Program / Course 10: Salvation and Eschatology / Lesson 3.4
What you will learn
- Define sanctification and holiness as the Bible uses the words.
- Explain theosis in the Orthodox tradition and what it does and does not claim.
- State how Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Wesleyan teaching describe growth in holiness.
- Compare the views on whether perfection is possible in this life.
The big idea
To sanctify is to make holy, to set apart for God. In Scripture it describes both a status given to God’s people and a growth in likeness to Christ. Christians agree that the saved are meant to become holy. They differ on how this relates to justification, how much can be achieved in this life, and what to call the goal. The Orthodox call it theosis, sharing in the life of God by grace. Wesleyans speak of Christian perfection, Reformed Christians of progressive sanctification, and Catholics of growth in charity.
Key terms
- Sanctification
- The process or state of being made holy. The word can refer to a person’s separation to God or to growth in holiness of life.
- Holiness
- Being set apart for God and reflecting his character. In Scripture, God alone is holy in himself, and his people are holy by his gift and calling.
- Theosis (deification)
- The Eastern teaching that human beings are called to share, by grace, in the life of God. It does not mean becoming God by nature.
- Divine energies
- In Orthodox theology, God’s activities in the world, which human beings can truly share, as distinct from God’s essence, which no creature can share.
- Progressive sanctification
- A Reformed phrase for the lifelong growth in holiness that follows justification.
- Christian perfection
- John Wesley’s term for a state in which the believer’s heart is filled with love of God and neighbor, without voluntary sin. Wesley did not mean sinless in every sense.
- Asceticism
- Disciplined practice such as prayer, fasting and almsgiving, by which Christians cooperate with grace.
Background
In the Old Testament, things and people are made holy by being set apart for God: the Sabbath, the priests, the temple. The command in Leviticus 19:2, “Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy,” connects holiness with moral life. In the New Testament, Paul addresses the Corinthians as “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2) even though they have many problems, and he also prays that God would sanctify the Thessalonians wholly (1 Thessalonians 5:23). So sanctification is both something already given and something still to be worked out.
Each tradition builds a pattern of the Christian life on these texts. They share a conviction that grace comes first and that the Spirit makes believers holy. They differ on questions of vocabulary, on how far holiness can progress in this life, and on how closely it is joined to the sacraments and to justification.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The biblical picture
Scripture speaks of holiness as a gift (“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,” 1 Corinthians 1:30) and as a task (“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” Hebrews 12:14). Peter writes that believers are made “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Paul speaks of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) and “changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
These texts suggest a movement that starts in grace, involves human effort, and leads toward a goal described in terms of likeness to Christ.
Step 2: Theosis in the Orthodox tradition
Irenaeus wrote that Christ became what human beings are in order to make them what he is. Athanasius put it in a sentence that Orthodox writers often repeat: God became man so that man might become god. Such sentences do not teach that human beings become divine in nature. Orthodox theology distinguishes the divine essence, which creatures never share, from the divine energies, which they do. Gregory Palamas, in the fourteenth century, defended this distinction in the debates over hesychast prayer.
Theosis begins at baptism and continues through prayer, the sacraments, repentance, fasting and love of neighbor. It is the purpose of creation and the content of salvation. It is attained by grace and by cooperation, never by effort alone, and it is completed in the resurrection. The Orthodox do not separate justification and sanctification; both are aspects of life in Christ.
Step 3: Catholic growth in charity
The Catechism teaches that sanctifying grace makes the soul a sharer in the divine life, and it quotes the same text of 2 Peter. Catholic tradition speaks of growth in the virtues, above all charity, through prayer, the sacraments and works of mercy. It speaks of the call of all to holiness, which the Second Vatican Council affirmed. After death, those who die in grace but not fully purified undergo purification, a teaching examined in a later lesson.
Catholic writers also use the word divinization. The Catechism says the Son of God became man so that human beings might become God, citing Athanasius and Aquinas. So there is real overlap with Eastern language, even though the philosophical frameworks differ.
Step 4: Lutheran and Reformed sanctification
The Lutheran confessions teach that the Holy Spirit renews the believer, so that good works follow, but they take care not to let sanctification threaten the comfort of justification. Believers remain at once righteous and sinners in this life, and they daily return to repentance and baptism.
Reformed teachers speak of sanctification as a work of God’s free grace, by which believers are renewed in the whole person after the image of God and enabled more and more to die to sin and live to righteousness (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 35). It is progressive and incomplete in this life, and it flows from union with Christ. Reformed Christians also give much weight to the law as a guide to holiness.
Step 5: Wesleyan perfection and holiness traditions
Wesley taught that God intends a real change in the believer. He called its fullness Christian perfection or entire sanctification: a heart wholly given to love of God and neighbor. He denied that this means freedom from ignorance, mistakes or temptation, and said that even the perfected need Christ’s atonement. He hoped for it in this life, through faith, usually after a time of growth, though sometimes in an instant.
Other Protestants have objected that Scripture shows sin persisting in believers to the end (1 John 1:8). Wesleyans reply that Wesley’s definition concerns voluntary transgression of a known law of God and the dominance of love. The question remains a lively difference among Protestants.
- How can Paul call the Corinthians holy and also correct their sins?
- What does it mean to share in God’s life without becoming God?
- Is growth in holiness more like healing, like training, or like something else?
- What would be lost if sanctification were separated entirely from justification?
- Does the claim of Christian perfection seem hopeful or dangerous? Why?
- How do prayer, fasting and the sacraments belong to the pursuit of holiness in each tradition?
Examples
Athanasius’s sentence
A student meets the line that God became man so that man might become god. She is startled, since it sounds like heresy. Her teacher explains that the line is about sharing by grace what Christ has by nature, as in 2 Peter 1:4, and not about replacing the Creator. She finds the same idea in Catholic and Orthodox texts.
A daily practice
In many traditions, a daily examination of conscience or evening prayer helps a person notice growth and failure. A Lutheran might return to the promise of baptism, a Catholic to the sacrament of confession, and a Reformed Christian to the Word and prayer. Each seeks sanctification, with different practices. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Orthodox
Theosis is the goal of human life: to be united with God and to share in his uncreated energies, without losing one’s own created nature. It is pursued through the sacraments, prayer, repentance and love, and it is completed in the resurrection.
Catholic
Sanctifying grace makes the soul a participant in the divine life. All Christians are called to holiness, which grows through charity, the sacraments and prayer. The saints show what grace can do. Catholics can speak of divinization in terms close to the Eastern tradition.
Lutheran
The Holy Spirit sanctifies by the Word and sacraments. The believer’s life is a daily return to baptism and a growth in good works as fruit of faith. Sanctification is real but never a ground of confidence before God, which is Christ’s righteousness alone.
Reformed
Sanctification is progressive. It is a work of the Spirit by which believers are enabled more and more to die to sin and live to righteousness. It is incomplete in this life, and its completion comes at death or resurrection. It rests on union with Christ.
Arminian and Wesleyan
Believers are called to holiness of heart and life, and Wesleyan teachers hold that entire sanctification is possible in this life by grace through faith, as a heart filled with perfect love. It is always dependent on Christ and does not remove the need to grow.
Why it matters
Churches differ in how they describe the Christian life, but all say that it is meant to change people. A student who understands the vocabulary can read prayers, hymns and sermons from other traditions with sympathy. The doctrine also supplies a test for any claim about salvation: whether it takes seriously both the free gift of grace and the call to be transformed.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Theosis means that humans become God.
Correction: Orthodox teaching holds that creatures share by grace in what God is, but never become God in essence. The distinction between essence and energies guards the difference between Creator and creature.
Misunderstanding: Protestants have no doctrine of holiness.
Correction: Protestant confessions teach sanctification as the necessary work of the Spirit. They differ from Catholics and Orthodox on how it relates to justification, not on whether it matters.
Misunderstanding: Wesley taught that Christians can become sinless.
Correction: Wesley taught that love can fill the heart so that no voluntary sin rules. He allowed that infirmities, errors and temptations remain and that the perfected need the atonement.
Misunderstanding: Catholics treat holiness as a series of rules.
Correction: Catholic teaching describes holiness as the growth of charity by grace. Rules and practices serve love.
Knowledge check
What does sanctification mean in the Bible?
It means being set apart for God and made holy. In the New Testament believers are called sanctified already in Christ, and are also exhorted to pursue holiness. So the word covers both a status given by God and a growth in likeness to Christ, which Christians believe the Spirit produces.
What does theosis mean, and what does it not mean?
Theosis means sharing, by grace, in the life of God, through union with Christ. It does not mean becoming God in essence. Orthodox theology distinguishes God’s essence, which creatures cannot share, from his energies, in which they can share. It begins in baptism and is completed in the resurrection.
How do Reformed churches describe sanctification?
They describe it as a work of God’s grace by which believers are renewed in the whole person and enabled more and more to die to sin and live to righteousness. It is progressive and incomplete in this life, follows from union with Christ, and is distinguished from, though always joined with, justification.
What did Wesley mean by Christian perfection?
He meant a heart wholly filled with love of God and neighbor, so that no voluntary sin governs the person. He denied that it means freedom from ignorance, error or temptation, or that the perfected no longer need Christ’s atonement. He thought it could be received in this life, by faith.
Think it through
- Which image of holiness appeals to you more: being healed, being trained, or being united to God? What does each leave out?
- How might hoping for perfection differ from expecting it?
- What do you think Paul meant by calling the Corinthians holy?
Independent assignment
Five accounts of growth
In your notebook, write 400 to 600 words. For each tradition (Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Wesleyan), write two sentences explaining how it describes growth in holiness, using words that tradition would use. Then write one paragraph identifying a practice, such as prayer, fasting or the Eucharist, that two or more traditions share, and note how each explains its purpose.
Further study
- Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word Look for the passage on God becoming man that man might become divine.
- Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church Read the chapters on the divine energies and on deification.
- John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions Read the sermon on Christian perfection.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the section on the vocation to holiness.
- Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith Read the chapter on sanctification.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23 The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.
- 2 Peter 1:4 Partakers of the divine nature.
- Hebrews 12:14 Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.