Life Style VICTORIAN VILLAGE
developed, or brought too fully into light. To clear away the confusion between doctrines and doctrines, which is so unhappily common among Christians, and to map out the precise relation between truths and truths in religion, is one way to attain accuracy in our theology. I shall therefore not hesitate to lay before my readers a series of connected propositions or statements, drawn from Scripture, which I think will be found useful in defining the exact nature of sanctification. Sanctification, then, is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which true faith gives to a Christian. “He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15:5). The branch that bears no fruit is no living branch of the vine. The union with Christ, which produces no effect on heart and life, is a mere formal union, which is worthless before God. The faith that has no sanctifying influence on the character is no better than the faith of devils. It is a “dead faith, because it is alone.” It is not the gift of God. It is not the faith of God’s elect. In short, where there is no sanctification of life, there is no real faith in Christ. True faith worketh by love. It constrains a man to live unto the Lord from a deep sense of gratitude for redemption. It makes him feel that he can never do too much for Him who died for him. Being much forgiven, he loves much. He whose blood cleanses walks in the light. He who has real lively hope in Christ purifieth himself even as He is pure (James 2:17-20; Titus 1:1; Gal. 5:6; 1 John 1:7; 3:3).
More Than a Moment Sanctification is not a spiritual add-on, nor a second tier of Christian experience reserved for the especially disciplined. It is the ordinary, ongoing work of God in every true believer—often quiet, sometimes costly, always purposeful. Unlike justification, which is complete and unchanging, sanctification unfolds across a lifetime. It shows itself not in perfection, but in direction: new desires replacing old ones, a growing sensitivity to sin, and a sincere longing to please God. Progress may be uneven, yet where Christ dwells by His Spirit, change is inevitable. This work is not driven by willpower or self-improvement. The Christian does not sanctify himself in order to belong to Christ; he is sanctified because he belongs to Christ. Obedience becomes the fruit of gratitude, not the price of acceptance. Sanctification also reshapes how believers view trials. Difficult providences are not interruptions to spiritual growth but instruments of it, loosening our grip on the world and deepening our dependence on God. To be sanctified is not merely to behave differently—but to be increasingly aligned, inwardly and outwardly, with the character of Christ. It is evidence not of human strength, but of a living Savior at work.
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