A Blurb about Sanctification

Sanctification is a divine-human operation prompted, enabled, and ultimately completed by God the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Thess. 5:23; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 13:20-21). Though all believers are commanded to be holy (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Thess. 4:3-4; Heb. 12:1; 1 Pt. 1:15), God initializes and accomplishes everything holy in His chosen ones (Heb. 10:10; 1 Cor. 15:10; Col. 1:29). Moreover, behind every New Testament imperative is the presumption of the Spirit’s presence in the believer’s life (Rom. 8:1-15). Thus, in every sense Jesus’ words are true that “apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). Yet God performs the work of sanctification in our lives by eliciting both our active and passive response. Whereas passively we listen and yield to God as we trust in him (Rom. 6:13, 19; 12:1-2), we are actively involved in our sanctification by mortifying the deeds of our flesh (Rom. 8:12-14, note that it is “by the Spirit” that we act. Cf., also Philip 2:12-13; Heb. 12:14; 1 Thess. 4:3; 2 Pt. 1:5). And so, this saying equally rings true in our experience “Without God we cannot; without us God will not.”