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2. THE SACRAMENTS.
These are the means par excellence according to the Church of Rome.
Protestants regard them as subordinate to the Word of God, and sometimes even speak of
them as the “visible Word.” They symbolize and seal to us the same truths that are verbally
expressed in the Word of God, and may be regarded as an acted word, containing a lively
representation of the truth, which the Holy Spirit makes the occasion for holy exercises. They
are not only subordinate to the Word of God, but cannot exist without it, and are therefore
always accompanied by it, Rom. 6:3; I Cor. 12:13; Tit. 3:5; I Pet, 3:21.
3. PROVIDENTIAL GUIDANCE.
God’s providences, both favorable and adverse, are often
powerful means of sanctification. In connection with the operation of the Holy Spirit through
the Word, they work on our natural affections and thus frequently deepen the impression of
religious truth and force it home. It should be borne in mind that the light of God’s revelation is
necessary for the interpretation of His providential guidances, Ps. 119:71; Rom. 2:4; Heb. 12:10.
G. RELATION OF SANCTIFICATION TO OTHER STAGES IN THE ORDO SALUTIS.
It is of considerable importance to have a correct conception of the relation between
sanctification and some of the other stages in the work of redemption.
1. TO REGENERATION.
There is both difference and similarity here. Regeneration is completed
at once, for a man cannot be more or less regenerated; he is either dead or alive spiritually.
Sanctification is a process, bringing about gradual changes, so that different grades may be
distinguished in the resulting holiness. Hence we are admonished to perfect holiness in the fear
of the Lord, II Cor. 7:1. The Heidelberg Catechism also presupposes that there are degrees of
holiness, when it says that even “the holiest men, when in this life, have only a small beginning
of this obedience.”[Q. 114.] At the same time regeneration is the beginning of sanctification.
The work of renewal, begun in the former, is continued in the latter, Phil. 1:6. Strong says: “It
(sanctification) is distinguished from regeneration as growth from birth, or as the strengthening
of a holy disposition from the original impartation of it.”[Syst. Theol., p. 871.]
2. TO JUSTIFICATION.
Justification precedes and is basic to sanctification in the covenant of
grace. In the covenant of works the order of righteousness and holiness was just the reverse.
Adam was created with a holy disposition and inclination to serve God, but on the basis of this
holiness he had to work out the righteousness that would entitle him to eternal life.
Justification is the judicial basis for sanctification. God has the right to demand of us holiness of
life, but because we cannot work out this holiness for ourselves, He freely works it within us
through the Holy Spirit on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to us
in justification. The very fact that it is based on justification, in which the free grace of God
stands out with the greatest prominence, excludes the idea that we can ever merit anything in