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            Recounting a conversation held in an airplane trip, Prof. Ronald Blue, Adjunct Professor at Dallas Seminary narrated, “I remember talking with a lady from a Pentecostal church on one of my many trips by air and she brought up this topic. She said, “You probably believe in predestination.” I responded, “Yes, I do.” Since I had my Bible with me I showed her where “predestination” is taught in Romans. Then she said, “You probably even believe in the ‘security of the believer.’” “I do,” I responded. “Oh, I can’t believe that!” she exclaimed. “Let me see if I understand what you believe.” I continued, “If you were to die and you had some unconfessed sin in your life, you might not go to heaven.” “Exactly,” she responded. “Then on whom does your salvation depend?” I asked. I don’t think she had ever considered this. Without the “security of the believer” we are no different than a Buddhist, Mormon, or Muslim. Salvation ultimately depends on us. We must have full trust in Christ for our salvation. The sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ and the “security of the believer” are parallel doctrines.”[1]

            The theology of this Pentecostal woman raises a fundamental question, “Is sanctification that aspect in the divine scheme of salvation which ultimately determines our destinies? Does glorification depend on it?” “Is sanctification a continuation of the entire salvation process or is it the foundation of our future hope?” In what follows, I give reasons why sanctification cannot be seen as the determinant of our destinies and the foundation of final salvation in glorification.

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Because of the Doctrine of Justification

             In the course of everyday life, we tend to see righteousness as a personal and internal virtue that cannot be shared between two creatures. It is an individual quality predicated upon one’s actions and motives. While this kind of righteousness is certainly a prominent idea in scripture there is also a supernatural kind of righteousness that is spoken of in relation to salvation from eternal condemnation: The Righteousness of God received by faith in Christ (Justification by Faith). 

Romans and Justification

            Romans 3:19: ¹⁹ “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” In Rom. 3:19, Paul declares that due to the extent of human depravity (Rom. 3:9-18), it is impossible for anyone to avoid the eternal condemnation of God through obedience. In the Wycliffe Bible Commentary on Romans, A. Berkeley Mickelsen comments,

            “Whatever (as many things as) the law says. The word law here must refer to the various quotations Paul has just made. Since these come from the Psalms, except for the Isaiah passage, Paul does not refer here to the Mosaic Law. These quotations come from “the Writings” and “the Prophets” – two major divisions of the O.T. – indicating that Paul means by the law the whole of the O.T. Hence the O.T. speaks to those who are subject to the law. This includes both Jews and Gentiles – any who take seriously the message of the O.T. The teaching of the O.T. is such that every mouth is closed – has no defense to make - and that all the world has become accountable to God.” 

            The words following in v.20 are critical, ²⁰ “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Paul is saying that the deeds of the Mosaic Law are unable justify anyone before God due to the fact that our inability to keep the precepts of the Law points brings about a knowledge of sin. “Sin” here is in the singular and isn’t referring to our individual acts of sin but our sinful nature. Accordingly, the law reveals to us that we cannot be justified by God on the basis of our personal deeds since our sinful nature leads us to characteristically disobey God.

            This statement not only applies to the lost man but also to the regenerate. Oftentimes we think, “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” refers to the initial experience of salvation and that salvation is initiated by grace but we are kept thereafter by works. Brinsmead however comments, “. . . by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). It should be noticed that Paul does not say “become justified” but “be justified.” If he had said “become justified,” this would confine justification to a punctiliar event—i.e., Christian initiation. But the passage applies to a man who has been a saint for years as much as to a sinner who has never been converted. Paul means that at no time is there any point where a person can be righteous in God's sight if he is judged on the basis of how well he keeps the law. Many can be brought to see that the unregenerate sinner cannot become righteous before God by his life of obedience. But how about the man who is regenerate, who has the Holy Spirit and who walks in the way of new obedience? Paul teaches us that not even this man of God, with his many excellent virtues, can measure up to the undimmed splendor of God’s law. This point becomes clear when we remember that in Romans 3:20 Paul is citing the words of David, “And enter not into judgment with Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified” (Ps. 143:2). When David said this, he was not an open, unconverted sinner. Rather, he was God's servant who could also say in another place, “... thy servant loveth it [the law]” (Ps. 119: 140). He rejoiced in God’s law and could weep to see others despise it (see Ps. 119). Yet, in view of all this, he still confessed that he could not stand before God with an easy conscience on the basis of his piety.[2]

            Furthermore, Paul drives this point home in Romans 3:23: Men, through faith, must be justified by a righteousness derived not from personal obedience to the law but from the faithfulness of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-22). Justification must be acquired by this method because, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The verb tense describing our falling short of God’s glory is a present tense and refers to all men.  

            Robert Wilkin comments, “We often use Romans 3:23 to show the unbeliever that he has sinned and that he falls short of the glory of God. Actually the verse says that all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. That includes each and every believer as well! C.E. B. Cranfield’s comments here are superb: 

“The reference is to that share in the divine glory…which will be restored in the eschatological future (cf. 5:2; 8:18, 21, 30). As a result of sin all men lack this illumination by the divine glory. Here both the tense of the verb [present] and the fact that its subject is pantes [all] should be noted. They clearly imply that not only all other men but also all believers still lack this ‘glory of God.’ Attempts to soften this or to explain it away have the disastrous effect of obscuring the transcendent majesty of the glory which is yet to be ours. This is not to deny that there is a relative glory which already illumines the lives of believers—Paul can speak elsewhere of their being tranformed ‘from glory to glory’ (2 Cor. 3:18); but the decisiveness of the distinction between these two glories should not be blurred (pp. 204-205, italics added)””[3]

            In reference to Justification in Romans 3:23, Brinsmead comments, “For all have sinned [past], and come short [present continuous] of the glory of God.” Justification is not merely a matter of provision for the “have sinned [past]” but for the “come short [present].”[4] God’s justification therefore, is something which keeps us in right relationship with Him despite and in light of our past and continuing sinfulness. The pertinent question that must be asked then is, “What are the grounds of this justification?” Why is it secure? 

Justification Grounded in Christ

            Justification is both an act as well as a verdict. Paul Eveson comments, “In brief, Paul defines justification as God’s declaration that sinners who believe in Christ are fully pardoned, acquitted of all guilt and are in a right legal standing before him, on the basis of what God has done in Jesus Christ”[5] Lionel Windsor says that, “Justification is the creation of a rightly ordered relationship with God and the legal declaration that this right relationship does, indeed, exist”[6]  

            Justification is the legal declaration that through the work of Christ, we stand in right relationship with God and His Law and hence not under divine condemnation.

            Stott comments, “When God justifies sinners, he is not declaring bad people to be good, or saying that they are not sinners after all. He is pronouncing them legally righteous, free from any liability to the broken law, because he himself in his Son has born the penalty of their law-breaking.”[7] Pounds himself adds,

 “In the death of Christ something was done in regard to every sin we have committed and will ever commit. God has dealt effectively and efficiently with every sin before they are committed (Rom. 5:6-11). That is the only means of salvation for any sinner. Jesus takes away the sin of the world. He is the propitiation of our sin (1 Jn. 2:2). In the death of Jesus God has forever swept away the condemnation of our sins. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 8:1; 5:1-2)”[8]

            A crucial point worth mentioning is that when Paul speaks about our justification in Rom. 5:11, he does not merely say that we received atonement for our sins. This would have allowed for one to say that we were only justified of past sins. Rather, he says that through Jesus Christ, in the present time we have received the atonement. We have received the entire work of atonement (pardon of past, present and future sins) in the present time. Justification is indeed a complete and glorious act of salvation.

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            The second, aspect of Justification is the imputed righteousness of Christ[9]. When God took away our sins, he did not leave us to stand before God as “innocent people”. He conferred to us the justified status he received at His resurrection (Rom. 4:24-25), Peter M. Head writes, “For Paul, the resurrection of Christ represented his vindication, the public declaration of his righteousness by God, in other words, his justification (cf. Rom 1:3f; 1 Cor. 15:17; esp. 1 Tim. 3:16). Christ was made sin (2 Cor. 5:21); he became a curse (Gal 3:13); was ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Rom 8:3); but this did not reflect his true standing with God, and was overturned in the resurrection. Christ took the sinful pattern of human existence, becoming what we were (sinners), so that we might become what he was and is (righteous)”[10]

            In being justified through Christ’s justification (His resurrection), before the eyes of God the Father we are as righteous as His Son (Christ’s righteous status is credited to us cf. 1 Cor. 1:30). Thus in Rom. 8:33 when Paul, stated, “Who shall lay a charge against God’s elect…It is God who justifies”, he was quoting Isa. 50:8-9[11]. Verses 8-9 form part of that passage in which Isaiah records God’s prophetic word about His Servant, Jesus the Messiah.[12] Isa. 50:8-9 are declarations of Jesus about Himself and the use of this Messianic passage in reference to the saints whom God has justified in Rom. 8:33 attests to our secure union with Christ: We share in His standing before God. 

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Because of Our Change in Relationship with the Law and Obedience

             While Paul makes reference to Law obedience at pre-conversion in ominous language (cf. Rom. 3:20, 7:5, Gal. 2:21, 3:10, 13), he repeatedly speaks of it at post-conversion as a relationship between God and His saints. (John 13:34, Rom. 7:1-6, 8:1-4, Gal. 2:20, 6:2, 1 Cor. 9:20-21).  This implies that being subject to law as a Christian means that we are subject to law in the context of relationship with Christ. Legal stipulations no longer threaten our standing with God but are obeyed on the basis of being in relationshop with God. 

Law 

    Romans 7:1-6 teaches us that the believer’s relationship with the law has been abrogated in order to facilitate a liberating relationship with Christ. Rev. Findlayson comments, “Paul deals with the blessings that accompany justification in chapters 5 through to 8. In chapter 7 he deals with the blessing - freedom from the law, free from its oppressive authority. In Rom. 7:1-6, Paul reminds us that the function of the law is to expose sin, make sin more sinful, and thus confirm our condemnation. Of course, as we learn elsewhere, this function is designed to drive us toward the gracious mercy of God; a function which has ended for a believer. Right now, through the cross, the believer has forgiveness in Christ, and so is released from the oppressive authority of the law. Freed from the law, the believer is set free to bring forth the fruit of Godly living in the power of the indwelling compelling Spirit of Christ.”[13]

            What is significant about this interpretation is the fact that the Torah which condemned humanity earlier in Rom. 2-3, is replaced by the work of the Spirit in the New Covenant. The agent of holiness (the Spirit) is also the agent of liberation from the condemnation of the law (Rom. 8:1-4). The law can no longer condemns us because our holiness takes place within the context of release from condemnation and freedom to live in relationship with Christ.  

Obedience 

            Ephesians 2:10 is one of the greatest verses for explicating the truth that obedience is performed in the context or relationship with Christ.

Here, our salvation is described as being “created in Christ Jesus” and the purpose is so that we may be used by God to produce fruit.[16] The word translated as “created” (Greek. Ktizo; Hebrew, Bara) only describes God’s creative activity (as per the creation of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1 where the word is first used) and hence denotes something He alone can and has accomplished. This verse establishes that union between the child of God and Jesus Christ is a sovereign act of creation.

            One can clearly see why Oswald Bayer saw the initial aspect of salvation in terms of the Judeo-Christian doctrine of “creatio ex nihilo”: God bringing the world into existence out of nothing by effectuating His spoken word (Genesis account of creation). He says,

“The world was called into being without any mundane conditions; it was created out of pure freedom and sheer goodness. Creation out of nothing means: All that is, exists entirely undeserved and unmerited. “All this he does out of his pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness on my part.” Every calculating “do ut des” (I give so that you give) is shattered by this assertion (ex nihilio creation) corresponding to the rhetorical question that Paul, citing Job 41:3, asks in Rom. 11:35: “Who has ever given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?” Similarly to all other creatures, I am constituted by what has been given to me. What are you, that you did not receive? (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).”[17] Thusly, In Romans, Paul saw justification as giving life to the dead and calling into existence the things that did not exist before (Rom. 4:17) as in creation. 

            Two critical points can therefore be gathered from Eph 2:10: 

1)         Union with Christ is a work of divine creation. It is a natural state of our existence as the people of God. It is a permanent ontological reality done with the purpose of fruit bearing (good works). 

2)         The basis upon which we do good works is the fact that we belong to the new creation, secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience to law is no longer threatening to us; it is not something that we live as a consequence of …but something which we live for.

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Because of Justification’s Relation to Glorification (Final Salvation)

            One of the ways in which the crisis question of this article can be posed is, “What secures our glorification, justification by faith or sanctification and all its’ works?” In one of his blog messages, Peter Leithart makes insightful theological comments which show the link between justification and glorification: 

(a)        “In speaking about judgment (perhaps final judgment) in Rom. 2, Paul describes the doers of the law both as “being justified” and as “receiving eternal life” at the judgment. Eternal life includes glory, honor, and immortality (vv. 6-13).”[18] If it is the justified or those who have been declared as “doers of the law” who receive life and glory, then justification must be that which secures glorification. But this justification in Rom. 2 seems to be based upon good works and hence personal holiness would be the basis of glorification. 

 (b)       “Paul moves from “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) to saying that we are “justified as a gift by His grace”. Justification is the reversal of the effect of sin, and that means that justification includes NOT falling short of the glory of God, that is, attaining the glory of God.”[19] Here we see that the justification which is given as a gift of grace in light of our sinfulness (past and continual) is that which secures glorification. Hence, Paul argues that justification by faith and not personal virtue is that which secures glorification.

             But if one is still deep in doubt, Rom. 8:30 unassailably brings this point home.

 Rom. 8:30 is a very critical passage since it causally links the redemptive acts cited in its’ text. The completion of one act necessitates the completion of all other acts and all antecedent redemptive acts cause the redemptive acts following thereafter. Brent Hobbs gives a diagram illustrating this (Rom. 8:29-30): 1) foreknowledge 2) predestination 3) calling 4) justification 5) glorification.[20] Restating the aforementioned using Hobbs’ diagram, the first gear (foreknowledge) turns all the other gears sequentially and no one gear could turn without all the other gears turning as well.

            It is clear from the logic of the passage as expressed in the above diagram that justification is the act which causes glorification to become a future reality. What is fundamental to note is the absence of sanctification and all its’ works in this chain of events. Had it been included, logically, it would have had to be placed after justification but then sanctification would have been the gear that effectuated glorification. But in Paul’s theology, the act of Justification is that which guarantees our perfection in glorification and not the practical fruits of it.[21]

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Because the Sanctification that Saves is not Progressive

            Says, Clarence Mason, Jr. “Sanctification may be viewed as past, present, and future; or instantaneous, progressive, and complete.”[22] Progressive Sanctification is a continual process in which believers cooperate with the Holy Spirit to eradicate the power and desires of sin from their lives and to produce the fruits of the Spirit. In his classes on Spiritual Life at Dallas Seminary, Prof. Kenneth Boa remembers Professor Howard Hendricks defining and developing the spiritual life as “the life of Christ reproduced in the believer by the power of the Holy Spirit in obedient response to the Word of God.” Grudem’s terse definition states that, “Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives”[23]

            Complete sanctification is in reality the future experience of glorification.        This occurs when the believer is totally transformed into the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29) both physically and in terms of character. John referred to this experience when he wrote, ‘We know that when he {Christ} appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2).[24]

            Some would say that it is progressive sanctification which guarantees complete sanctification or glorification. This is due by and large to the fact that the importance of sanctification as a past event is often ignored. The word “sanctify” basically means “to set apart” and has the same root word as the words holy and saint. In neglecting past sanctification, terms such as holiness, sanctification and the title of sainthood are seen primarily as descriptions of moral conduct. However, sanctification is not only progression in spiritual growth (being set apart from sin as a lifestyle and ideology). It also concerns a definitive act where we have been set apart as a possession of God. All believers are sanctified having been set apart from sin and condemnation unto God and adopted into His family.

            Hebrews 10 describes this work of sanctification as a consequence of Christ’s atonement that has been accomplished once and for all.[25]

To sanctify something within the context of the theme of tabernacle and sacrifice in Hebrews, is to set it aside as holy unto God[26] Yet, when Hebrews 10:10 says “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”, the sanctification is through or by means of[27] the offering of the body of Christ {His atonement} and not personal conduct. This sanctification or “being made holy” is in the perfect tense indicating that the action of the verb has occurred at some point in the past with effects continuing in the present. It is for this reason that sanctification is often spoken of in the past tense in scripture. That is, as an event completed in the past. Heb. 10:10 goes on to say that something in this text was done “once-for-all”. It can refer to our sanctification: “By this will we have been sanctified {once for all} through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Or to Christ’s atonement: “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ {once for all}”. Prof. Thomas G. Long, author of a homiletic commentary on Hebrews comments, “Technically, the “once for all” refers grammatically to the offering of Jesus. The author of Hebrews is contrasting the fact that the ancient high priest had to make offerings repeatedly (“year after year” 10:1) with Jesus who had to make his offering only once. But theologically, the writer of Hebrews believes that this offering made us pure once and for all (see 10:14). So the theological answer to your question is “both.”[28] As James White commented in his article, “once for all” (evfa,pax) is a temporal adverb. The term marks the strong contrast between the repetitive sacrifices of the Old Covenant and the one time, never to be repeated, singular sacrifice of the New….Repeated sacrifices are imperfect: perfection comes through that which is offered once for all time. [29] Thusly, it is the atonement of Christ that is described as being once for all but the inevitable result of such an atonement is that the beneficiary doesn’t receive the sanctification of this atonement in piece meal hence making it a process. The once for all offering of Jesus’ body results in being sanctified once for all.

            Of Hebrews 10:10, Zane Hodges in the, The Bible Knowledge Commentary says, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Christ once for all”.

The words translated “made holy” are often translated “sanctify”. Here the Greek word occurs in a tense that makes it plain, along with the rest of the statement, that the sanctification is an accomplished fact. Nowhere in Hebrews does the writer refer to the ‘progressive sanctification’ of a believer’s life. Instead sanctification is for him a functional equivalent of the Pauline concept of justification. By the sanctification which is accomplished through the death of Christ, New Covenant worshipers are perfected for guilt free service to God (cf. 2:11). Moreover, “the sanctified” have a status in God’s presence that is “perfect” (cf. 11:40; 12:23) in the sense that they approach Him with full acceptance gained through the death of Christ (cf. 10:19-22).

            The permanence of past sanctification and its ability to stand on the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement rather than being contingent upon progressive sanctification is again emphasized in Hebrews 10:14. Prof. Gordon Dutile remarks, “Hebrews 10:14 says, For by one offering He has perfected and they stand in a perfected state for all time those who are in the process of being made holy. At the moment of conversion there is both a finality and the beginning of a process.”[30] It is clear from Hebrews 10 that  it is past sanctification which guarantees our future glorification.

            This is also made clear by the New Testament’s use of the title “saint”. The word “saint” is used about 62 times in the New Testament thus making it the most common word used to describe the child of God. However, due to the Roman Catholic Church’s practice of pronouncing certain people who expressed exceptionally piety in their lives as saints, we often think of it as an exclusive word. In the New International Dictionary of New Testament Terms (NIDNTT), Vol. 2, S.v. "Hagios," by Horst Seebass, pgs. 229-30, Seebass writes concerning the expression the saints (hoi hagioi) in the Pauline epistles that “This was primarily not an ethical expression but a parallel to concepts like ‘called’. . .‘elect’. . . and ‘faithful.’ It implies association with the Holy Spirit”.  Consequently, the term applies to all those who have been saved. The term also refers to the fact that our holiness and consecration to God is predicated upon the work of Christ[31] Thusly, Trebilco says in his article,

         “In 1 Cor. 6:11 Paul writes as follows: “And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” Here Paul uses three metaphors for the experience of salvation - to be washed, to be sanctified and to be justified. Our particular interest is in the second term. Paul says to the Corinthian believers that they have been sanctified with the Aorist Indicative indicating an event that has occurred in the past. This has happened “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God”, which indicates that it was through the activity of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit. The root meaning of sanctify is “to consecrate, consecration, to dedicate to God, dedication”. Thus, through Christ’s death, the Corinthian believers have been “consecrated” or “dedicated to God”. Paul can speak of them as hoi hagioi, “God’s consecrated people”, “God’s holy people” in the present²⁴. We also note 1 Cor 1:2, where Paul describes the ekklesia of God in Corinth as “having been sanctified” in Christ Jesus. The perfect here refers to a past event with on-going significance.²⁵ As Fee notes: “the emphasis lies on their becoming God’s people as the result of divine activity. What God has done ‘in Christ Jesus’ makes them his new people.”²⁶ Or as Conzelmann puts it “Holiness is received, not achieved.”^27[32].  

            The title of sainthood brings with it the concept of realized eschatology as the Corinthian believers could be reckoned as “the holy ones” through the work of Christ even while Paul has to reproach them for their carnal and unsaintly conduct.  In this regard Dallas Seminary’s Distinguished Professor Emeritus, J. Dwight Pentecost comments,

         “In 1 Cor. 6:9-10 we read, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God”.  The Apostle, in that heinous catalogue of sins, revealed the life that characterized the citizens of the city of Corinth. Given over to a licentious religious system, they practiced all manner of excess. But the Apostle wanted to show that those who once practiced Corinthianism had been separated unto God from that kind of life. And Paul proceeds, in verse 11: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.” The Apostle was revealing the position which the Corinthian believers held in the sight of God. They had been sanctified, that is, set apart unto God. They had been made holy, that is, separated from the practices that once characterized them. They had become saints, holy ones in the family of God. This was not yet their experience, for as you read through the Corinthian Epistle, you will see that they lacked practical holiness, and they lacked practical godliness and righteousness. The church was marked by strife, discord, and division; it was marked by immorality; it was marked by doctrinal heresies. All of these the Apostle had to correct, and yet, in the sight of God, they had been sanctified and justified.”[33]  

            Together with the concept of perfect sanctification in Hebrews 10 and the use of “saint” as a title for all the children of God, this practical scenario in Corinth authenticates the doctrinal position that past sanctification is that which guarantees our future sanctification rather than progressive sanctification.  

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Because of the Nature of Pauline Ethics

            The issue of Pauline ethics is both profound and complicated. As such, I do not pretend to do justice to the aforementioned topic. To better comprehend and value this theology, it is advised that one reads the book, “Understanding Paul’s Ethics” ed. by Brian S. Rosner. Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: August 1995. See in particular Michael Parson’s essay in this volume.            

            The American Heritage Book of English Usage: A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English (1996)[34] states that “A mood is a property of verbs that indicates the attitude of the speaker about the factuality or likelihood of what is expressed. The term mood is also applied to the sets of verb forms that convey this attitude”. Two such verb forms are the indicative and imperative moods. Generally, the indicative mood is used to present something as a certainty, reality or fact. The imperative mood is most commonly used for commands {admonitions and prohibitions}.

            In his Epistles, Paul consistently uses an indicative/imperative construct to link his theology with his ethical message.  

             In his work Paul: An Outline of His Theology, Herman N. Ridderbos states that the indicative expresses the accomplishments of divine redemption which issues in the imperative to walk in a manner worthy of what we already are and will become “in Christ”. In Ridderbos’ mind, the fundamental point of Paul’s indicative/imperative construct is that the indicative always and at every point underlies and frames the imperative.

             So for instance, Romans 12:1 is an indicative/imperative construct that affirms the security of the child of God in a collective/individual way:  

“Paul says, present your bodies, (plural), a living sacrifice, (singular). At first glance, this seems to be a trivial thing. It is the kind of slip of the tongue that is common enough and causes no confusion in conversation. For example, I might say to a class, “I expect all the students in this class to write a term paper.” Only the pedantic and legalistic would interpret me to mean that all the students, together, should write a single paper. So also here, it has generally been assumed that Paul is guilty of an innocent solecism. He says “a living sacrifice,” but he means “living sacrifices.” So the New International Version has actually translated it. But it is not so easy for me to believe that this is all there is to it. Not that I believe that inerrancy requires a pedantic grammatical precision. Rather I have concluded from the text itself and from the context that the singular is deliberate and meaningful. In fact, it is not only the word “sacrifice” that appears here in the singular. There are six closely connected singular words in this sentence. (For those of you unfamiliar with Greek, nouns, adjectives, and participles have endings that denote, among other things, whether they are singular or plural.) Stating the words in the order in which they appear in the Greek text, we have: sacrifice (singular), living (singular), holy (singular), acceptable (singular), reasonable (singular), service (singular). Like six ringing hammer blows, these words emphasize the singularity of the sacrifice. It is difficult to imagine that Paul’s original audience would not have heard this emphasis as they heard the letter read aloud to them.

What is the significance of this?....We are to conceive of our living sacrifice collectively. To be sure, each of us individually is called upon to make this sacrifice, but the text leads us to think of all our bodies together as making up one great living sacrifice. Consider the surrounding context. In chapter eleven Paul has been expounding on the unity of God’s people, Jew and Gentile, under the image of the one olive tree. In the following context, chapter 12, verses 3-8, he will speak of the people of God as the one body in Christ. Here, between those two images of unity, he describes the Church as one living sacrifice. In the broader context, Paul will go on in Romans 15:16 to speak of the Gentiles collectively as an offering (singular) which is made acceptable by Paul's apostolic ministry. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 66:19-20: “And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations” These texts make plain that the people of God, collectively, are one offering to God. It is a marvelous image, is it not? The whole church of Jesus Christ, in all ages and places of the world, offered as one great living sacrifice, empowered by the one great sacrifice of Jesus Christ Himself.”[35]

            In Rom. 12:1, we are to present our individual bodies as an offering unto God but the text also leads us to think of all our bodies collectively as making up one great living offering. We must dedicate ourselves to become a dedicated community unto God. This is done in light of the fact that we as saved individuals are seen collectively as a single redeemed offering unto God.  

            In Paul’s theology, resurrection life is both gift and task. We have been raised from the dead together with Christ and hence possess resurrection life here and now (salvation from eternal condemnation). However, we must make this resurrection from the death of sin a practical phenomenon by living in righteousness (cf. Gal. 2:20).  So in Col 3:1-4, “…the believer’s resurrection is referred to as an already accomplished fact. You have died and been raised. Interwoven with that are two commands: seek the things above, set your mind on things above. That can only have reference to things that refer to resurrection life.”[36] 

            The indicative/imperative construct teaches us that being precedes act. Salvation is not about what we do in terms of good and bad deeds but who we are in Christ. And it is who we are and will be that determines our behaviour. We are not to shun darkness and walk in light in order to become the children of God. We must walk in the light because we have been made light in the Lord. (Eph. 5:8). This ethical construct reiterates the message of Eph. 2:10 discussed earlier and preserves Paul’s message of salvation by grace through faith apart from works.

            Progressive Sanctification does not guarantee our future, complete sanctification because progressive sanctification is the manifestation of what we are and will be. As FF Bruce had put it, sanctification is glorification begun. Sanctification is bridging the gap between the objective work of God for us and our future glorification. So, one may wonder, “How could one be considered perfect before God (justified) when one is yet awaiting complete deliverance from sin in glorification”? One Princeton Seminary theologian answers:

“Since the word “justification” is a forensic term, it means that the sinner is pronounced righteous in the judgment of God. Being pronounced righteous, however, is not the same, as I understand it, as being “reckoned” righteous (Rom. 4:3-10). If we are reckoned righteous on account of faith, and if faith brings us into union with Christ, then it is union with Christ that forms the context in which his righteousness is imputed to us. (I take this to be Calvin's position.) This imputation or communication of Christ's righteousness to us is real, not fictional, but it is also hidden (eschatologically) until the end of all things. We are not righteous because we are declared righteous. We are declared righteous because we are righteous -- because we have been made righteous in Christ. In the time between the times we are more perfectly in Christ than he is in us. Our righteousness is at once perfect and real (in Christ) and yet imperfect and in the process of realization (in us)”.[37]

            As such, progressive sanctification is clearly seen as an outworking of what we have received and will receive in the future. It is not the basis of future salvation.

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Conclusion

             The conclusion of this paper is that sanctification is not the basis of our standing before God in the last day because through Christ’s work of redemption, we have and continue to receive all that is necessary for us to stand before God as those who are blameless. It advocates the tenet that justification is that which makes us safe, while sanctification is that which makes us sound.

            In keeping with this theology, John R. W. Stott writes concerning 1 Peter 2:2:  “The great privilege of the child of God is relationship; his great responsibility is growth. Everybody loves children, but nobody in his right mind wants them to stay in the nursery. The tragedy, however, is that many Christians, born again in Christ, never grow up. Others even suffer from spiritual infantile regression. Our heavenly Father’s purpose, on the other hand, is that “babes in Christ” should become “mature in Christ.” Our birth must be followed by growth. The crisis of justification (our acceptance before God) must lead to the process of sanctification (our growth in holiness, what Peter terms “growing up to salvation” [1 Peter 2:2]” (Basic Christianity, p. 136).

            We would reject the interpretation of those who state that we must grow unto the attainment of our salvation (1 Pet. 2:2). The issue here being contention over the preposition “unto” (Greek eis = “in” “into” “unto” “with respect to” “among” and so on...). Two Bible professors have given their insights on the passage: 

            “When the Bible speaks of salvation it can include past, present and future aspects. For example,    1.  We have been saved (Eph.2:8)-this refers to our justification from the penalty of sin. 2.  We are being saved (1 Cor.1:18)-this refers to sanctification. We are being saved from the power of sin. 3.  We will be saved (Rom.13:11)- this refers to glorification. We will be saved from the presence of sin. This is why Paul could say in this verse that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Now, when you look at an individual reference to salvation, you must determine what aspect he is referring to. In 1 Pet.2:2 it appears that Peter is referring to the future aspect of salvation when the Lord returns. He has just referred to the coming of the Lord in 1:13. Secondly, the word translated “unto” salvation comes from the Greek word “eis” (pronounced “ace”). The Greek dictionary tells us that this can refer to a marker of goals. In other words, Christians are to be growing toward the ultimate goal of future salvation, or glorification. The verse is not teaching that you grow towards getting saved. They have already been born again (see 1:25). Now they are to grow in Christ likeness towards that future aspect of salvation when they will ultimately be completely like Christ when they are glorified. It is interesting to see how the New American Standard and the NIV translate it.  

NAS 1 Peter 2:2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
NIV 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,”[38]

             “Peter is all about growth as 2 Peter 3:18 indicates.  The NIV translation of 1 Pet. 2:2 is “that you may grow up into your salvation”--a good translation.   The idea of salvation is that there are past, present, and future aspects of it.  In 1 Pet. 2:2, the emphasis is to grow and develop as a believer (beginning as a ‘babe’) into the image of Christ.  Peter picks up this same concept in 2 Pet. 1:3-11.  In other words, the exhortation is to “LIVE OUT” the salvation we’ve received.  Often believers only view salvation as a past matter or an escape from hell.  It is so much more!   In other words, Peter is expressing the fact that we need to progressively and experiencially reflect the great salvation we have--enter into its present joy and the growth dimension designed by God for each of His children.    It is interesting that Paul in Romans describes salvation “from A to Z” and he takes his whole letter to do so.  Sometimes we’ve had a very simplistic or reductionistic approach to one of the vast areas of divine revelation.  The idea in Peter’s words is not that we “grow into salvation” but rather that we “grow up in our salvation.”   The whole matter is that of sanctification.”[39] 

            It is my prayer that this article will bring you assurance of salvation and the desire of the soul to experience the presence of our Lord and Saviour in our daily lives through His work of sanctification.  I graciously ask that you pray for me and all the authors contributing to this journal that we may do so as well.

Footnotes