I once heard a well-known Reformed theologian say, “Justification is by faith alone, but sanctification is a cooperative effort.” That is a dangerous misunderstanding. Sanctifcation, like justification, is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
On the surface, it may seem obvious to some that sanctification not only is but must be a cooperative effort between ourselves and God. We are, after all, active in it. We are always striving to do good works, to correct and purify our thoughts according to the truth of God, to put away evil passions and desires, and to live according to his word. We know that we need God’s help, and we pray to him for it, but we also know that we cannot become holy without strenuous effort. “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:26–27). No doubt, this is what the Reformed theologian had in mind when he said that sanctification is a cooperative effort.
Furthermore, when we consider the means of justification, we do not perhaps see this strenuous effort. The whole point of justification is that we receive it simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the promises of God. We do not add to that believing the doing of good works. We believe and receive. We trust and God gives the knowledge and assurance that he has forgiven our sins in our Lord Jesus Christ.
What then is the problem with saying that sanctification is cooperative? The problem is that our salvation, which includes both justification and sanctification, becomes in part our work. Salvation is no longer by grace alone. “If by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work” (Rom. 11:6).
The well-known passage in Ephesians 2 speaks well to this point. We use it all the time to prove that salvation is by grace, but we do not always seem to remember that Paul does not say there that justification is by grace. Salvation—all of it—is by grace through faith: ”by grace you have been saved.”
In the context Paul teaches us from what God has saved us. We were dead in trespasses and sins, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, by nature children of wrath. That is all about the bondage, not the guilt of sin. Therefore also, Paul does not say in verse 4 that God justified us or forgave our sins, but that he “made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” That is the work of regeneration, the transforming us to be new creatures, the beginning of our sanctification. We are no longer dead in sins but dead to sin and alive to righteousness. “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness” (Rom. 6:22).
“By grace you have been saved, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (v.10). “Saved” includes sanctification. In fact, in the context it is the work of Christ in us, not for us, that Paul has in mind. Regeneration and sanctification and glorification are by grace through faith. That (the whole package, saved by grace through faith) is not of ourselves.
Finally, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” This is especially important. The word translated “prepared beforehand” is similar in meaning to “predestined,” but carries, I think the additional connotation of God predestining in detail. He foreordained our good works in all their parts and aspects. And he carries out his purpose in our lives—“that we should walk in them.” Our good works are his doing.
Many other passages show us that sanctification is God’s work. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by Your truth” (Jn. 17:17). We are sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2). “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 6:11). He sanctifies and cleanses his church by the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26). Paul prayed, “May the God of peace sanctify you completely” (1 Thes. 5:23). “By that will [the will of God] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). Jesus sanctified the people with his own blood (Heb. 13:12). Jude sent his letter to those “who are called, sanctified by God the Father” (Jude 1:1). Jesus redeems us from every lawless deed and purifies for himself his own special people, zealous for good works (Tit. 2:14). Jeremiah prayed, “Restore me, and I will return… Surely, after my turning I repented; and after I was instructed I struck myself on the thigh” (Jer. 31:18–19). The words “restore,” “return,” and “turning” are all the same word in the Hebrew.
But then what about all the strenuous activity of sanctifying ourselves? Are the Scriptures in these passages teaching us that we need not make any effort to do good? Will it happen to us if we only believe that it will? Can we just sit back and wait for God? What about the Scriptural commands to do good works, to repent, to sanctify ourselves, circumcise our hearts, turn from evil, put on the new man, and a thousand others? Do not all these show us that sanctification is after all a cooperative effort? Or should we simply ask for sanctification and then let God do the rest? Is Christian living as easy as asking and receiving?
No. No. No. You must work, struggle, fight the good fight, and make war on the flesh and all its works. You must put on the new man and put off the old. You must run the race and suffer many things to achieve the crown. “Work out your own salvation… for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13). Press on to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of you. Reach forward to those things which are ahead. Press toward the goal (Phil. 2:12–14).
But this great struggle is all a struggle of faith. We are not little engines that can; we are ruined engines that can’t. And so, in faith, we turn to God and say, “What I cannot do, you can. Work in me both to will and to do. Save me from myself.” Faith is not a work, but inherently a rejection of works. It never says simply, “I can.” It always says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It seeks Christ who is our all in all, our wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. It is with sanctification as with justification—by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
He is the Lord who sanctifies us (Exod. 31:13), but he does not do it as we sit passively waiting. He does it as we seek him strenuously by faith in Christ Jesus and in his promises. And when at last we receive the crown that does not fade, we do not say, “At last I have done it,” but instead, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.”