Training · The 1689 Baptist Confession
Sanctification
The change in character that follows the change in standing, and why it is never finished here.
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What is sanctification?
God actually making a person holy - the whole person, over a lifetime, by his word and Spirit, on the basis of Christ's death and resurrection.
The word means being set apart, and the confession uses it for both halves of that: the person is set apart to God, and they are progressively made into someone who fits the description. It begins in everyone who is effectually called and born again, so on this account there is no such thing as a justified person in whom nothing is happening.
May God himself, the source of peace, make you completely whole - spirit, soul, and body - so you'll be blameless when our Lord Jesus comes back.
1 Thessalonians 5:23Confession 13.1
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What actually changes in a person being sanctified?
The rule of sin over the person is broken, its particular desires are progressively weakened, and they are strengthened in every saving grace towards real holiness.
Two different things at once. The dominion is destroyed - that is decisive and already done. The desires are weakened more and more - that is gradual and ongoing. Confusing the two produces either despair or complacency.
We know that our old self was put to death with Christ so that our sinful nature would lose its power and we would no longer be slaves to sin.
Romans 6:6Confession 13.1
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How is sanctification different from justification?
Justification is a verdict God pronounces, complete the moment it is made and identical for everyone. Sanctification is a change God works, partial at any given moment, and it goes on for the rest of your life.
The two are rarely set side by side, and holding them apart is what keeps two errors out. Collapse sanctification into justification and holiness becomes optional; collapse justification into sanctification and your standing with God rises and falls with your week. The confession is explicit that the second does not happen - a justified person cannot fall out of that state.
Confession 13.1
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Where does the power for sanctification come from?
From the same source as justification: the strength of Christ's death and resurrection, applied by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them.
The confession will not let sanctification become the part we contribute after God has done the difficult bit. It is the same work, by the same power, going further in.
Confession 13.1
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How complete is sanctification in this life?
It reaches the whole person, and it is complete in none of them. Remnants of corruption remain in every part.
Both halves matter. It is not that some areas are sanctified and others left alone; it is that all of them are being worked on and none of them is finished.
May God himself, the source of peace, make you completely whole - spirit, soul, and body - so you'll be blameless when our Lord Jesus comes back.
1 Thessalonians 5:23Confession 13.2
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What is going on when a Christian wants two opposite things at once?
A continual and irreconcilable war between the flesh and the Spirit - the corruption that remains pulling one way, the renewed part of the person the other.
Irreconcilable is a strong word chosen carefully: there is no settlement available, no arrangement where the two live quietly side by side. Anyone who has stopped noticing the conflict should ask why.
Our selfish desires fight against the Spirit, and the Spirit fights against those desires. They're always at odds, so you don't end up doing what you really want to do.
Galatians 5:17Confession 13.2
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In the war between the flesh and the Spirit, which side prevails, and how?
The regenerate part overcomes - not by being stronger in itself, but through continual supply of strength from the Spirit of Christ.
The confession is honest that corruption may prevail for a time, sometimes a long one. The outcome is guaranteed by where the supply comes from, and by nothing about the person receiving it.
Confession 13.3
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Should a Christian expect to actually make progress?
Yes. It says the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, and press after a heavenly life in gospel obedience to all the commands Christ has given them.
That comes immediately after the war and the remaining corruption, and the order is the point. Being honest about how incomplete the work is does not mean expecting no progress. What it rules out is measuring progress by whether the fight has stopped.
Since we have these promises, friends, let's clean out anything in our lives that pollutes us, whether it's in our bodies or our spirits. Let's aim for a life that's set apart for God, out of deep respect for him.
2 Corinthians 7:1Confession 13.3