A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
by Steve West
Table of Contents
1 Sanctification
2 Love
3 Prayer
Summary of Volume Three
Chapter 1: Sanctification
Sanctification is one of the most beautiful gifts given to us by Christ. Today, there are many errors and misunderstandings of sanctification, so we need to acknowledge that it is a dogma, and we need to preach and teach it accurately according to the Scriptures in the power of the Spirit. It is a doctrine that affects our lives; it is not abstract, but a great power at work in our lives. In rightly understanding and confessing the doctrine of sanctification, it becomes its own instrument to sanctify us. Sanctification must never be thought of as the human effort to make oneself holier and holier. We cannot compromise God’s demand for perfect holiness or lower it to human capabilities. God made both Satan and Adam as holy beings, but they willfully corrupted themselves and made themselves unholy. In strict justice, God is within his rights to demand that we restore and sanctify ourselves. We can never sanctify ourselves by keeping the law, because we must be sanctified to keep the law in the first place. God’s demand that we be sanctified belongs to the Covenant of Works, but sanctification itself is a gift in the Covenant of Grace. Sanctification must always signify the work of making holy something which is unholy.
When we see the holiness of God, we are not as struck by our guilt as we are by our sinfulness and uncleanness. God is eternally holy in himself, but his righteousness is displayed in relation to his creatures. Righteousness has to do with our relationship with God, while our holiness is the quality of our heart. In justification we are declared righteous (i.e., it is our status in relation to God), but sanctification is about cleansing and being made holy. “Sanctification as a gift of grace refers to a man’s personal holiness.” Holiness hates sin and loves purity. We are to be holy in this world, but our holiness will only be made perfect when we are clothed in our glorified, resurrected body. We do not weave our own garments of holiness, because if we did, God would not be the author of our salvation. It is in Christ alone that we are sanctified; he is our wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification. Our holiness is in Christ because he perfectly and completely kept the law of God.
Sanctification in us is the creation of holy dispositions in our hearts. The work of sanctification starts after conversion, continues through this life, and is perfected in glory. This work is wrought by Christ, through the Holy Spirit. We can never add to the merit of Christ, but God gives us the additional grace of creating a holy disposition in us so that we are able to walk in the good works he has prepared for us to do. Our whole personality will be shaped and conformed to Christ in perfect holiness. In Christ we have the guarantee of the comprehensive sanctification that we need and that fits our human nature. God has created us with real ontological existence, but before him and in relation to him, we are as nothing. Whatever goodness we have by nature, or whatever goodness we acquire, comes from God who is the source of all that is good. We must insist that we will only be made perfect in heaven; those who espouse Perfectionism in this life must be opposed. Believers are made complete in their members but imperfect in degrees, just as we are in our physical birth. When we are born physically, we have all of our body parts, but we grow and develop in degrees of strength. Christians are all born again, but some are more mature than others, and the New Testament calls us all to advance and grow, producing much fruit. In the church we find believers at different stages: some are infants needing milk, while others are mature and needing solid meat. No one, however, has attained all that there is to live up to in this life. “Sanctification is a gracious work of God, whereby in a supernatural way He gradually divests from sin the inclinations and dispositions of the regenerate and clothes them with holiness.”
Although there will always be problem of Pharisaism where true godliness is found, sanctification produces humility. In fact, sanctification does not merely produce a horror of gross sins, it begins by attacking our pride. True conversion consists in raising us up and in mortifying our pride and flesh. The new man cries out to God, and the old man is dying and must fade away. It is vital that we get our understanding of the doctrine of sanctification from Scripture rather than from our perceived experience. Even though we may struggle, the biblical testimony is that the followers of God advance from strength to strength. Believers are detached from the old man and go on in strength as they identify more and more with Christ. Sanctification and good works are often identified as synonymous, but they must be kept separate, just like a grape is not to be confused with the vine that produces it. Sanctification is the vine, and good works are the fruit. Sanctification is God’s work in us where he gives us a holy disposition, but it is from this implanted holiness that we are to act and produce good works. Good works are like the light that streams from the lamp of sanctification. This means that sanctification is purely a gift of God’s sovereign grace, and God commands men to produce good works which he has empowered them to do. . . .
[To continue reading this summary, please see below....]The remainder of this article is premium content. Become a member to continue reading.
Already have an account? Sign In