4. Justification and Sanctification
Rev Roderick Macleod
The Shorter Catechism answer which deals with the misery of a life, a death and an endless eternity without sanctification is one of the most solemn statements we shall ever read or hear: “What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever” (Q & A 19).
The consequences of making a mistake in this matter are tragic. The blessed happiness of a glorious eternity with Christ will be lost; and the tragic loss of one’s soul in a state of eternal fury against Almighty God, while He inflicts divine vengeance, which is perfectly just, unutterably awful and certainly warrantable.
One of the commonest soul-ruining mistakes made by fallen mankind is for someone to think that he is justified (has been declared righteous), because he is “not as other men are” (Lk 18:11). In other words, if left to ourselves, we will assume that, in order to be justified, one must be sanctified. The biblical doctrine is that one must be first justified, in order to be sanctified thereafter. The salvation of which justification is a part does not at once remove the carnal mind or prevent the carnal mind acting according to its own nature, but it terminates the unopposed tyranny of the carnal mind over the soul, and brings an end to the dominion of that desperately wicked principle which is “enmity against God”, which “is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom 8:7).
Though sanctification and justification are inseparably united, they are
1Based on some of the material presented to the 2018 Theological Conference. This is the final article. Last month’s article considered sanctification “in the light of the last things”.
different things. If, as John Brown of Haddington said, “the surety-righteousness of Christ imputed is the matter of our justification: [and if] the grace of God infused, stirred up by God and acted by us, is the matter of our sanctification”; then we affirm that, while they cannot be separated, they must be distinguished. If, on the one hand, justification is a judicial act, declaring one to be in possession of a perfect righteousness on account of the imputed righteousness of Christ; and if, on the other hand, sanctification is not at once perfect and one can be more sanctified or less sanctified, then we must allow that justification and sanctification are different concepts. Yet while they differ, they are never separate; both deal with sin. But they deal with different aspects of sin.
The Shorter Catechism answer which deals with “the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell” (Ans 18) teaches us to think of two aspects of the sinfulness of our sins. We should distinguish the “corruption of [our] whole nature, which is commonly called original sin”, from “all actual transgressions which proceed from it”. The first refers to the unholiness of our sinful natures; the second refers to sins that we have done and the guilt of them. Justification deals with the guilt of all our sins, both original and actual. The sacrifice of Christ is the “fountain opened for sin and uncleanness”. Sanctification deals with the corruption of our whole nature: not the guilt of its sinfulness but the very existence of it, as a fountain of all moral uncleanness in us. By sanctification the corruption of our whole nature is addressed, and finally every hateful brat that it ever spawned, in fellowship with hell, will become extinct. Justification is instantaneous; it is perfect at once. Sanctification involves a long and bitter war, a crucifying of the old man with its affections and lusts. So we affirm that justification and sanctification are different things.
Nothing can change the fact that we have been deeply involved in sinning against the High and Holy One. We cannot change that fact. In justification, God removes the guilt of original sin and of actual transgression. Though His people, as others, are ripe for hell, the Son of God falls from His right to take holy, just vengeance upon them, and falls in with the Father in electing to receive the dreadful strokes of the sword of vengeance and make satisfaction to divine justice for their sins. The believer can sing with Isaiah: “O Lord, I will praise thee, though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me” (Is 12:1).
Though they have done nothing to deserve it and much to provoke Him, He revokes the sentences passed upon them. Though in them, that is in their flesh, there dwells no good thing, He freely blots out, as a thick cloud, the transgressions of those who have fled to Christ for refuge and, as a cloud,
their sins, and He declares the ground of their condemnation to be removed. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past finding out!” (Rom 11:33). Happy is that man who accepts the terms of this blood-bought peace with God and casts himself into the extended arms of the mercy of God in a free, gracious sentence of justification.
This doctrine of a free pardon for past and future sins does not leave converts free to sin with impunity. No, they sin, but they do not sin freely. From the moment of their conversion they have a new, holy nature so that the soul does not sin without opposition. Some Antinomians may say that they are justified, though they continue to make a trade of sin. But a sinner’s justification is evidenced in his sanctification.
We have viewed justification and sanctification as different concepts, not as separate concepts. God has joined them together in the scheme of salvation. The truly justified sinner rejoices in a free justification, but he mourns for the corruption of his whole nature and he hungers and thirsts for holiness, desiring to bear fruit to the glory of God: “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples” (Jn 15:8). Those who possess the smallest measure of spiritual fruit that evidences their justification, the Lord Jesus calls “the excellent, in whom is all My delight” (Ps 16:3). He says of His near relation to them: “Unto Me happily the lines in pleasant places fell, / Yea, the inheritance I got in beauty doth excel” (Ps 16:6, metrical). Zephaniah speaks of God’s delight in them in the most uncommon terms: not only, “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save,” but “He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph 3:17). The Holy Spirit calls this spiritual fruit “the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning” (Ps 110:3).
Here is an abridgement of John Brown of Haddington’s comparison between justification and sanctification: In justification, the love of God and the righteousness of Christ are manifested to us. In sanctification, our love to God and our grateful obedience appear. In justification, God in His love removes the guilt of sin, as a crime; in sanctification, as a medicine – He removes the filth and power of it, as it is a mortal disease. Justification delivers us from the curse of the law and a broken covenant: Sanctification conforms us to the law as a rule of life. Justification delivers us from the avenging wrath of God, and accepts us in the Beloved. Sanctification conforms us to His image. Justification frees us from all liability to the punishment of hell and entitles us to the happiness of heaven. Sanctification frees us from the pollution and slavery of our lusts and prepares us for heaven.
Is there any need for such distinctions? Yes, error has made them most
necessary. Should anyone reverse, confuse or confound the nature of justification and of sanctification, he will fall into serious error. And if it does not result in his everlasting ruin, it will result in his being unable to interpret his experience, and he will walk all his days in the bondage of legal doubts about his state for eternity.
The Larger Catechism asks, “Wherein do justification and sanctification differ?” and it answers, “Although sanctification be inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in that God in justification imputeth the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification His Spirit infuseth grace, and enableth to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is pardoned; in the other, it is subdued: the one doth equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation; the other is neither equal in all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection” (Q & A 77). To think that one is justified because he is holy is a common, subtle heresy.