A Bogus Argument on Justification Versus Sanctification
by Terry Wane Benton
A recent post I saw said that justification is instantaneous, covering all past, present, and future sins in one act of God, that it is once for all and requires no effort from us, and then the man argued that sanctification demands a lifelong effort of work to be pleasing to God. I asked the man if we can be justified (forgiven all past, present, and future sins) once for all and remain justified if we did not want to do the work of sanctification as he defined it. Wouldn’t his version of justification take care of me not wanting his version of sanctification? So, sanctification becomes optional and actually unnecessary if his version of justification is true. We can be justified forever and go to heaven without the work of sanctification if he is correct.
He saw the tangled weave of his bogus doctrine of justification versus sanctification and decided to deflect and eventually go silent. My question exposed the serious flaw in his Calvinistic view of justification as no-effort, and then the phony view that sanctification is a separate matter you have to “work” hard to attain and maintain. If sanctification is necessary to go to heaven, then justification does not give one a “once-saved-always-saved” standing. If justification gives one a “once-saved-always-saved” standing before and without sanctification, then one can go to heaven without ever being sanctified. If he backpedals and tries to make sanctification necessary for salvation and going to heaven, then justification does not occur until the work of sanctification is completed. He has now shot himself in the foot, and hops on the other foot, and then shoots that foot. Thus, he has no leg to stand on. His doctrine of justification is bogus, and so is his doctrine of sanctification. Calvinism is bogus!
What Does the Bible Say?
Justification does not happen without sanctification, and both happen at the same moment. There is washing away of sins, justification, and sanctification (set apart to God and holiness) that happens at the same moment (Acts 22:16; I Corinthians 6:8-10). One does not happen apart from the others. At the moment God washes us at faith-driven baptism, He justifies us from all our past sins. Justification and forgiveness of past sins are conditional on our repentance, and repentance means we determine to leave sin, unite with God, and bury the old self with Jesus in baptism done in His name (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-6). Thus, the moment God justifies us, He also sanctifies and washes us. One does not happen if the other two things are not happening. The moment the 3000 were baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins (past sins), they were washed, justified, and sanctified (I Corinthians 6:8-10). “You were (past tense) washed, were justified, were sanctified.”
The idea that once one is justified, it is for even our future sins is a bogus doctrine. Justification is based on our actual sins, not an automatic covering for future sins. We get future sins covered only as we face them and confess them (Acts 8:20-24; I John 1:7-9). Justification remains ours as long as we remain faithful to Jesus. It does not remain ours if we turn away from Him and go back into the mire of sin (II Peter 2:20ff). We are washed to now live a committed life of spiritual growth. If we stop growing, we stop utilizing the blood that washes us. If there is no sanctification, there is no justification, and the washing is no longer ours to claim. Do not be deceived by the bogus doctrine that justification requires no effort and that sanctification requires a lot of work. It is a tangled weave of self-deception!
