Thirty Questions: A Short Catechism on the Christian Faith by Timothy C. Tennent

Author:Timothy C. Tennent [Tennent , Timothy C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Asbury Seedbed Publishing
Published: 2013-03-17T16:00:00+00:00

Isaiah 55:6–7

Romans 10:5–17

Joel 2:12–13

2 Corinthians 5:17–21

Acts 11:14

Galatians 2:15–16

Acts 16:25–34

Ephesians 2:1–10

Romans 3:21–28

Colossians 1:20

Romans 4:1–16

Colossians 2:13–15

Romans 5:1–11

Titus 3:4–7

19

What is sanctification?

While justification is that doctrine which makes us think of all the ways in which Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection reconciled us to God, sanctification is the doctrine which reminds us that salvation is the work of the Triune God. Sanctification means to be “made holy,” and is one of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Once justified, God declares us righteous, but it is what Martin Luther, the great sixteenth century reformer of the church, said was an “alien righteousness.” In other words, we are not truly righteous, we are merely declared righteous because of the righteousness of another.

However, God is not merely interested in us being forgiven with an alien righteousness. He wants to see us actually transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. This is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit. His work is to bring all the fruit of the Holy Spirit into our lives, including love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Sanctification is not just about what we avoid, but what we produce—fruitfulness. In the gospel, faith and fruit must meet and be joyfully wed.

Christians have different views as to how this process takes place. For some it is an incremental, day-by-day process which continues throughout our lifetime, never reaching completion until we finally meet Christ through death or his return, and we are then brought fully into conformity with his righteousness as we are removed from the very presence of sin. Other Christians, particularly those in the Wesleyan tradition, believe that sanctification is not merely a process, but also involves a specific event in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the same way that our justification involves a specific event in the presence of Jesus Christ. This event has many different names, including being “baptized in the Holy Spirit” or receiving a “second blessing” or being made “perfect in love” or “entire sanctification.”

It is important to point out that the idea of an experience like this with the Holy Spirit has often been misunderstood. It is misunderstood primarily because when we hear the word “sanctification,” we often think of it as a forensic term (i.e., being sanctified means that you are divinely certified before God’s court of justice as someone without any sin in your life and, once sanctified, you will never sin again). That is not what the Scriptures teach concerning sanctification.

For Wesley, sanctification is not really a legal or forensic term at all. You could be justified alone on a deserted island, but sanctification is inherently relational. In fact, it is relational to the core. It is what happens when we are brought back fully into relationship with the Triune God.

As we noted earlier, when we sin, in that moment of choosing sin, we are actually electing the absence of God in our lives at that point. Sanctification is what fully restores our relationship with God, not merely by justifying us, but by turning our hearts back towards God.

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