Posted on 07/12/2021 2:22:26 PM PDT by Old Yeller
The words justification and sanctification have largely fallen out of use in Western culture. Sadly, they are also fading from sight in the Christian church. One reason this decline is distressing is that the Bible uses the words justification and sanctification to express the saving work of Christ for sinners. That is to say, both terms lie at the heart of the biblical gospel. So, what does the Bible teach about justification and sanctification? How do they differ from one another? How do they help us understand better the believer’s relationship with Jesus Christ?
Justification is as simple as A-B-C-D. Justification is an act of God. It does not describe the way that God inwardly renews and changes a person. It is, rather, a legal declaration in which God pardons the sinner of all his sins and accepts and accounts the sinner as righteous in His sight. God declares the sinner righteous at the very moment that the sinner puts his trust in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-26, 5:16; 2 Cor. 5:21).
What is the basis of this legal verdict? God justifies the sinner solely on the basis of the obedience and death of His Son, our representative, Jesus Christ. Christ’s perfect obedience and full satisfaction for sin are the only ground upon which God declares the sinner righteous (Rom. 5:18-19; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 2:8). We are not justified by our own works; we are justified solely on the basis of Christ’s work on our behalf. This righteousness is imputed to the sinner. In other words, in justification, God puts the righteousness of His Son onto the sinner’s account. Just as my sins were transferred to, or laid upon, Christ at the cross, so also His righteousness is reckoned to me (2 Cor. 5:21).
By what means is the sinner justified? Sinners are justified through faith alone when they confess their trust in Christ. We are not justified because of any good that we have done, are doing, or will do. Faith is the only instrument of justification. Faith adds nothing to what Christ has done for us in justification. Faith merely receives the righteousness of Jesus Christ offered in the gospel (Rom. 4:4-5).
Finally, saving faith must demonstrate itself to be the genuine article by producing good works. It is possible to profess saving faith but not possess saving faith (James 2:14-25). What distinguishes true faith from a mere claim to faith is the presence of good works (Gal. 5:6). We are in no way justified by our good works. But no one may consider himself to be a justified person unless he sees in his life the fruit and evidence of justifying faith; that is, good works.
Both justification and sanctification are graces of the gospel; they always accompany one another; and they deal with the sinner’s sin. But they differ in some important ways. First, whereas justification addresses the guilt of our sin, sanctification addresses the dominion and corruption of sin in our lives. Justification is God’s declaring the sinner righteous; sanctification is God’s renewing and transforming our whole persons—our minds, wills, affections, and behaviors. United to Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection and indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, we are dead to the reign of sin and alive to righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; 8:1-11). We therefore are obligated to put sin to death and to present our “members to God as instruments for righteousness” (6:13; see 8:13).
Second, our justification is a complete and finished act. Justification means that every believer is completely and finally freed from condemnation and the wrath of God (Rom. 8:1, 33-34; Col. 2:13b-14). Sanctification, however, is an ongoing and progressive work in our lives. Although every believer is brought out once and for all from bondage to sin, we are not immediately made perfect. We will not be completely freed from sin until we receive our resurrection bodies at the last day.
Christ has won both justification and sanctification for His people. Both graces are the concern of faith in Jesus Christ, but in different ways. In justification, our faith results in our being forgiven, accepted, and accounted righteous in God’s sight. In sanctification, that same faith actively and eagerly takes up all the commands that Christ has given the believer. We dare not separate or conflate justification and sanctification. We do distinguish them. And, in both graces, we enter into the richness and joy of communion with Christ through faith in Him.
How is this reconciled then?
But my thinking does go to the following:
Mal 1:2 “I have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? How have You loved us?” And the LORD replies, “This is how I showed My love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, ..................
It doesn’t look like love to the people being loved, It is almost like they are telling God to go love someone else.
On the other hand God does define love as choosing. So Justification is God choosing us. Sanctification is us (with the Spirits help) choosing God.
Such a beautiful perception.
As a Catholic, you are probably unable to see the flaw int his assertion. And the Catholicism notion that an infant can be saved by infant baptism is proof of confusion. No man such as a Catholic Priest has that god-like power, to save someone because the priest baptized them as an infant.
The ONLY thing God requires for HIM to act on your behalf is that you sincerely believe Jesus is Whom GOD SENT to make Justification possible for you individually. Believe is the ONLY thing God requires for HIM to act on your behalf. To put baptism as the means for salvation is to put action by someone other than God at the heart / start of Justification.
+++ Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.+++
what Does this Bible verse mean to you - in the context of being saved?
1) There is false assurance of salvation and there is real assurance of salvation. God does show us this in his word.
2) Catholics tend to deny assurance of salvation, protestant tend to lean to heavily on it without understanding fully
3) Salvation/justification is God’s choice, not ours. My human ears never likes to hear that, I think I should have some input in the matter.
4) Work out your salvation with fear and trembling means you have it now exercise it. But it takes Gods Spirit to do it right.
5) How do you know you have real assurance of salvation vs false assurance of salvation? Having the question is a good starting point........................... but God does have much to say on the matter in his word.
In the instant we are Justified BY GOD -Who is the ONLY One Who can do it- GOD separates our soul and spirit, so that His Spirit can abide where there is no sin, in the new born sinless human spirit now in God's family because that spirit has God Life in it. Scripture tells us that the Word of God is able to separate soul and spirit, and the Gospel of God's Grace is the Promise / Word of God. Paul tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind; the mind is part of our soul, so with God's help we may be transformed iun behavior by the renewing of our mind to the behavior pattern of a person possessing the charater of God put into action by the renewing of our mind via His urging and instruction.
Sanctification is the process involved with our soul, not our spirit. Our spirit can ONLY be born again via what God does, never what we presume to do. So after we are born again, anything the soul does is apart from our spirit but can blur our image as a child of God, kind og like putting a votive candle in a large crystalline vase then allowing mud to be applied to the outside of the vase, effecting the illumination potential of the vase.
To be continued ...
Believe is the ONLY thing God requires for HIM to act on your behalf.
There is a little perspective. From our point of view it looks that way. I suspect it is the opposite from God’s point of view.
ONLY God can do the justifying and the glorifying, but He expects us to harken to His abiding spirit in the sanctification phase of salvation, in prder to overcome the power of sin and temptation.
There is no action physically or behaviorally) which can justify us before a Holy God because ALL our actions before being justified are sourced in our sin-trained inherited nature we got as Adam's descendants. To believe on the One God has provided fro our deliverance from our Adamic nature is an act of the will and the will is the locus of our soul and spirit connection, a connection which Only God can split apart by His Word, His Gospel, His justifying of believers.
Do you think He needs you to do something other than believe His Promise alive as Christ?
Do you think He needs you to do something other than believe His Promise alive as Christ?
You mileage may vary............................
You reacted to a “hot button” and did not fully read what I posted.
Go try to ambush someone else. I responded to your ambiguous post with a question. You chose to take it a ‘reacting to a hot button’. what God ‘can do’ and how He has chosen to do you might want to consider, in light of what His gift to us is, free will to choose Him or not. Following His removal of All dead or alive whose spirits are In Christ, the unbelieving earth-dwelling rejecters of His Grace will experience what Believers are not appointed to experience.
Eph 2:8 God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
The ambush is yours, I told you to let your lips move.............
His gift to us is, free will to choose Him or not.
———————————————————\
A few thoughts:
1) Why is free will so important to us? Do some real soul searching on that. Does it not mean the tree of knowledge of good and evil where we decide? Do we really want that tree? evidently we do. Adam and Eve couldn’t chose the right tree, do you think you are better than them?
2) Yes, God does give us free will and it is a gift, but free will is not in the realm of salvation. Do not confuse the extent of free will. Your free will is not absolute, God is sovereign.
3) Would you let me decide to be part of your family? “Heck no, it is not your decision” you would tell me. God chooses his family at “his great pleasure”
4) Many of your posts are “I am right and you are wrong” Just like Job and his friends, they were all wrong and God was right.
I am a reforming right/wrong kind of guy, I know of what I speak.
5) God says as an imperative, “say it out loud”. Why does God say that? It sounds different when you slow down and think about what you say. “Read it slowly and let your lips move” is my version of that. That is offensive to many but I like to have a little fun while speaking truth. Some get it, most don’t.
It is a good thing that God choses some because no one of their own ability would ever choose God.
Though at least in that one instance someone did read the apple’s EULA. *bada*boom*kisk*
You asserted: "Adam and Eve couldn’t chose the right tree, do you think you are better than them?"
Then you tried a false premise, as in do I think I am better than Adam and Eve. Eve knew what fruit the serpent was offering to her. She believed his lies and ate of the fruit she knew God had said do not eat of that tree. To make the stupid assertion that Adam and Eve could not make the choice of 'the right tree' is to expose a perspective I will not be discussing your false premise with you further.
In your arrogance you do not even realize the projection in your accusing me. And the following is just plain false from your sermonette: "It is a good thing that God choses some because no one of their own ability would ever choose God."
That is a lie. You have denegrated God's invitation into only a puppet master commanding the puppets. When my friend from College got saved and came soon thereafter to my home to share the Gospel of God's Grace with me, I heard in my dead spirit God's invitation to receive His Grace. I CHOSE TO BELIEVE and God did the Justifying as His Faithful action according to His Promise.
Your poorly hidden insults are quite revealing of the spirit directing your arrogance. Your perspective makes God Grace into puppet manipulation. Satan likes folks to be confused by such deceit.
Gaithful is He that calleth you, for He will also do it.
Many are called but few are chosen.
If you do not discern for what the scripture is referring as chosen, then you perhaps do not have the spirit of discernment in you presently.
Faithful is He that calleth you ... bad eyes.
You purposely conflate The Church and the Catholic Church, there isn't much expectation pf an honest post.
We will never agree that baptism saves. And we will never agree that one can lose then regain eternal life. And we will never agree that sanctgification prevents us from losing our salvation. These are false, unscriptural premises. I leave you with the evidence of your confusion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.