Sanctification and Justification Part 2

Continuing from the previous post titled Sanctification and Justification Part 1...

My commenter continues:

Sanctification, on the other hand, 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 does involve the work of the person, and it is God that is working within the believer for the purpose of sanctification.  This is what scripture teaches us.  The only part of this statement that scripture does not agree with, is the person has already been justified - as if the justification is some act that has happened in the past.  In order to show that this is not what Scripture says, we only need to look at the verses that my commenter used in order to prove his point that God is the one that works within us.  Instead of starting at Phil 2:13, let us look at the verse before it:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Phillipians 2:12-13

Continue to work out your salvation...this does not sound as though justification / salvation is a finished act in the past.  This sounds more like we are continually working out our salvation presently.  Sure, we can point to a time and place where we started to believe and started the journey of faith, but that does not mean that we have arrived.  It does not mean that we have actually attained salvation / justification.

The statement that my commenter made does accurately describe the purpose of Grace.  It is not, in and of ourselves, that is working out our salvation.  It is God working within us.  God is the cause of our salvation and He is the cause of our sanctification.  He is moving and pressing us to become more and more holy.  To think that we are doing this ourselves, would be the heresy of Pelagianism.

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).
 

I agree.  Sanctification is not an instantaneous event in someone's life.  Holiness, is a high measure, and all of us have a long way to go.  Only through the God's grace can we ever become holy.

Significantly, sanctification has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don't live a perfect life, we are still justified. 

Sanctification does indeed have bearing on justification.  The root of the confusion goes back to the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin.  They both taught that man is justified by faith alone in such a way that the man's sin is never removed or blotted out - instead just merely covered over.  If man's sin is not blotted out, and it is just covered over, then of course justification has nothing to do with achieveing holiness.  That is a very logical conclusion.  What I have learned is that once you build a logical conclusion on something that is completely false, then the logical conclusion also must be false as well.

Did Jesus bless the Earth with his presence merely to cover up our sins, or to take away our sins?  Are our sins and iniquities merely covered over or blotted out entirely (Isaiah 43:25)?  Are they retained, or are they swept away (Isaiah 44:22)?  Are they merely ignored, or are they completely wiped out (Acts 3:19)?

Clearly scripture is telling us, that our sins are not merely covered over, but instead they are wiped out.  If our sins are completely wiped away, then achieving a state of holiness, is in fact part of our justification.  When you consider the evidence that our sins are completely taken away and we are to be made a new creature, and then you consider that this process is not instantaneous, then justification is not a one time event, but instead it is a progressive event that takes a lifetime, whose end state is only determined at the point of death.  Are you in a state of sanctifying grace or not?  That is the final determination.

Another clear verse regarding the relationship between achieving holiness (sanctification process) and justification is:

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord Hebrews 12:14 

Without holiness, no one will see the Lord?  See how holiness and justification is in fact interrelated?  You can't have one without the other.  They are not two separate things and have no bearing on eachother.  They are interrelated and tied together, completely.

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev 21:27 

In order to enter into heaven, we must be holy.  Will everyone achieve this state of holiness while on earth?  No, of course not.  Does that mean that most of us are hell-bound?  Not at all.  God, in His mercy, has given us the opportunity to achieve holiness, to have our sins forgiven, not only in this world, but also in the next.

Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. Matt 12:32

From the words of our Savior, sinning against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this world or the next.  What does that imply?  It implies that other sins, may be forgiven in the next world.  I only mention this because I don't want to paint a gloom and doom picture giving the impression that if you do not achieve a state of holiness in this world, that all is lost.  Instead, this is the reason for rejoicing.  God knows us so well, and His mercy for us is so great, that He has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven, even in the next world.  For this reason, we should all thank God for purgatory.

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.

Justification, as a whole, like sanctification is a process.  I have shown earlier how salvation is not something that is attained at one point and time, but there are also aspects of it that are currently being worked out with fear and trembling.  Initial justification, through the Sacrament of Baptism, is in fact instantaneous and begins you on your journey.  The moment you are baptized, all of your prior sins are forgiven.  You are in 100% right standing with the Lord - not because He has merely covered up your sins, but because He has taken them away, blotted them out, and removed them completely.

Progressive Justification (ongoing), takes a lifetime through the work of the Holy Spirit which is also sanctifying you.  This is called sanctifying grace. If we want to enter heaven, and God says that nothing unclean shall enter, then we must have somewhere on our plan of salvation to attain that holiness.  We may start the journey in this life, and through the grace of God, completely attain that holiness while still on this Earth, or we will continue the process of attaining holiness after we die in purgatory.

God bless you all....