Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Philippians

[Turner]

Is the sanctification process something carried out equally with God and the believer? In Philippians 1:6 Paul states "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Does this mean that we don't do anything, or should we say that a believer can control the growth of his/her sanctification process?

[jimwalton]

Of your two choices, I would say "neither." The process of sanctification is a joint project between God and us, but there's nothing equal about it. God does the sanctifying; ours is to live in the Spirit, by faith, with obedience. Phil. 1.6 is all about God's part, but Phil. 1.6 is not the only text about sanctification, or our place in God's salvific work. God's is the sovereign initiative, God is the sanctifier (the only qualified purveyor of holiness), and God is the sustainer who makes it possible for us to endure. But endure we must, as repeated over and over again in the book of Hebrews, as well as Rev. 2-3, and others. As Robertson says, "God began it, and God will consummate it, but not without their cooperation and partnership." It's not true that it's equal shares between us and God, it's not true that we don't do anything, and it's not true that we can control the growth of our own sanctification process.

[Turner]

Thanks Jim, for a wonderful post. I agree with what you say. I would like to focus, however, on one statement that stood out. You said:
"It's not true that it's equal shares between us and God, it's not true that we don't do anything, and it's not true that we can control the growth of our own sanctification process."

I want to put a light under the last segment where you said: "It's not true that we can control the growth of our own sanctification process." Now, I am not going to argue with that technically; but let us create a scenario here. What if one person faithfully studies their Bible daily while another merely reads over the text occasionally? What if one person prays fervently while another rarely prays? Do you think that it might increase the chances of progressive sanctification?

[jimwalton]

It's true that we can contribute to it, but we can't control it. There are many factors at work—spiritual, circumstantial, and personal—that are part of our spiritual growth, temptations, progress and regress. While we can read more, study more, serve more, worship more fervently, sanctification is the work of God, though I would say that He responds with favor to our acts of faith and obedience. At the same time, we know that an increase in our pursuit of God sometimes means an increase in suffering, persecution, and spiritual attack. All in all, I still think that I cannot control the growth of my own sanctification. It's the work of God in me in conjunction with my response to him, and it's not a smooth path.

Consider the teachings of Paul, with which I am sure you are familiar:

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed."

"We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

Often the path of progressive sanctification is trial by fire. We contribute by responding in a godly way, but the process of sanctification in us is God's. It's in that sense we can truly say, "In all things God works for the good of those who love him."

[Turner]

Jim, I do believe we should realize as you say that we cannot "control" the growth of our own sanctification. I appreciate your contribution to this and thank you for your insight.

I have sometimes used the term "progressive sanctification" to refer to the 2nd aspect of sanctification, but there is a group of people who use this term a little differently. Recently when I was taking a class in Spiritual Formation, others used this term to indicate emphasis on spiritual growth. They basically believe that in spiritual formation a progress of the sanctification process occurs naturally when you carry-out the spiritual disciplines. In other words, they more or less promote the idea that you get out what you put into the process. This is wrong. On the other hand I have seen other people go in the opposite direction and claim that spiritual formation is heretical. Spiritual formation to me is a "process in which the Holy Spirit interacts with our spirit to bring change to our character so that we will be more like Christ."

[jimwalton]

Thanks. I see a distinction between participation and control, and I agree with you that I don't see sanctification as a predictable input/output situation, where if I do X, Y, and Z, then I will be sanctified, or even that I can guarantee spiritual growth. The wind blows where it blows (Jn. 3), and there are no straight lines or predictable input/output situations. While spiritual disciplines can contribute to spiritual growth and spiritual formation, the only guarantee in this scenario is that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion."