Information about Sanctification

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Sanctification or in its verb form, sanctify, literally means to set apart for special use or purpose, that is to make holy or sacred (from the Latin verb sanctificare, which in turn derives from sanctus, "holy" and facere, "to make".). The Greek word is hagiasmos (άγιασμος), meaning "holiness, consecration, or sanctification." ^[1] It comes from the root hagios (άγιος), which means holy or sacred. Sanctification then refers to the state or process of being set apart or made holy. What is often missed, or overlooked, is the relational aspect that is associated with the word sanctification. Only God is truly holy. Everything else, whether it is things or people, is holy only because of its relationship to God.

Definition and descriptions

The concept of sanctification is widespread among religions, but is perhaps more common among the various branches of the Christian religion, especially those of the Protestant-Reformed and Wesleyan-Arminian traditions. The term can be used to refer to objects which are set apart for special purposes (i.e., the Temple vessels), but the most common use within Christian theology is in reference to the change brought about by God in a believer, begun at the point of salvation or justification and continuing throughout the life of the believer. Many forms of Christianity believe that this process will only be completed in Heaven, but some believe that complete holiness is possible in this life on earth--particularly in the final days before the ultimate return of Jesus. Some Protestants denominations call the completion of sanctification "glorification".

In some branches of Christianity, inanimate objects as well as people are referred to as "sanctified" or "holy". A notable instance is the process of transubstantiation, which in Roman Catholic doctrine means that the bread and wine of Communion are literally transformed into the flesh and blood of Jesus. This act constitutes a kind of sanctification of the bread and wine.

Catholicism

Sanctification is the act of sanctifying according to the Roman Catholic encyclopedia : "The term "sanctity" is employed in somewhat different senses in relation to God, to individual men, and to a corporate body. As applied to God it denotes that absolute moral perfection which is His by nature. In regard to men it signifies a close union with God, together with the moral perfection resulting from this union. Hence holiness is said to belong to God by essence, and to creatures only by participation. Whatever sanctity they possess comes to them as a Divine gift. As used of a society, the term means that this society aims at producing holiness in its members, and is possessed of means capable of securing that result, and that the lives of its members correspond, at least in some measure, with the purpose of the society, and display a real, not a merely nominal holiness.

The Church has ever claimed that she, as a society, is holy in a transcendent degree. She teaches that this is one of the four "notes", viz., unity, catholicity, apostolicity, and sanctity, by which the society founded by Christ can be readily distinguished from all human institutions. It is in virtue of her relation to the Person and work of Christ that this attribute belongs to the Church. She is (1) the fruit of the Passion -- the kingdom of the redeemed. Those who remain outside her are the "world" which knows not God (1 John 3:1). The object of the Passion was the redemption and sanctification of the Church: "Christ also loved the church, and delivered Himself up for it: that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life" (Ephesians 5:25, 26). Again (2) the Church is the body of Christ. He is the head of the mystical body: and supernatural life -- the life of Christ Himself -- is communicated through the sacraments to all His members. Just as the Holy Ghost dwelt in the human body of Christ, so He now dwells in the Church: and His presence is so intimate and so efficacious that the Apostle can even speak of Him as the soul of the mystical body: "One body and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4). Thus it follows as a necessary consequence from the nature of the Church and her relation to Christ, that as a society she must possess means capable of producing holiness: that her members must be characterized by holiness: and that this endowment of sanctity will afford a ready means of distinguishing her from the world. It is further manifest that the Church's holiness must be of an entirely supernatural character -- something altogether beyond the power of unassisted human nature. And such is in fact the type of sanctity which Christ and His Apostles require on the part of members of the Church.

• The virtues which in the Christian ideal are the most fundamental of all, lie altogether outside the scope of the highest pagan ethics. Christian charity, humility, and chastity are instances in point. The charity which Christ sets forth in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parable of the Good Samaritan -- a charity which knows no limits and which embraces enemies as well as friends -- exceeds all that moralists had deemed possible for men. And this charity Christ requires not of a chosen few, but of all His followers. Humility, which in the Christian scheme is the necessary groundwork of all sanctity (Matthew 18:3), was previously to His teaching an unknown virtue. The sense of personal unworthiness in which it consists, is repugnant to all the impulses of unregenerate nature. Moreover, the humility which Christ demands, supposes as its foundation a clear knowledge of the guilt of sin, and of the mercy of God. Without these it cannot exist. And these doctrines are sought in vain in other religions than the Christian. In regard to chastity Christ not merely warned His followers that to violate this virtue even by a thought, was a grievous sin. He went yet further. He exhorted those of His followers to whom the grace should be given, to live the life of virginity that thereby they might draw nearer to God (Matthew 19:12).
• Another characteristic of holiness according to the Christian ideal is love of suffering; not as though pleasure were evil in itself, but because suffering is the great means by which our love of God is intensified and purified. All those who have attained a high degree of holiness have learnt to rejoice in suffering, because by it their love to God was freed from every element of self-seeking, and their lives conformed to that of their Master. Those who have not grasped this principle may call themselves by the name of Christian, but they have not understood the meaning of the Cross.
• It has ever been held that holiness when it reaches a sublime degree is accompanied by miraculous powers. And Christ promised that this sign should not be lacking to His Church. The miracles, which His followers should work, would, He declared, be no whit less stupendous than those wrought by Himself during His mortal life (Mark 16:17, 18; John 14:12).

Such in brief outline is the sanctity with which Christ endowed His Church, and which is to be the distinguishing mark of her children. It is, however, to be noted that He said nothing to suggest that all His followers would make use of the opportunities thus afforded them. On the contrary, He expressly taught that His flock would contain many unworthy members (Matthew 13:30, 48). And we may be sure that as within the Church the lights are brightest, so there too the shadows will be darkest -- corruptio optimi pessima. An unworthy Catholic will fall lower than an unworthy pagan. To show that the Church possesses the note of holiness it suffices to establish that her teaching is holy: that she is endowed with the means of producing supernatural holiness in her children: that, notwithstanding the unfaithfulness of many members, a vast number do in fact cultivate a sanctity beyond anything that can be found elsewhere: and that in certain cases this sanctity attains so high a degree that God honours it with miraculous powers.

It is not difficult to show that the Catholic and Roman Church, and she alone, fulfils these conditions. In regard to her doctrines, it is manifest that the moral law which she proposes as of Divine obligation, is more lofty and more exacting than that which any of the sects has ventured to require. Her vindication of the indissolubility of marriage in the face of a licentious world affords the most conspicuous instance of this. She alone maintains in its integrity her Master's teaching on marriage. Every other religious body without exception has given place to the demands of human passion. In regard to the means of holiness, she, through her seven sacraments, applies to her members the fruits of the Atonement. She pardons the guilt of sin, and nourishes the faithful on the Body and Blood of Christ. Nor is the justice of her claims less manifest when we consider the result of her work. In the Catholic Church is found a marvellous succession of saints whose lives are as beacon-lights in the history of mankind. In sanctity the supremacy of Bernard, of Dominic, of Francis, of Ignatius, of Theresa, is as unquestioned as is that of Alexander and of Cæsar in the art of war. Outside the Catholic Church the world has nothing to show which can in any degree compare with them. Within the Church the succession never fails.

Nor do the saints stand alone. In proportion to the practical influence of Catholic teaching, the supernatural virtues of which we have spoken above, are found also among the rest of the faithful. These virtues mark a special type of character which the Church seeks to realize in her children, and which finds little favour among other claimants to the Christian name. Outside the Catholic Church the life of virginity is condemned; love of suffering is viewed as a medieval superstition; and humility is regarded as a passive virtue ill-suited to an active and pushing age. Of course it is not meant that we do not find many individual instances of holiness outside the Church. God's grace is universal in its range. But it seems beyond question that the supernatural sanctity whose main features we have indicated, is recognized by all as belonging specifically to the Church, while in her alone does it reach that sublime degree which we see in the saints. In the Church too we see fulfilled Christ's promise that the gift of miracles shall not be wanting to His followers. Miracles, it is true, are not sanctity. But they are the aura in which the highest sanctity moves. And from the time of the Apostles to the nineteenth century the lives of the saints show us that the laws of nature have been suspended at their prayers. In numberless cases the evidence for these events is so ample that nothing but the exigencies of controversy can explain the refusal of anti-Catholic writers to admit their occurrence.

The proof appears to be complete. There can be as little doubt which Church displays the note of sanctity, as there is in regard to the notes of unity, catholicity and apostolicity. The Church in communion with the See of Rome and it alone possesses that holiness which the words of Christ and His Apostles demand".

Some Catholic theologians expound upon the idea of the one who is sanctified being free from sin.

Orthodox Christianity

Orthodox Christianity believes in the doctrine of theosis, whereby humans take on divine properties. One of the key scriptures which is used in support of this doctrine is 2 Peter 1:4, which says, "Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature." (NRSV) Athanasius, writing from the fourth century, states that Christ "assumed humanity that we might become God."^[2]. Often this phrase is translated as "God became man that man might become God." The essence of this is not that man becomes divine, but that man in Christ is enabled to partake of the divine nature. The doctrine of theosis needs to be understood in the view of salvation expressed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox view of salvation is about God's image being restored in man. "This is more than the customary Protestant concept of sanctification, however. In theosis, while there is no ontological change of humanity into deity, there is a very real impartation of the divine life to the whole human being--body and soul."^[3]. In the Eastern Orthodox understanding of salvation one of the main themes is "release from the corruption and mortality caused by the evil desires of the world."^[4]. "Eastern theology does not focus so much on guilt as on mortality as the main problem of humanity. In addition, in the East, the concept of sin is viewed as something human beings do and choose for themselves rather than something "hereditary" as a result of the first human beings' sin in the distant past."

Protestantism

A true overview as to what protestants believe concerning sanctification would be lengthy, due to the fact that Protestant theologies differ from denomination to denomination. For those Protestant churches that have a doctrine of sanctification view it as the second stage in the Christian's walk with Christ, the first being justification (used here as salvation) and the third being glorification. Sanctification begins at the moment the Christian is saved, but the point of completion is sometimes disputed.

The term sanctification has gathered special uses by the different Christian denominations. For Protestants, the concept of sanctification is tied closely to grace and the term is usually reserved for reference to people rather than objects. As we enter into a relationship with God through salvation, there comes a point in time where we realize we are not living as we ought to be. God has called us to be holy, and we soon find that there is a gap between how we are living and how we should be living. We want to do what is right, but we lack the power to carry it out (see Romans 7 for a further description of this internal war and the remedy in chapter 8). We soon come to realize that there is a sin nature dwelling within us, a compulsion to sin, that needs to be dealt with. This theology is traced out in the concept of via salutis.

Lutheranism

Martin Luther taught that sanctification happens only through the grace given by Christ. Contrary to Catholic and modern Protestant teachings, Luther did not view sanctification as being completely divorced from justification. Christians are not justified and then given the work of sanctification, rather he viewed that both are the unmerited work of Christ in the believer. Good works are not evidence of justification. If they were, it would cease to be salvation by faith alone. Luther mostly agreed with John Calvin's description of sanctification but disagreed with its practice, specifically in regard to the third use of the law. He did not view the law as didactically beneficially to the believer. The law is slavery to the believer, not the means by which one is actually changed. For Luther, real change happened in the believer's life when Jesus declares remission of sin and love despite all evidence to the contrary. The believer may be moved to good works out of such love. There is also no progressive nature to sanctification for Luther because doing so would only reinforce an expectation of change as evidence of justification. Until death, the Christian is at once both justified and a sinner. As Luther would commonly say "Simul iustus Et Peccator!"

Methodism

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, combined Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic teaching as he taught what is variously known as entire sanctification (in churches of the Holiness movement such as the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, etc.) or Christian Perfection (in "mainstream" Methodist denominations such as the United Methodist Church, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, etc.). Wesley taught that by the power of God's sanctifying grace and attention upon the means of grace, a Christian may be cleansed of the corrupting influence of original sin in this life, though this was not something that every Christian experienced. According to the Articles of Religion in the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church,

Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.

For Wesley and for Methodists in general, sanctification is a life-long process of healing humankind's sin-distorted perspective and way of life, but for Holiness Wesleyans, entire sanctification comes in an instantaneous transformative moment (glorification).

Holiness movement

In the contemporary Holiness movement, the understanding that holiness is relational is growing. In relational holiness, the core notion is love. Other notions of holiness, such as purity, being set apart, perfection, keeping rules, and total commitment, are seen as contributory notions of holiness. These contributory notions find their ultimate legitimacy when love is at their core (Thomas Jay Oord and Michael Lodahl). It is only as we are enabled and empowered to respond to the love of God that we will live a holy life. God must be our one great desire. We must yield our all to God, and let Christ be enthroned in our lives.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Main article: Perfection (Latter Day Saints)

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that sanctification is a process that changes who we are and makes us more holy. Dallin H. Oaks, an LDS General authority and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that trials and adversities can actually change who we are into what God wants us to become, if we approach them with the right attitude:

Most of us experience some measure of what the scriptures call “the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10; 1 Ne. 20:10). Some are submerged in service to a disadvantaged family member. Others suffer the death of a loved one or the loss or postponement of a righteous goal like marriage or childbearing. Still others struggle with personal impairments or with feelings of rejection, inadequacy, or depression. Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become.

We are challenged to move through a process of conversion toward that status and condition called eternal life. This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason—for the pure love of Christ. The Apostle Paul illustrated this in his famous teaching about the importance of charity (see 1 Cor. 13). The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness he cited is that charity, “the pure love of Christ” (Moro. 7:47), is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes. Thus, as Moroni declared, “except men shall have charity they cannot inherit” the place prepared for them in the mansions of the Father (Ether 12:34; emphasis added).^[5]

Notes

References

Greathouse, Willam M. Wholeness in Christ. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1998 Grider, J. Kenneth. Entire Sanctification. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1980 Verbrugge, Verlyn D. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000

Biblical references

• Leviticus 11:44 - "...you shall be holy; for I am holy..." (NKJV)
• Psalm 119:32 - "I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart." (NKJV)
• Psalm 130:4 - "But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared." (NKJV)
• Matthew 5:48 - "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (ESV)
• John 15:5 - "...He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (NKJV)
• John 3:30 - "He must become greater; I must become less." (NIV)
• Romans 6:22 - "But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification." (NRSV)
• Acts 15:9 - "...purifying their hearts by faith." (NKJV)
• 1 Corinthians 1:30 - 1 Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, (NASB)
• 1 Corinthians 6:11 - "...But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (NRSV)
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 - "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (NKJV)
• 2 Corinthians 7:1 - "...beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (NKJV)
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3 - "For this is the will of God, your sanctification..." (NRSV)
• 1 Thessalonians 4:7 - "For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness." (NRSV)
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (RSV)
• Hebrews 6:1 - "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection..." (KJV)
• Hebrews 12:14 - "Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." (NRSV)
• James 1:4 - "And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (ESV)
• 1 Peter 1:15-16 - "...but, as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, 'Be holy, because I am holy'..." (HCSB)
• 1 John 4:18 - "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." (ESV)

See also

• Charisma
• Christian Perfection
• Divine Grace
• Imparted righteousness
• Means of Grace
• Righteousness
• Social Gospel
• Theosis
• Justification (theology)
• Glorification
• Holiness

Further reading

• Alexander, Donald L., ed. Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification. (ISBN 0-8308-1278-4)
• Grider, J. Kenneth. A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology. Kansas City:Beacon Hill Press, 1994
• Gundry, Stanley, ed. Five Views on Sanctification. (ISBN 0-310-21269-3)
• Hein, David. "Austin Farrer on Justification and Sanctification." The Anglican Digest 49.1 (2007): 51–54.
• Tracy, Wes., Gary Cockerill, Donald Demaray, and Steve Harper. Reflecting God. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2000
• Wesley, John. A Plain Account of Christian Pefection. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, reprinted 1968

External links

• Sanctification
• Sanctified Through Sex
• Various Views on Justification and Sanctification
• Justification Vs Sanctification Let Us Reason Ministries
• Sanctification in Lutheran Theology by David P. Scaer