Walking Through Westminster, WCF 13.1-3 "Of Sanctification"

Westminster Confession of Faith 13. 1-3

I. They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them: the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

II. This sanctification is throughout, in the whole man; yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part; whence arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

III. In which war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail; yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part does overcome; and so, the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 Summary

All those whom God has chosen, called, and regenerated, He will also sanctify. The word "sanctify" means "to set apart" or "to make holy". So God determines to not only call His people and regenerate them, but He does these things in order to make them holy. It is important to note that God is the one doing the sanctifying. Sanctification is not where God abandons His people to their own devices. It is not as though God justifies a person, makes them born again, and then leaves them to figure out the rest on their own. Rather, the work is all of God, from beginning to end.

What does it look like to be sanctified? First, the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed. This means that the dominion of sin over the human soul is undone. Mankind in his fallen state is under a yoke of bondage, unable and unwilling to do anything but sin. But when God calls us to Himself, that yoke of bondage is destroyed in such a way that we become able and willing to not sin. This happens instantaneously, the moment that the sinner is converted. While this does not destroy all sin within the human soul, the power of those lusts are weakened and put to death with time as the Christian walks in grace and the Spirit's power. The Christian becomes stronger and stronger in true holiness, and weaker and weaker in sin. 

While the Christian may make more or less progress in their pursuit of holiness, they will always remain imperfect in this life. Remnants of sin's corruption will continue in every part of the person (the mind, body, will, etc.) The continued existence of these remnants of sin, combined with the Spirit's presence in the soul of the Christian, leads to an irreconcilable conflict in the soul of the Christian. Paul describes this conflict in Romans 7, which is worth your personal reading. Paul says therein, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I want to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." The Christian now has the desire and the ability to do good, but the remnant of sin within us means that we do not always do what we know we should; we still sin, as our lusts resist the Spirit and the Spirit within us wars against our lusts. 

In this irreconcilable conflict, the Christian has ups and downs, wins and losses. The reality is that a Christian may be, for a time, overcome by their lusts and the power of sin still within them. A Christian may, for a time, backslide into old sinful habits or practices. They may even appear to have given up on Christ completely. But if God has called them, He has promised to never give them up. If they are truly God's children, He will always call them back, no matter how long He may allow them to stray.

The English reformer, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, jailed and under punishment of death, recanted all of his Reformed beliefs and confessed his teachings as sin. By all accounts, he had returned to the church of Rome as a corrected son, and had given up on true Bible religion. But Mary was determined to see him burn, in spite of his recantations. On the day he was to die, Cranmer stood in front of University Church at St. Mary's to issue a full, public recantation of his teachings. Instead, he recanted of his recantations, declaring all of them invalid and reasserting his belief in the Bible. Although it seemed Cranmer had totally backslidden, yet in his dying day, he returned to the true faith of Christ and admirably embraced the martyr's death that God had put before him, and entered into glory.

This reality should give us both caution and hope. Caution, that we not dismiss everyone who backslides as a hopeless unbeliever. When someone goes astray it is easy to be cynical and lose hope for them. But God would teach us through examples like Cranmer that, until death, no one is truly beyond the hope of returning to Christ. Even if we are the guilty party, and we are wholly uninterested in the things of God, and wonder if we are even Christians anymore, we can still hold out hope for ourselves that God will, in due time, restore us to the joy of salvation and not cast us off.

+ Blessings in Christ +