At one of our Saturday morning men's fellowship at Holy Trinity, our scripture readings led us into briefly talking about the relationship between "Justification" (conversion) and "Sanctification" (a life that leads to holiness, obedience and good works). We used churchy terms that perhaps need defining; hence, I thought it would be useful to say something about this on my blog page. Here it is.
Justification and Sanctification are both workings of the Holy Spirit in us. Justification is a time when a person encounters God's grace and is led into a personal surrender to God, becoming a new creation with a new life in Christ (theologians call this new life "Regeneration"). Our salvation is established, Christ's own righteousness replaces our unrighteousness in the eyes of our Heavenly Father, and we can now be united with God in the family of God.
Sanctification, on the other hand, is a life-long process, beginning with our Conversion / Regeneration / Justification, in which we live out our life in Christ, mature in the Faith, progressively be transformed into His image, learn to discern the Good Shepherd's voice, and seek to do His will (i.e. obedience). Sanctification is what St. Paul is talking about in 2Cor. 3:18- "And we all, with unveiled face [that is, justified before God's by grace through faith, and empowered by the Holy Spirit], behold the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."
It is important, therefore, that we know that we are made right with God (justified), not by how sanctified and holy we are, but by God's grace which we appropriate by our faith and trust in Christ. This is at the heart of the Gospel, because if you are like me, you know that standing before God based on our righteousness is a very iffy proposition (in fact, it's impossible). Being able to stand before God with Jesus' imputed righteousness is definitely "Good News." Martin Luther and others sparked the Protestant Reformation over this fundamental bit of Truth. Luther writes in his essay Freedom and Service, "Behold, from faith flows forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love, a joyful, willing and free mind that serves ones neighbor willingly..." The justifying grace of God gives us the freedom to appropriate the sanctifying grace of God. To Luther, the relationship of faith and works is much like that of the tree to its roots. The roots provide the tree with the foundation and the freedom to bear fruit. Dietrich Bonhoeffer would say it is more a matter of obedience: This free gift of justifying grace gives us the freedom to obey God and live as God calls us to live.
Father Rob
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