Holiness and perseverance

Saved to be holy

The last lesson showed that God justifies sinners freely by his grace. God forgives us in order to make us holy. In Scripture the root idea of holiness is not moral polish but belonging: to be holy is to be set apart for God. The New Testament word for this, hagiasmos (ἁγιασμός), stands behind Paul's "it is God's will that you should be holy" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). So Paul could say even to the troubled church at Corinth:

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11

Everyone who is in Christ has already been set apart for God. Yet Scripture also speaks of holiness as a lifelong calling. Peter writes, "just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do" (1 Peter 1:15), and Hebrews urges us to pursue holiness, "without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). Sanctification is both a status already given and a life still growing.

It begins in union with Christ. We were buried with him through baptism so that "we too may walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). So Paul says, "count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). The change is the Spirit's work.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

That does not make us passive. "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose" (Philippians 2:12-13). And the road includes a fight: "the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh" (Galatians 5:17). Matthew Henry says that the old nature, crucified with Christ, "is weakened and in a dying state, though it yet struggles for life, and even for victory" Matthew Henry. So from the start the church grew through the means God gives: the word, prayer, the sacraments and the fellowship of believers (Acts 2:42).

How far can we grow in this life?

The traditions differ on how far sanctification reaches on earth. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches confess that it touches the whole person but stays incomplete in this life. The Westminster Confession speaks of "some remnants of corruption in every part", and so of a lifelong war between flesh and Spirit in which, by the Spirit's continual strength, believers overcome and grow in grace Westminster Confession, ch. 13.

Lutherans treasure Luther's description of the Christian as at once righteous and a sinner, simul iustus et peccator: fully righteous in Christ, yet still a sinner in oneself Luther, Lectures on Galatians. Growth, then, is a daily return to baptism. Luther's Small Catechism says that baptism signifies that "the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts", and that a new person should daily arise Luther, Small Catechism.

The Wesleyan tradition hopes for more. John Wesley taught Christian perfection, or entire sanctification, as a gift to be sought in this life and received by faith. He did not mean freedom from mistakes, weakness or temptation, but a heart so filled with love for God and neighbour that love rules it Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Wesleyans point to Paul's prayer, "may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Catholic and Orthodox churches speak of a lifelong growth in grace: Catholics of the justified increasing in righteousness, the Orthodox of theosis, an ever deeper sharing in God's life. All of them take seriously the warning, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John 1:8).

Kept to the end, and warned

Scripture points first to God's faithfulness. Paul is "confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6), and Peter says believers "through faith are shielded by God's power" (1 Peter 1:5).

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father's hand.

John 10:28-29

Nothing in all creation "will be able to separate us from the love of God" (Romans 8:39). Yet the same Scriptures warn. Hebrews says it is impossible for those who have shared in the Holy Spirit "and then have fallen away — to be restored to repentance" (Hebrews 6:6). Paul writes, "the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12), and Jesus says that whoever does not remain in him "is like a branch that is thrown away and withers" (John 15:6). On John 10 Augustine writes, "Christ is confident of their safety; and He knows what He gave up for them" Augustine. Theophylact asks how, then, Judas perished, and answers: "Because he did not continue to the end. Christ speaks of them who persevere" Theophylact.

The Reformed and Presbyterian churches confess the perseverance of the saints. Those whom God has effectually called and sanctified "can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace" Westminster Confession, ch. 17. Believers may fall into serious sin for a time, but they are kept by God's faithfulness, not their own strength, and he renews them to repentance Canons of Dort, Fifth Head. On this view the warnings help to keep God's people watchful, and those who leave show that they never truly belonged: "if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us" (1 John 2:19).

The Wesleyan and Arminian traditions, the Lutherans, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox teach that a true believer can turn away from Christ and fall from grace, and can be restored through repentance. The Augsburg Confession teaches that those once justified can lose the Holy Spirit, and that those who fall are forgiven when they turn back Augsburg Confession, art. 12. For these traditions the warnings describe a real danger, spoken in love. Catholic teaching distinguishes mortal sin, which destroys the life of grace, from venial sin, and teaches that grace lost can be restored through repentance and the sacrament of penance Council of Trent, Decree on Justification. The Orthodox, without the same formal categories, also speak of grave sin that separates a person from God and of return through repentance and confession.

Assurance rests on Christ

For all their differences, the traditions confess together that the ground of our safety is Christ and not our record, that the warnings must be heard, and that there is a way back for anyone who has fallen. They differ on how sure one can be: Trent denies a believer the certainty of faith about being in grace Council of Trent, while the Reformers taught that faith may be sure. John tells us why he wrote.

And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. … I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:11-13

Because life is in the Son, assurance comes not from measuring our holiness but from looking to Christ. When we fall, we return to the promise: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). As Matthew Henry says, "The work of grace will never be perfected till the day of Jesus Christ" Matthew Henry; until then, the God who began it is faithful. To read further, see How does a Christian grow holy?, Can salvation be lost? and What is repentance?

Practice