What is the Reformed Doctrine of Sanctification?
Christians are saved by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. But once they become believers, they begin the process of becoming more and more holy. This process is called sanctification.
Sanctified by Faith or by Works?
We are saved by faith. But what about sanctification? Isn’t that accomplished by our efforts of obedience? Many would say so. But our obedience is the expression of this change; the change itself happens by faith. In other words, we are sanctified by the gospel. It is by beholding Jesus Christ in the gospel that we are transformed from one degree of glory to the next (2 Cor 3:12-4:6). This is why Satan opposes, above all else, our simple trust in Jesus. For that is how we grow mighty in grace.
A Reformed Doctrine
This way of seeing sanctification is consistent with Reformed theology. God is the One who saves us; he is also the One who changes us. He doesn’t justify and then leave the rest to us. It is all gospel work through and through. “Holiness,” writes John Owen, “is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls.”