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the soul is concerned —, then in such cases the sanctification of the soul must be completed
almost at once.
4. The sanctification of the believer must, it would seem, be completed either at the very
moment of death, or immediately after death, as far as the soul is concerned, and at the
resurrection in so far as it pertains to the body. This would seem to follow from that fact that,
on the one hand, the Bible teaches that in the present life no one can claim freedom from sin, I
Kings 8:46; Prov. 20:9; Rom. 3:10,12; Jas. 3:2; I John 1:8; and that, on the other hand, those who
have gone before are entirely sanctified. It speaks of them as “the spirits of just men made
perfect,” Heb. 12:23, and as “without blemish,” Rev. 14:5. Moreover, we are told that in the
heavenly city of God there shall in no wise enter “anything unclean or he that maketh an
abomination and a lie,” Rev. 21:27; and that Christ at His coming will “fashion anew the body of
our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory,” Phil. 3:21.
F. THE AUTHOR AND MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.
Sanctification is a work of the triune God, but is ascribed more particularly to the Holy Spirit in
Scripture, Rom. 8:11; 15:16; I Pet. 1:2. It is particularly important in our day, with its emphasis
on the necessity of approaching the study of theology anthropologically and its one-sided call to
service in the kingdom of God, to stress the fact that God, and not man, is the author of
sanctification. Especially in view of the Activism that is such a characteristic feature of American
religious life, and which glorifies the work of man rather than the grace of God, it is necessary
to stress the fact over and over again that sanctification is the fruit of justification, that the
former is simply impossible without the latter, and that both are the fruits of the grace of God
in the redemption of sinners. Though man is privileged to co-operate with the Spirit of God, he
can do this only in virtue of the strength which the Spirit imparts to him from day to day. The
spiritual development of man is not a human achievement, but a work of divine grace. Man
deserves no credit whatsoever for that which he contributes to it instrumentally. In so far as
sanctification takes place in the subconscious life, it is effected by the immediate operation of
the Holy Spirit. But as a work in the conscious life of believers it is wrought by several means,
which the Holy Spirit employs.
1. THE WORD OF GOD.
In opposition to the Church of Rome it should be maintained that the
principal means used by the Holy Spirit is the Word of God. The truth in itself certainly has no
adequate efficiency to sanctify the believer, yet it is naturally adapted to be the means of
sanctification as employed by the Holy Spirit. Scripture presents all the objective conditions for
holy exercises and acts. It serves to excite spiritual activity by presenting motives and
inducements, and gives direction to it by prohibitions, exhortations, and examples, I Pet. 1:22;
2:2; II Pet. 1:4.