-time process. It isn’t something that can be rushed. God’s ways are occasionally polar opposite to the world’s ways (Learning about Jesus from the Holy Spirit).
- God call us to have a change of heart. This happens two ways: regeneration and sanctification (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
- Sanctification happens at conversion, but it is also a growing process (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
- Sanctification separates us from our old lives and builds a new life in Christ. This is done by the work of the Holy Spirit’s promptings (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
- The transformation discussed in Romans 12: 2 happens in sanctification. This growth in grace and knowledge changes our nature (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
What Sanctification Isn’t
We are not going to grow in grace and knowledge — we won’t progress through sanctification — if we don’t work at seeking God (What Is Diligence?).
Sanctification does not give us license to sin. It calls us to the opposite — a life separated from sin. Sanctification is the process making that so (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
God isn’t selling fire insurance. We can’t admit our sins, believe He is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord – and drop it. God wants to see evidence that we have chosen Him. That evidence is our obedience. We have to live like we were converted. We have to undergo the sanctification. We have to submit (The Nominal Disciple).
It isn’t about us and how smart and skillful we are in surviving whatever trials are thrown our way. It is about transforming us through the process of sanctification so that we may be righteous and holy (How Does Longsuffering Help Consistency?).
Sanctification Is a Process
- If we look at perfection as the act or the process of becoming, that is sanctification (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
- Sanctification is the process of building the relationship with God (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- It isn’t just about doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. It is about changing our character to be more Christ. It is continuing to move forward on the sanctification road to reach the destination of righteousness (How Are Disciples Merciful?).
Sanctification separates us from our old lives and builds a new life in Christ. This is done by the work of the Holy Spirit’s promptings (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
Submitting to God means imitating Him. The whole purpose of our learning is so that we progress on the Sanctification Road and become more like Jesus. We have to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He teaches us about Jesus. Then, we will get our well-done-good-and-faithful-servant (Mt. 25: 21) at the appropriate times (What Is Election?; Learning to be a New Creation).
There is whole continuum between salvation and us being like Him. It is called sanctification (Aren’t We All Children of God?).
Sanctification begins as the result of being set apart. It is the process of becoming rooted and grounded (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
Being holy is unique to God. Being holy produces the righteousness. It takes a process — sanctification — to get there. We progress in the process by obedience. That is doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts (How Do Disciples Crave Righteousness; Faith as a Virtue).
A poor in spirit person is one who sees that there is still a lot of the sanctification process ahead. This disciple knows that we will always fall short while we are here in these earthly bodies (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
Sanctification is learning — acquiring wisdom — so that we can grow in grace and knowledge. It happens at conversion, but it is also a growing process. One of the things the Holy Spirit will help us with is increasing our knowledge. This is a normal step in the sanctification process (Who Is the Holy Spirit?).
On our Sanctification Road, self-control plays a big part in securing our successes along the way. We will not continue to progress toward righteousness if we allow our human passions to rule our lives (Temperance as a Virtue).
Sanctification is a process; it isn’t an immediate transfusion of virtue. So, it isn’t the good coming in and rooting out all the evil (Who Can Learn God’s Truth?).
Since the Sanctification Road is a process, that isn’t going to happen overnight — and it isn’t going to be easy. Our human nature is going to kick and scream. Thank goodness we have God’s power in our side! (What Happens When We Repent?; What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Obedience?).
Sanctification is a road. The road to sanctification is hilly and curvy. It won’t be smooth sailing. It has a beginning and an end (Who Can Learn God’s Truth?; How Are We to be Inclusive in Our Worship?).
Putting on the new self is a lifetime process. We don’t get the new self immediately. We only get it at the end of the Sanctification Road (Learning to be a New Creation).
God’s bringing in the righteousness is kind of like a graduation for us. We have completed — and succeeded on — the Sanctification Road. It is now time to enter heaven (What Is the Tribulation?).
God is patient with us — He is longsuffering. He patient is about our sanctification process. God takes His time to test and realign us with His standards. He takes His time making us holy — our lifetime (How Does Circumspection Help Consistency?).
Whether godliness is the end of the progression or love is, the focus has to be our growing to be more like God. We want the sanctification, so we get to righteousness (Kindness and Love as Virtues).
Sanctification Means Changing Our Character
When we are redeemed from lawlessness and cleansed, we take on God’s nature. We receive a new character upon conversion. Then we also build our character to be more like God’s when we navigate the Sanctification Road. There is a lot of work left to do to get us totally like Him — and it won’t be complete until we finish the Sanctification Road when we see Him face to face (Jesus as a Teacher; How Are We Made New Creations?).
God wants to mold our character. He wants disciples to be like Him. We have to grow in grace and knowledge through sanctification until we have His character (How Do We Profit from Scriptures?; Disciples’ Duty to the Poor).
The Bible tells us what our character should be like to grow us into steak adults. But isn’t that what the road to sanctification is? We’ve given it several “names”: grow from milk babies to steak adults, work out our salvation, and become sanctified so we grow to become holy and righteous. Really, aren’t they all the same thing? We want to grow to be like God (How Are We to be Inclusive in Our Worship?).
We have to live like we were converted. We have to do the progression. We have to undergo the sanctification (Godliness as a Virtue).
When we purposefully focus on doing His Will, we become holy like Him. We build our character as we mature our faith. This happens through sanctification, with the end goal righteousness (What Does Charity Mean?).
Don’t worry if we are not where we want to be on the sanctification scale. God is working with us. Sanctification is training us to be righteous. This is imperative as we train for our eternal lives (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- When we purposefully focus on doing His Will, we become holy like Him. We build our character as we mature our faith. This happens through sanctification, with the end goal righteousness (What Does Charity Mean?).
- We have to grow in grace and knowledge through sanctification until we have His character (Disciples’ Duty to the Poor).
Divine Help with Sanctification
- Sanctification depends on us seeking God (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- God is going to have a lot to do in our sanctification process to change us from holy to righteous (How Do Disciples Crave Righteousness?).
Jesus may have done the heavy lifting in the Plan of Salvation by being the One to die on the cross, but the Holy Spirit is in it for the long haul. The Spirit is the One who convicts us and leads us down the road of sanctification (Who Is the Holy Spirit?).
The Holy Spirit has to testify that He is working in our lives and that we are following Him. He has to verify that, when we are being sanctified, there is evidence of the Holy Spirit working within our lives (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
Sanctification is the evidence of our conversion. It shows that the Holy Spirit is living within us. It is an indication that we have been reconciled with God (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
Sanctification is all about God disciplining us until we are righteous (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
God’s comfort is not is that it is just straight comfort. God has a one-track mind on this — He is sanctifying us (How Can We Find Comfort in Troubling Times?).
The Bible is a guide through our process of sanctification. It outlines our duties and responsibilities (How Do We Profit from the Scriptures?).
Jesus brought life — eternal life. We have to get our focus off this world and put it onto the new heaven and earth. That means we have to be working the process of sanctification so that we are becoming holy and righteous (Is Peace an Attitude?).
God wants us sanctified, holy, and righteous (How Does Circumspection Help Consistency?).
Once God knows us as His children, we can become like Jesus through sanctification. That is what God has predestined (How Does Predestination Fit In?).
God is a hands-on God. He doesn’t want us to make a profession of faith and never contact Him again. He wants us to be firmly on the Sanctification Road (Old Testament Reasons for Judgment).
God will completely fill and overflow us by making godly, holy, and righteous. He is going to sanctify us (Rewards for Focusing on God).
Jesus knew we could only take so much at once. He was well aware that sanctification is a process (Learning about Jesus from the Holy Spirit).
Navigating the Sanctification Road the Right Way
We were saved the instant that God forgave our sins. But that didn’t mean salvation was over. Our job description says we need to work out our salvation. We do that as we navigate the sanctification road (Love and Obedience: The Last Two Steps in Salvation).
We have to be genuine when we ABCD. We have to truly submit to God. We have to obey His laws and commandments. Yes, that is going to go against our human nature. That is part of the reason we go through the process of sanctification. God will help us as we show Him that we will submit to Him (The Nominal Disciple).
Only disciples are going to be willing to navigate down Sanctification Road. Worldview people are going to steer way clear of that route (How Does Predestination Fit In?).
God wants us to decide that we want to make decisions pleasing to Him. Those decisions trigger actions that change our character to be more like His. That is what sanctification is all about (Honoring the Lord through Worship).
There are several things for which we are instructed to watch. We have to watch out for Satan tempting us. We have to watch to make sure we are on the right Sanctification Road. We have to watch for Jesus’ return. Since we don’t know the date and time of Jesus’ return, what is important is the Sanctification Road and watching for Jesus’ return (What Is Evangelism?; What Is the Tribulation?).
When we pray to God about keeping us on the Sanctification Road, we are asking that we successfully make the end goal – Heaven. That alone should bring us peace as we contemplate the future rewards for being faithful and the rest from the struggles temptations create (Peace Gained through Prayer).
By navigating the hills and valleys of the Sanctification Road, we use God’s standards to evaluate our actions. Doing so will help keep this world in our rearview mirror (What Does Sanctification Have to Do with Purity?).
As we navigate the Sanctification Road, we should learn two things to purify us. First, God will be watching us, so we must walk carefully to do His Will. Second, we must work to know what His Will is (What Is Honor to a Disciple of Christ?).
But as we navigate Sanctification Road, it should be easier to keep the laws and commandments. Why? Our character is growing more like God’s (Who Can Learn God’s Truth?).
- A poor in spirit person is one who sees that there is still a lot of the sanctification process ahead (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
- On our sanctification road, self-control plays a big part in securing our successes along the way. We will not continue to progress toward righteousness if we allow our human passions to rule our lives (Temperance as a Virtue).
- Sanctification does not give us license to sin (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
Sanctification and Churchy Words
- Sanctification should be a complete deal. It should be mind, body, and soul. We are to submit to God’s loving kindness with all of our being (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
- We have to become godly through the process of sanctification (Godliness as a Virtue).
- Sanctification, the evidence of justification, starts with regeneration and holiness and is the process of building the relationship with God that leads to righteousness (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- Righteousness is the result of the process of sanctification, where we grow in grace and knowledge to change us to increase our holiness (Disciples’ Duty to the Poor).
- Sanctification, like righteousness, is the result of holiness. Sanctification begins as the result of being set apart. It is the process of becoming rooted and grounded (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- We have to get to the righteousness by going through the process of sanctification. However, sanctification is accomplished through obedience (Faith as a Virtue).
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