Justification and Sanctification

Last time, we saw the meaning of repentance. Now, let us look at some definitions of what “justification” and “sanctification” mean. Taken from a website,

“Justification – forgiveness, the clearing of all of my guilt and the deserved penalty for committed sins, through faith in Jesus Christ, who took on the penalty for my sins and paid the price by dying in my stead. (Galatians 2:16) This leads to salvation.

Salvation – saved from the penalty of committed sin, but – even greater – also from the very root of sin; from the bondage I was in to the body of sin. (Hebrews 7:19, 25) The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in me and works in me, leading me to overcome sin before it is committed. I am saved from the necessity of committing sin just because I have sin – which leads to …

Sanctification – This is the result of salvation. It is the transformation from human to divine nature (2 Peter 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Matthew 5:48); being made holy. This is a process I undergo throughout my lifetime as I, in obedience to the Spirit, put off the works of the flesh and take on the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-16)”

(Source: https://activechristianity.org/difference-justification-salvation-sanctification)

And another website says,

“Justification is the work of God where the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to the sinner, so the sinner is declared by God as being righteous under the Law (Rom. 4:3; 5:1,9; Gal. 2:16; 3:11). This righteousness is not earned or retained by any effort of the saved. Justification is an instantaneous occurrence with the result being eternal life. It is based completely and solely upon Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) and is received by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). No works are necessary whatsoever to obtain justification. Otherwise, it is not a gift (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, we are justified by faith (Romans 5:1).

Sanctification is the process of being set apart for God’s work and being conformed to the image of Christ. This conforming to Christ involves the work of the person, but it is still God working in the believer to produce more of a godly character and life in the person who has already been justified (Phil. 2:13). Sanctification is not instantaneous because it is not the work of God alone. The justified person is actively involved in submitting to God’s will, resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly (Gal. 5:22-23). Significantly, sanctification has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don’t live a perfect life, we are still justified.

Where justification is a legal declaration that is instantaneous, sanctification is a process. Where justification comes from outside of us, from God, sanctification comes from God within us by the work of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Bible. In other words, we contribute to sanctification through our efforts.  In contrast, we do not contribute to our justification through our efforts.

Now, there is one more point of clarification. To sanctify also means to set apart for holy use.”

(Source: https://carm.org/doctrine-and-theology/justification-and-sanctification-what-is-the-difference/, added underlines mine)

"To be set apart for holy use..." Let's let another website explain this:

“Sanctification, as understood by the Old Testament, meant that something had been set aside, or set apart, for the sole purpose of serving or honoring God. During Moses’ exodus, The Tabernacle was used as a sanctified vessel set apart for God’s purpose, and later a Temple was made to “house” God. Priests followed very specific rules and guidelines to ensure the proper steps were taken to sanctify sacrifices, offerings, and holy places. These things were set apart from everything else to serve a very special purpose: serving God’s will and God’s will alone. If it was not sanctified, it could not be used for that purpose—and would most likely be discarded or disposed of. The pinnacle of Old Testament sanctification came when God literally dwelled among His people by inhabiting the first Temple built by King Solomon. The Temple had been sanctified, set apart, as a dwelling place for God. We can see that whatever is “sanctified” is something very special indeed and has been set apart from everything else in the world as a special offering or vessel for God’s own purpose. The standard for what is deemed “sanctified” or “clean” is near perfect—or as perfect as one can make it. If you didn’t follow every single step in the process to make something sanctified, it was seen as unclean and unusable. The ultimate standard here is extremely high and is a standard set directly by God.

As we work our way to the New Testament, we see that sanctification takes on a more robust meaning and is made much more applicable to us. The Holy Spirit has been introduced to the world as a means for humankind’s chance at sanctification. Now, we are the sanctified temple for the Holy Spirit, we are God’s dwelling place, and we have become a clean offering for God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are all sanctified because our Lord and Savior gave himself to the world as the perfect offering to God. Essentially, we are sanctified because Christ died for us—through no work of our own. We have become God’s chosen people, set apart from everything else, as we are made holy through Christ’s atonement. The “old” sanctification has been realized through the fulfillment of the Law, which has given us the gift of grace, by our perfect sanctification. Don’t think the old Law has been abolished, that the old way of sanctifying has been done away with—instead, Christ fulfilled the old Law and lived the perfect life so we didn’t have to. The result? We are God’s people, sanctified for the purpose of serving God.

Although different, but directly related to sanctification, justification must be understood as the cornerstone for salvation. As sanctification is the means for the Holy Spirit to dwell and work within you (making us holy), justification is the result of the inner-dwelling and works of the Holy Spirit. Simply put, sanctification is the cause, justification is the effect. Without one, there cannot be another. However, both come by God’s good grace and no work of our own. This means that mankind can be both sinner and saint, lustful with desires and made righteous by the Holy Spirit, clean and unclean. The only way this is possible is by the gift of sanctification, through the Holy Spirit, resulting in justification by faith in Christ alone.

Justification is work done entirely by God alone (as we learned from sanctification). We are saved and justified in the eyes of God because we have faith in Christ and nothing more. When Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins, His righteousness was imputed to us through our faith. Christ acted on our behalf, which means we are free to accept God’s grace through nothing we’ve done ourselves. Through Christ’s sacrifice, we are freely justified, without our merits, by the grace of God, through faith alone. Justification is the process that took place by Christ dying on the cross and rising from the dead three days later. We have all been justified to receive God’s grace through our faith in Christ and nothing more. Essentially, this is the true essence of the Gospel and truth we should never surrender, ignore, or compromise."

(Source: https://crossexamined.org/sanctification-and-justification-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter/, underline mine)

Finally, one more website says this,

“Justification, a term used in the Bible forensically/legally, is defined as “an act of God by which those who are unrighteous in themselves are nevertheless declared righteous before God while still in the sinning state.” Justification is a deliverance from the penalty of sin and is a past action for all believers, accomplished by Christ at the cross.

Paul summarizes the concept of justification: “So then as through one transgression [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness [Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross] there resulted justification of life to all men” (Romans 5:18, NASB).

By contrast, sanctification is not the act of God declaring a person righteous; rather, it is the continual process by which God is actually making a person righteous. Sanctification is the deliverance from the power of sin and is a present and continuous process of believers becoming Christlike, accomplished by the Holy Spirit’s power and presence. Sanctification represents a believer’s victory over the flesh (Romans 7:24–25), the world (1 John 5:4), and the devil (James 4:7).”

(Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/justification-vs-sanctification.html)

To sum up, justification is instant, while sanctification is a continual process. Remember that article that said, “There’s a difference between SALVATION and DISCIPLESHIP?” Here is the explanation. Justification happens at the moment of salvation! If you are saved, God has justified you by faith, and He sees you now as if you had never sinned before! This is how Abraham was justified – by faith. Sanctification, however, is life-long, and is more in line with discipleship. What is discipleship?

Discipleship can be defined as "a kind of student. It is someone who follows the teaching of, learns from and models their life after someone else — in this case, Jesus." This definition was from an article, and it continues,

"Discipleship is a journey of intentional decisions leading to maturity in your relationship with Jesus so that you become more like Him in your attitudes, focus and ultimately behavior. It requires a commitment from the potential disciple and the disciple-makers. It’s not something that happens by accident or overnight, and it can’t be completed in a six-week class. This is a lifelong commitment to follow God with your whole self and to both learn from and eventually teach others about how to follow Him...Christian growth requires a hands-on approach. The Bible frequently demonstrates the importance of mentorship. Paul mentored other disciples of Christ to help them be mature and effective at making disciples. In the New Testament letter called Titus, you can see Paul’s mentoring relationship with another disciple, named Titus. In this book, Paul emphasizes the importance of mature believers encouraging and guiding immature believers...A disciple-making mentor intentionally shapes someone’s understanding, attitudes and behavior. They’re modeling what a disciple looks like in word and deed. Like Paul, the mentor can say, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthian 11:1, NIV). This doesn’t mean they are perfect or have it all figured out, but it does mean they are trying to follow God with their whole life. Part of that includes God’s commands to share Jesus with other people and to also teach the things they’ve learned about Him to others. Mentors have often been mentored by someone else. They may seek out mentors throughout their life."

(Source: https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/help-others-grow/discipleship/what-is-discipleship.html)

So, that is what discipleship means – and for that, one must be teachable and be willing to be trained to “complete the race” as Paul put it. Paul said that we are to be zealous to do good works (Titus 2:14)! However, as I and these articles have stated earlier, DO NOT trust your works for your salvation!! That’s like trying to buy your way into Heaven – which is not going to happen! Instead, we need to trust and rest on the fact that Jesus paid it all 2,000 years ago on His Cross! Always keep in mind that we are saved and we are to be zealous for good works, but we are NOT saved by those good works! Salvation comes only from believing in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross that completely took away your sin – past, present and future!

I say again, Jesus warned of this Himself, when He said,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Mt 7:21-23, NASB, italics and underline mine)¹.

Imagine that! They thought He knew them, and yet, in the end, He simply stated to them that He never actually met them or knew them, at all! Don’t be fooled! These are examples of people that trusted their works instead of trusting in Jesus! He called them those who “practice lawlessness.” Did He not also tell His disciples earlier that unless their “righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, [they] will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20, NASB)? What He is saying here is that they, and we, need to trust in His righteousness, which is the only righteousness that Father God will accept.

Circumcision won’t save you. Baptism won’t save you. Repenting from sin won’t save you. Discipleship doesn’t either. These things are not bad in and of themselves, but what I’m saying is they do not have the power to save you. Only the blood of Christ shed at Calvary can, and will, save you. May His Grace granted to us by His sacrifice be sufficient for us all, and may we all come to believe in His atoning sacrifice. Amen!

 

1 For a great explanation of this verse of Scripture, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCRtDdeqPNU