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To: boatbums; RnMomof7; Natural Law; Mad Dawg; sayuncledave
Sanctification remember my above statment is a process BY God on us, provided by Christ, but it IS a process as is clearly defined in scripture:
  1. It can be spoken of as a past-time event,as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 6:11: "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
  2. It is also a present, ongoing process, as the author of Hebrews notes: "For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).
In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul says we should "purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit and strive for perfect holiness out of fear of God." The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to consider our trials as discipline from our heavenly Father, "in order that we share his holiness" (Heb. 12:10). We’re advised to "strive for that sanctity without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb.12:14).

If sanctification means to make holy, then Christians are progressively sanctified or made holy as they strive, by the grace of God, to attain "that sanctity without which no one will see the Lord." Christians can also fall into sin and impurity--into "unsanctity." This is the point of Paul’s repeated warnings to believers not to return to the sinful lifestyles they left behind (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-5):

"It is God’s will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you" (1 Thess. 4:3-7).

Remember
  1. the Justification is provided by Christ alone -- we don't provide it
  2. In Romans 3:28 Paul is speaking of initial justification rather than righteousness in the ongoing life of the believer; -->
    1. our works do NOT "earn" our initial justification.
    2. They cannot since the works from FROM the initial justification (as an aside The Council of Trent says as much when it observes that "we are therefore said to be justified gratuitously, because none of those things that precede injustification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification" )
    3. James says "a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). This is our growth in righteousness as children of God
  3. when he speaks of the works of the Law, Paul is concerned with Mosaic observances such as circumcision, not acts of Christian obedience;
    1. When Paul contrasts faith with works, it’s clear from the context (Romans 3:1; 4:9-12) he means works of the Mosaic Law--ritual prescriptions such as circumcision given to identify one as a Jew, to convict of sin, and to point to the Redeemer who would remit sin.
    2. This is different from works of Christian obedience which lead to righteousness (Rom. 6:16 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?). With respect to the latter, even faith itself can be spoken of as obedience (Rom. 1:5 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[a] faith for his name’s sake.; 16:26 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from[a] faith—).
    3. Works of obedience which contribute to our sanctification are as much the result of grace as is our faith. This is why Paul can say, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work" (Phil. 2:12). As Augustine puts it, "When God rewards our merits, he rewards his own gifts to us."

327 posted on 10/24/2011 11:08:30 PM PDT by Cronos (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2787101/posts?page=58#58)
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To: boatbums; RnMomof7; Natural Law; Mad Dawg; sayuncledave
No replies, eh bb -- because your cult doesn't have pre-canned answer to answer Christian Catholic beliefs?

All we hear are whines and slurs from your crowd. As I pointed out about sanctification, remember my above statment is a process BY God on us, provided by Christ, but it IS a process as is clearly defined in scripture:

  1. It can be spoken of as a past-time event,as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 6:11: "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
  2. It is also a present, ongoing process, as the author of Hebrews notes: "For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).
In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul says we should "purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit and strive for perfect holiness out of fear of God." The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to consider our trials as discipline from our heavenly Father, "in order that we share his holiness" (Heb. 12:10). We’re advised to "strive for that sanctity without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb.12:14).

If sanctification means to make holy, then Christians are progressively sanctified or made holy as they strive, by the grace of God, to attain "that sanctity without which no one will see the Lord." Christians can also fall into sin and impurity--into "unsanctity." This is the point of Paul’s repeated warnings to believers not to return to the sinful lifestyles they left behind (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-5):

"It is God’s will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you" (1 Thess. 4:3-7).

Remember
  1. the Justification is provided by Christ alone -- we don't provide it
  2. In Romans 3:28 Paul is speaking of initial justification rather than righteousness in the ongoing life of the believer; -->
    1. our works do NOT "earn" our initial justification.
    2. They cannot since the works from FROM the initial justification (as an aside The Council of Trent says as much when it observes that "we are therefore said to be justified gratuitously, because none of those things that precede injustification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification" )
    3. James says "a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). This is our growth in righteousness as children of God
  3. when he speaks of the works of the Law, Paul is concerned with Mosaic observances such as circumcision, not acts of Christian obedience;
    1. When Paul contrasts faith with works, it’s clear from the context (Romans 3:1; 4:9-12) he means works of the Mosaic Law--ritual prescriptions such as circumcision given to identify one as a Jew, to convict of sin, and to point to the Redeemer who would remit sin.
    2. This is different from works of Christian obedience which lead to righteousness (Rom. 6:16 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?). With respect to the latter, even faith itself can be spoken of as obedience (Rom. 1:5 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[a] faith for his name’s sake.; 16:26 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from[a] faith—).
    3. Works of obedience which contribute to our sanctification are as much the result of grace as is our faith. This is why Paul can say, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work" (Phil. 2:12). As Augustine puts it, "When God rewards our merits, he rewards his own gifts to us."

Hebrews 12:14 gives a clear biblical basis as to why final sanctification is necessary. It says, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (NIV). Now, is this the “holiness” we receive by “faith alone”? If so, why is the writer of Hebrews telling these believers that they must attain to a degree of holiness in order to see the Lord? Forgiveness of sins is one thing; becoming actually holy is quite another.

Purgatory is the final stage of sanctification, the sanctification without which no one will see God (Heb 12:14). “And nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev 21:27).

This is explicity indicated in

"Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become manifest; for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Jesus himself adds to this when he speaks in Matthew 12:32 of a sin which will neither be forgiven in this age nor the age to come, implying that some sins (venial ones of which we have not repented before death) will be forgiven when we repent the first moment of our afterlife.

St. Paul tells us, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Rom 6:22). Sanctification follows the forgiveness of sins. The result of this sanctification (becoming holy) is eternal life. The writer of Hebrews tells us how this sanctification comes about: “For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness” (Heb 12:10).

note the words of Paul -- our sins are forgiven, we are being saved -- the sacrifice of Christ forgave all sins, but we are being saved -- we who are saved are being saved -- in the sanctification process.

Post our death, we who are saved are not 'punished' anymore - the "final sanctification"/"purgatory" is not "punishment", but we who are saved are prepared, by the blood of the lamb, in the last "stage" of the sanctification process for entry into heaven

this is not a place, not a period of time as it is outside this space-time concept of ours. It is the final "stage" of the sanctification process and it is not punishment either.

Unfortunately some like your cults get stuck in words, but the meaning is the same: final sanctification or purgatory, but are not "punishments", it is for those already saved and it is done by the grace of God, the sacrifice of Christ that forgave all sins and sanctifies us by the power of the Holy Spirit through the blood of the lamb

565 posted on 10/27/2011 1:06:06 AM PDT by Cronos (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2787101/posts?page=58#58)
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