Sanctification is by Faith ALONE.
Are you trying to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, as illustrated above?
I recently read the following quotation in some Bible Study Notes put out by a reputable good evangelical source:
“Therefore unlike justification, sanctification is both God’s work and the believer’s work”.
This is a very serious error! We cannot improve ourselves in any way by pulling ourselves up by our own boot straps!
Becoming a Christian (Salvation) is by faith ALONE, but growing and maturing as a Christian to be more like Christ (sanctification) is ALSO by Faith Alone.
The only human responsibility both in salvation and sanctification is faith ALONE. Sometimes other words are used to describe faith. In John 1:12 we read “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” ESV. Here the word “receive” means “receive by faith”. The passage defines “receive” as believing. This is the only human responsibility in salvation – we have to receive the FREE gift of salvation. We receive Jesus Christ as BOTH our Savior and our Lord.
Similarly, sanctification (growing as a Christian and becoming more like Christ) is by faith ALONE!
1. The verse that God used in the life of Martin Luther to spark the Protestant Reformation is Romans 1:17. What EXACTLY does this verse say?
Romans 1:17 (ESV)
“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,[a] as it is written, ‘The righteous shall LIVE by faith.’”[b]
Footnotes: [a] Or beginning and ending in faith
[b] Or The one who by faith is righteous shall live [by faith]
The verse does NOT say (what I recently read in the above referenced Bible Study notes on Romans 8) that “unlike justification, sanctification is both God’s work and the believer’s work” This is the same as saying that sanctification is by faith PLUS human effort.
It is also a mistake to say that justification is by faith PLUS the “means of grace” such as reading the Bible, prayer, the sacraments, etc. The Pharisees practiced the means of grace but Jesus specifically confronted them and told them that they were vipers, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, etc. who were neither justified or sanctified!
Hebrews 11 makes it clear that faith alone is recognized by God. NOTICE THAT NONE OF THE SINS (INCLUDING GOOD THINGS NOT DONE IN FAITH) IS MENTIONED IN HEBREWS 11. ONLY THSE THINGS DONE BY FAITH ALONE‼️
“…whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23)
To add anything to faith is a blatant contradiction of Scripture and a contradiction of the very heart of Paul’s teaching on sanctification. This is the very same false teaching that is taught by Roman Catholicism! When it was taught to me as a young Christian, in an evangelical church, it halted my sanctification and almost derailed my Christian faith altogether! This false teaching simply is not taught ANYWHERE in Scripture.
In God’s providence I finally read John Stott’s Book on sanctification “Men Made New” and was finally set right on this very important issue. Stott rightly points out that this entire false teaching is based on a wrong translation of Romans 6:7 which occurs in every Bible except the ASV. The ASV translates this verse literally from the Greek as follows:
“for he that hath died is JUSTIFIED from sin.” (ASV) Compare the following translations:
“for anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (NIV)
“for one who has died has been set free from sin” (ESV)
BOTH THE NIV AND THE ESV ARE WRONG! NOWHERE ELSE IN SCRIPTURE IS THE WORD IN GREEK FOR JUSTIFIED (dikaioo) TRANSLATED AS “SET FREE”. In every other case in Scripture the word is translated “justified” as it is in the ASV. Justification does not set us free from sin it merely declares us righteous and sets us free from the PENALTY of sin. It has nothing to do with the POWER OR THE ALLURE of sin,
Without a correct view of justification, the Christian will also have an incorrect view of sanctification and live a joyless, defeated life of guilt, and with a profound sense of failure and defeat! Indeed this was the very struggle of Martin Luther, himself.
2. Romans 12:1-2 is a summary passage of how sanctification takes place:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by [because of] the mercies of God, to present [surrender] your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (ESV)
The phrase “present your bodies” means totally surrender yourself (body and soul) up to God. God asks for total, not partial, devotion. Surrendering yourself to God is exactly what you did when you “RECEIVED” Christ as Savior and Lord. Therefore the word “present” “offer” or “surrender” (depending on your English translation) are words describing an act of exercising your FAITH not an act of HUMAN PERFORMANCE, not a human work or effort.
EXERCISING FAITH IS A HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY BUT NOT A HUMAN PERFORMANCE OR ACT OF HUMAN STRENGTH‼️ ON THE CONTRARY IT IS SIMPLY RECEIVING AND SURRENDERING TO WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE IN REDEEMING, REGENERATING AND JUSTIFYING US, AND WHAT HE CONTINUES TO DO IN SANCTIFYING US‼️
You are not doing anything for God you are simply exercising your FAITH by believing, accepting and receiving, who Christ is and what He has done for you. Exercising your faith is your responsibility, but is the faith alone which is efficacious in bringing God’s graceious work of justification and sanctification to us! This is why we can never boast about our faith, but we can boast about what God has done.
Look at the verbs in the Romans 12 passage. The only imperative is the “present” “offer” or the “surrender”. You are commanded to surrender yourself to God as a living sacrifice (on a continual moment by moment basis). These words describe exercising faith! You are not commanded to improve yourself or your behavior, or to “obey”. This may seem to be a subtle distinction but it is not. It is the difference between a Christian life of love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and fruitfulness, or one of defeat, discouragement, and in some cases even depression and despair!
All the other verbs in the passage are in the passive voice. They are not things that you do or should try to do, they are things which God does to or for you. It is God who “transforms” or changes you by renewing your mind. This is a change from the inside-out – the “renewing of your mind” results in a change of heart and identity, not simply a change of your behavior, your emotions, or your will. God gives you a heart of love and forgiveness, of patience, of self-control, and the heart of a cheerful giver of your time, talent, and treasure to others! God even changes you to become a servant-leader of your wife and family!
In addition to “Men Made New” by Stott, please also read the invaluable book “Inside Out” by Larry Crabb.
Stop trying to become a better person. You cannot change yourself. To try to do better or to obey is doomed to failure! But if you totally surrender yourself, and your time, talent, and treasure to God, He will transform and renew your mind and change you to be more like Jesus! This is the essence of sanctification!
Self-Improvement is the hallmark of false-religion and secularism.
Here is an interesting quote from Tim Keller:
“But the biblical gospel–Paul’s gospel–is clear that Salvation, from first to last, is God’s doing. It is His calling; His plan; His action; His work. And so it is He who deserves all the glory, for all time. This is the humbling truth that lies at the heart of Christianity. We love to be our own saviors. Our hearts love to manufacture glory for themselves. So we find messages of self-salvation extremely attractive, whether they are religious (Keep these rules and you earn eternal blessing) or secular (Grab hold of these things and you’ll experience blessing now). The gospel comes and turns them all upside down. It says you are in such a hopeless position that you need a rescue that has nothing to do with you at all. And then it says: God in Jesus provides a rescue which gives you far more than any false salvation your heart may love to chase.”
The great British preacher Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said that faith is a gift, but it is a gift which like a muscle must be exercised! Here is an interesting short article on this concept: Faith is Like a Muscle
What did Our Lord Jesus Christ do during his intense struggle at Gethsemane? As he faced the daunting prospect of of the cross where he would not only take on the punishment and wrath of God for our sins but also face for the first time separation from his beloved Father. He put into practice exactly what is written in Romans 12. When he said “Not my will but thy will be done” this was an exercise of faith. He literally surrendered his body as a living sacrifice to God (the ultimate exercise of faith) and through his faith, God enabled him to do the will of his Father and go to the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.
It is very important to note that at the Judgment Seat of Christ ( 2 Col 5:10) which is a judgment of REWARDS for the believer, that we will only be rewarded for the things which we do:
- In Faith – (Romans 14:23)
- In dependence on the Holy Spirit – (Romans 8:7-8), and
- For the Glory of God – (1 Corinthians 10:31)
TO SUMMARIZE: Grace through FAITH is the “ROOT” of Sanctification (the process of being conformed to the image of Christ) and our obedience to God is the “FRUIT” of our sanctification. We must never confuse cause and effect! We should not put the cart before the horse!
In other words, the only human action/choice in the matter is whether or not to exercise our faith in surrendering to God or to receive what Christ has done. Our justification and our sanctification are all His work not ours. So we cannot boast about it. We cannot add anything to what HE has done. WE are mere beneficiaries of His Work, it is not OUR work.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THIS BOOK:
Bryan Chapell (born 18 November 1954) is an American pastor and theologian. He is the Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. Prior to that he was President of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missourifor eighteen years.[1] Chapell is also an author, lecturer, and conference speaker specializing in homiletics. He served as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in America in 2014.[2]
DAVE SEIVRIGHT is a former lawyer from Jamaica. He is a graduate of the University of Liverpool, UK, and Westminster Theological Seminary, USA. He also did graduate studies at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, and Trinity College in England. He has been married to PAULINE for 58 years. They have 4 children and 11 grandchildren.
Dave had the privilege of being personally mentored by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer, and also by Dr. J. I. Packer. Dave was also mentored by the teachings and writings, and by personal interaction with the late Dr. John Stott. Dave attempts to pass on to others the things he learned from these great men of God. Combining his studies of interpretation and evidence as a lawyer with his studies of philosophy, apologetics, and theology, Dave has taken a special interest in the subject of “Worldviews” and the influence of Christianity on the culture of Western civilization. Dave has devoted his time to teaching the Christian worldview worldwide, and mentoring and discipling intelligent young professionals, particularly in Miami, and in Germany.
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