Is sanctification an event, a process, or both?

[glad4mercy]

You said sanctify and holy are from the same root as a reason to say we are progressively sanctified, right?

There are many Greek words with completely different meanings that are from the same root. So I don't know why this statement is being repeated.

OK, now I get you.

Can you give me an example of two words with the same root that have a completely different meaning in greek. I will admit that I am not a Greek Scholar, but I have studied it a little bit, so I am not disagreeing with you, just want to learn something new.

[mailmandan]

Ok I'll come clean now. I do believe that Sanctification is an event and a process...Once we are converted, we are called to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. ( 2 Corinthians 7:1) We accomplish this by walking in the Spirit, for if we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Feed the Spirit, starve the flesh, deny the flesh, be filled with the Spirit. This is what I think people mean when they say "progressive sanctification". It is a progressive growth in holiness, and yes sanctification and holiness come from the same root word. So yes, I believe that sanctification is both an event and a process, yet in the process of pursuing holiness, our standing with God does not change. We are accepted in the Beloved, and there is nothing we can do to add to our position in Christ.

Sanctification as an event, positional- I am Holy because of my position in Christ, I have been united with Him in His death and resurrection.

Sanctification as a process- I am progressing and increasing in holiness, (perfecting holiness). Growing in Christlikeness.

Amen! Well said. I'm glad to hear you point out that we are accepted in the Beloved, and there is nothing we can do to add to our position in Christ. So progressive sanctification has nothing to do with adding to our position in Christ, but has everything to do with progressive growth in holiness. We certainly don't want to confuse progressive sanctification with justification.

[glad4mercy]

Amen! Well said. I'm glad to hear you point out that we are accepted in the Beloved, and there is nothing we can do to add to our position in Christ. So progressive sanctification has nothing to do with adding to our position in Christ, but has everything to do with progressive growth in holiness. We certainly don't want to confuse progressive sanctification with justification.

Amen. Saving justification, regeneration, cleansing, and positional sanctification are freely given the moment a person repents and savingly trusts Jesus, but as you and I have agreed in other threads, this does not make abiding in Christ and continuing in the faith unnecessary. Grace, repentance, faith, salvation, fruits of holiness/ love, perserverance, and glorification in that order. We dare not skip any of these.


Blessings.

[Mark F]

Amen. Saving justification, regeneration, cleansing, and positional sanctification, are freely given the moment a person repents and savingly trusts Jesus, but as you and I have agreed in other threads, this does not make abiding in Christ and continuing in the faith unnecessary. Grace, faith, salvation, fruits of holiness and love, perserverance, glorification in that order. We dare not skip any of these.


Blessings.

Yes, agreed.

Many people say Jesus loved every sinner that He encountered, they say He was accepting of people and not judgmental but loving. But like the woman caught in adultery and brought before Him, what He said to her is often not fully taken in.

John 8:11b And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”




Yes He is all I mentioned and so very much more, but we cannot overlook "Go and sin no more".

[Noeb]

Our spirits are sanctified upon regeneration. As long as we are obedient to the Spirit, we will remain holy. But the soul must also become sanctified in it's essence. And that is the process of sanctification...dying daily and walking in obedience to God in the Spirit. So we must continually CHOOSE holiness over our old lives. Jesus said we must overcome! Jesus starts us out and equips us, but we are the ones building through our wills. So we can build with carnal materials or with holy ones...and we are then judged on how we have built whether we are to be honoured or dishonoured.

So now God's sanctification stops at the soul? I'd like some scripture for that one.

[Noeb]

Often we will gauge the amount of power available in Christ by our first conversion experience. In most cases there is not enough power in this initial stage to overcome sin for any length of time. This is why so few believe in the power to overcome. So for these there is a second work of grace...or I might add a deeper work of the cross...so that there is the power to overcome and to truly witness to the freedom from the bondage of sin.

So does one who has received less than the required grace to overcome still "positionally" overcome sin? Of course not!

Not enough power? No. That's not the problem. The problem is the knowledge the believer has, or actually the lack thereof, or God's working. Most are saved hearing part of the gospel. They either have to be shown by the Lord in their own study or find it through another later as they seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Their position is the same from start to finish. There's no second work of grace or deeper work of the cross. It's knowledge. I've pointed this out already with scripture in the thread that started this one.

http://bibleforums.org/showthread.ph...31#post2843431
Noeb "You can see Paul in Ephessians 1 pray that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in what has been given them in Christ. You can tell believers they are dead and free from sin in 100 ways but until their eyes are opened they're not going to get it. Meanwhile, they go through a process of becoming a better person and call it a process of sanctification. "

Eph 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

If you read the previous posts prior to that one I posted other examples of the same. Paul told believers there was more. Not more to receive but more to walk in. That's what his epistle are all about. Not a second work of grace or deeper work of the cross.

[Noeb]

This is a wonderful point. Paul says those who are joined to the Lord are one spirit with Him...which means Holy Spirit "resides in " saint's spirit. However, our souls must be dealt with. Peter added, Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. The spirit is saved, the soul is being saved, the body will be transfigured/glorified (saved).

W

So what happens if the spirit is saved and the soul doesn't quite make it? Saved never excludes the soul. The soul is the individual. If the individual is saved, that is the soul. Remember, body+spirit=soul.

[episkopos]

So now God's sanctification stop at the soul? I'd like some scripture for that one.

Mar_12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.


The new testament is about a new heart. This is God's beach head in us...the first step in the process of saving our soul. The mind needs renewing and this is a part of the soul. So once we are renewed in the Spirit WE are to continue that process (through a daily surrender) so that the soul becomes holy as well.

1Pe_2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

The spiritual war we are engaged in is to the taking of our own soul. We must work that battle out.

[episkopos]

So what happens if the spirit is saved and the soul doesn't quite make it? Saved never excludes the soul. The soul is the individual. If the individual is saved, that is the soul. Remember, body+spirit=soul.

Actually the soul is neither the body nor the spirit. Think of the body as a tent for the soul. Think of the spirit as a transmitter for the soul. But the soul is who we are. We are being saved through obedience to God in the Spirit. That is the process of sanctification.

[Noeb]

Please clarify this statement.

I'm sorry. I wrote

if all we needed is the root, we would have more.
but I meant
if all we needed is the root, we would NOT have more.

[Noeb]

If we are honest then we will admit to NOT having the required grace and depth of love to be truly obedient in all things. So we need to grow in grace.

If we are honest then we will admit to NOT having the required knowledge and understanding to be truly obedient in all things.

[glad4mercy]

I'm sorry. I wrote

if all we needed is the root, we would have more.
but I meant
if all we needed is the root, we would NOT have more.

I understand you now. Thanks for the clarification.

[glad4mercy]

Yes, agreed.

Many people say Jesus loved every sinner that He encountered, they say He was accepting of people and not judgmental but loving. But like the woman caught in adultery and brought before Him, what He said to her is often not fully taken in.

John 8:11b And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”




Yes He is all I mentioned and so very much more, but we cannot overlook "Go and sin no more".

Good post! In justification God forgives us and in Sanctification He sets us free from sins power, but we need to love God more than anything or anyone else in order to be free.

[chad]

Could sanctification be thought of as: Spirit (Our Spirit is born again), Mind (Renewal) and Body (We become temples of the Holy Spirit).

Sanctification [event] through the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Blood (Blood Covenant) and Sanctification [process] through putting off the old self (putting off our former life), renewing of our mind (through the Holy Spirit), living holy lives, living life by the holy spirit, producing the fruit of the spirit, becoming temples of the Holy Spirit.

[episkopos]

If we are honest then we will admit to NOT having the required knowledge and understanding to be truly obedient in all things.

But we need power to overcome....so we must grow in the grace of God. His power is made manifest in our weakness. So the power comes to us when we are properly "grounded" in the cross (death). Otherwise no power flows.