The outcome of sanctification is eternal life

packermann · Dec 28, 2007

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

Romans 6:22

This verse completely destory the Protesant notion of salvation

This Protestant formula for salvation

Justification by faith only -> eternal life -> sanctification

First we are justified by faithonly, which gives us eternal life. The result of our justification is sanctification. Sanctification is only the evidence we are already saved. Because we are sabe, because we have eternal life, we are becoming sanctified.

But Romans 6:22 completely contradicts this. The formula for savation, according to this verse is:

Freed from sin and enslave to God -> sanctification -> the outcome is eternal life

Eternal life is the outcome of our sanctification!

heymikey80 · Dec 29, 2007

Biblical sanctification isn't the theological classification, "Sanctification". They're two different things. Biblically speaking sanctification is the action of being set apart to God as holy. Its shallow meaning of the practice of good works is a product of medieval theology.

'that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' Acts 26:18

we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Heb 10:10

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Heb 13:12

BBAS 64 · Dec 29, 2007

packermann said:
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

Romans 6:22

This verse completely destory the Protesant notion of salvation

This Protestant formula for salvation

Justification by faith only -> eternal life -> sanctification

First we are justified by faithonly, which gives us eternal life. The result of our justification is sanctification. Sanctification is only the evidence we are already saved. Because we are sabe, because we have eternal life, we are becoming sanctified.

But Romans 6:22 completely contradicts this. The formula for savation, according to this verse is:

Freed from sin and enslave to God -> sanctification -> the outcome is eternal life

Eternal life is the outcome of our sanctification!

Good Day, Packerman

Seems you may have to redefine what "eternal life" means to line up with the Scripture.

Joh 17:1 These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the son may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him, he should give eternal life.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
Joh 17:4 I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6 I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7 Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee:

In Him,

Bill

Episcopius · Dec 29, 2007

I agree with HeyMikey80, but also wanted to add that you are right that there is a sense in which eternal life is future, but that's not the only sense in which scriptures uses eternal life. The life is in the Son and those united with Him have eternal life here and now.

God be with you,
Dan

Van · Dec 30, 2007

According to some Protestants, salvation comes in three phases: Positional Sanctification, where a person whose faith in Christ is credited as righteousness, and he or she is spiritually "placed in Christ". Next, after a person is positionally sanctified by being placed in Christ, where they undergo the circumcision of Christ and arise in Christ a new born again creation, the undergo progressive sanctification, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. During this born again period we are Ambassadors of Christ with the ministry of reconciliation. Thus we strive to be Christ-like, becoming spiritually mature, our progressive sanctification from the power of sin to adversely affect our lives. And then finally, the third phase of sanctification, called Ultimate Sanctification, is when we are resurrected in glorified bodies, no longer a corrupt tent of flesh, or if alive at the second coming, we are changed into glorified bodies in the twinkling of an eye.

Thus the three phases of salvation set us free from the penalty of sin (positional sanctification), the power of sin (progressive sanctification) and the presence of sin (ultimate sanctification.)

So the actual formula of some Protestants is this:
Positional Sanctification which includes both justification and eternal life > progressive sanctification which includes being conformed to the image of Christ and service earning rewards to Christ > ultimate sanctification which our adoption as children of God in glorified bodies = Biblical Salvation

This view is completely consistent with Romans 6:22. Note in Romans 6:19, the idea is that we should present our members as slaves of Righteousness, this is striving to be Christ-like, which refers to progressive sanctification. But this is not all, for while the wages of sin is death refers to those who have not been positionally sanctified by being spiritually placed in Christ, the free gift of God is eternal life for those who have been positionally sanctified.

Ormly · Dec 30, 2007

heymikey80 said:
heymikey80 said:

Biblical sanctification isn't the theological classification, "Sanctification". They're two different things. Biblically speaking sanctification is the action of being set apart to God as holy. Its shallow meaning of the practice of good works is a product of medieval theology.
'that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' Acts 26:18

Click to expand...

This one stands out from the other two inasmuch as Paul learned to live by the Faith of Christ Jesus, not his own. In other words we are to learn to place our faith in Christ that His Faith conforms us to His image. The other two verses aren't negated in this but are simply examples of how Paul could achieve the faith of the Son of God.

(Gal.2:20 KJV)

Episcopius · Dec 30, 2007

Dear Van,

Thus the three phases of salvation set us free from the penalty of sin (positional sanctification), the power of sin (progressive sanctification) and the presence of sin (ultimate sanctification.)

I agree with this and would add that the author of Hebrews seems to use the first sense exclusively. He focuses on the cleansing brought about by Christ's sacrifice and offering.

His use of sanctification has some parallels to Paul's use of justification. Only he focus's on the cleansing/ceremonial aspect, not the declaration/legal aspect.

God be with you,
Dan

Van · Dec 30, 2007

Hi Epipcopius, I have not reviewed the use of "sanctification" in Hebrews, but the word by itself simply means set apart, and we must look to context to see who or what is being set apart and for what purpose.

In Hebrews 9:13-14 we see the Old Covenant sacrifices setting apart those sprinkled for the cleansing of the flesh, covering only the past sins, not future sins, compared with the blood of Christ cleansing a person's conscience from dead works to serve the living God. In other words going from the Old Covenant which provided a periodic remedy for specific sins, to individually entering the New Covenant in the Blood of Christ which allows our works to be alive, earning rewards, as we serve our Lord.

Now in Hebrews 10:29 we have our word used again, but I do not believe it refers to positional sanctification.
In this difficult verse, I believe "blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified" is referring to the finished work of the cross, by which all mankind was bought and hence set apart with the opportunity to receive the reconciliation provided by the cross. Christ died for all mankind, He laid down His life as a ransom for all, and thus all men are in a sense sanctified by Christ, even though they have not been individually set apart. I know it is thin, but it is the best I can do in light of all scripture.

Episcopius · Dec 30, 2007

Dear Van,

Now in Hebrews 10:29 we have our word used again, but I do not believe it refers to positional sanctification.
In this difficult verse, I believe "blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified" is referring to the finished work of the cross, by which all mankind was bought and hence set apart with the opportunity to receive the reconciliation provided by the cross. Christ died for all mankind, He laid down His life as a ransom for all, and thus all men are in a sense sanctified by Christ, even though they have not been individually set apart. I know it is thin, but it is the best I can do in light of all scripture.

Hum... Not sure about that. Especially given the use of sanctify in the first half of chapter 10. But either way it's a strong argument that Christ died for those that ultimately perish. Tough one for Limited Atonement folks...

God be with you,
Dan

packermann · Dec 31, 2007

Episcopius said:
I agree with HeyMikey80, but also wanted to add that you are right that there is a sense in which eternal life is future, but that's not the only sense in which scriptures uses eternal life. The life is in the Son and those united with Him have eternal life here and now.

God be with you,
Dan

I agree with that. I do not disagree with the present-ness of eternal life, as well as its future aspects. But that does not negate this verse.

packermann · Dec 31, 2007

Van said:
According to some Protestants, salvation comes in three phases: Positional Sanctification, where a person whose faith in Christ is credited as righteousness, and he or she is spiritually "placed in Christ". Next, after a person is positionally sanctified by being placed in Christ, where they undergo the circumcision of Christ and arise in Christ a new born again creation, the undergo progressive sanctification, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. During this born again period we are Ambassadors of Christ with the ministry of reconciliation. Thus we strive to be Christ-like, becoming spiritually mature, our progressive sanctification from the power of sin to adversely affect our lives. And then finally, the third phase of sanctification, called Ultimate Sanctification, is when we are resurrected in glorified bodies, no longer a corrupt tent of flesh, or if alive at the second coming, we are changed into glorified bodies in the twinkling of an eye.

Thus the three phases of salvation set us free from the penalty of sin (positional sanctification), the power of sin (progressive sanctification) and the presence of sin (ultimate sanctification.)

So the actual formula of some Protestants is this:
Positional Sanctification which includes both justification and eternal life > progressive sanctification which includes being conformed to the image of Christ and service earning rewards to Christ > ultimate sanctification which our adoption as children of God in glorified bodies = Biblical Salvation

This view is completely consistent with Romans 6:22. Note in Romans 6:19, the idea is that we should present our members as slaves of Righteousness, this is striving to be Christ-like, which refers to progressive sanctification. But this is not all, for while the wages of sin is death refers to those who have not been positionally sanctified by being spiritually placed in Christ, the free gift of God is eternal life for those who have been positionally sanctified.

This is a common problem with the way Protestants approach the Bible. They place a grid on the Bible. They pre-define one word one way in one verse and pre-define it another way in another verse, even though the same Hebrew or Greek word is used in both verses. This is how they get around verses that contradict their pre-conceived theology. Positional sanctification vs progressive sanctification is not explicitly taught in scripture, this distinction is based on the traditions of men, the traditions of certain strains of Protestantism. The Catholic approach to scripture is much more straight-forward. In all cases, we see sanctification as the process of being made holy. Period. We do not need to go to the Bible preachers to ask them whether a certain verse is refering to positional sanctification or progressive sanctification.

Van · Dec 31, 2007

Not sure about that....

I am unable to discern a problem with Hebrews 10:10 which says we have been sanctified once for all. That is consistent with referring to the finished work of the cross, rather an individual sanctification.

In Hebrews 10:14 I think the text best reads, "He has perfected those who are being sanctified" which again refers to the finished work of the cross, by one offering He has perfected, which again refers to the finished work of the cross, and then "who are being sanctified" refers to our individual sanctification.

Objectively, then we have our word, assuming it is the same word in all three places, for I have not done a study, two times apparently referring to the finished work of the cross sanctifying all mankind, and one time referring to our individual sanctification.

I know this seems confusing but I think you too will come to the conclusion that reconciliation is used in two different ways, one where all mankind is reconciled by the finished work of the cross, and the other where individuals are reconciled when they receive the reconciliation provided by the cross. Same for justification, Christ being the propitiation for the whole world provides justification to all men, but only when a person is spiritually placed "in Christ" do they receive the justification provided by the cross. And thirdly, because God accepted Christ's sacrifice, as indicated by His resurrection from the dead, all mankind was purchased, bought, sanctified or set apart by the finished work of the cross, but only when a person is spiritually placed "in Christ" after God credits their faith in Christ as righteousness, is a person individually set apart, the sanctifying work of the Spirit. .

Van · Dec 31, 2007

Positional sanctification vs progressive sanctification is not explicitly taught in scripture, this distinction is based on the traditions of men, the traditions of certain strains of Protestantism.

First, let me agree that some Protestants define the same Greek word one way in one passage, and differently in another passage to fit their traditions into scripture. But I do not believe I have done this with sanctification. First, the idea is that the word means to set apart for a purpose, but only by using the context can a person discern what is being set apart for what purpose. To assert that it always means for individuals to be set apart in salvation or for salvation is unsound.

Next to your assertion that positional sanctification is not "explicitly" taught in scripture rests on your rejection of the verses cited which support it. Is not a Christian a "citizen of heaven, " Philippians 3:2? And how did we become aliens in this world but not of this world. Why being born again "in Christ!" How did we become a member of a "Holy Priesthood," 1 Peter 2:5? Why being born again "in Christ." To deny our position as born again believers "in Christ" is to deny the bulk of the NT. We arise in Christ a new creation. Case closed.

Second, I cited 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 as referring to progressive sanctification. Clearly this "sanctification" is occurring after a person has been positionally sanctified.

winsome · Jan 3, 2008

BBAS 64 said:
Good Day, Packerman

Seems you may have to redefine what "eternal life" means to line up with the Scripture.

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.

In Him,

Bill

In scripture to know is to have an intimate experience of, (cf "Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain" (Gen 4:1))

So when Jesus says eternal life is that we should know the one true God (the Father) and Jesus, he is referring not to just knowing about him, but a deep intimate union which we will only achieve in heaven.

heymikey80 · Jan 4, 2008

packermann said:
I agree with that. I do not disagree with the present-ness of eternal life, as well as its future aspects. But that does not negate this verse.

The verse itself states that being freed from sin and become slaves to God you have two things -- your fruit to sanctification, and the goal of eternal life. How does this make eternal life the goal of sanctification?

If you brought me $10 for a happy meal, wouldn't I give you the goal (the happy meal) and something more (your change)? It doesn't mean the change brings the happy meal -- you could get change without buying something. It doesn't mean the happy meal always contains change for $10, either. You get two things back.

The outcome of sanctification is eternal life

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