What are the differences between justification and sanctification?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The Bible teaches that justification is God’s decisive, once-for-all declaration to make those who trust in Him righteous. At His death and resurrection, Jesus took our guilt, imputing His righteousness to all who place their faith in Him (Romans 4:24-25; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Sanctification flows from that verdict (Romans 6:22). Sanctification is the lifelong work of the Holy Spirit in believers, beginning at salvation and gradually reshaping how we think, live, and love to reflect Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:16).

Though we are completely forgiven and accepted the moment we trust in Jesus, we still battle sin on this earth as God patiently transforms us from the inside out (Romans 7:22-25). Justification changes our standing before God, while sanctification changes our daily walk with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 8;1). Together, justification and sanctification show that salvation is entirely God’s work—secured by grace and steadily worked out in lives that increasingly look like Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Because of sin (Genesis 3:6), we are born separated from God. We cannot put ourselves into right standing before God by anything we do because sin has already tainted everything we do (Isaiah 64:6).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Justification is a sinful person being declared righteous before a perfect, holy, and righteous God (Matthew 5:48). It is all about our standing before God and being declared either guilty or not guilty.
• The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). Our sin separates us from God, but through faith in Christ, we are justified.
• Without Christ, humankind could not reconcile themselves to God since we are all sinners (Romans 6:23).
• God's grace, not our works, saves those who trust in Him (Ephesians 2:1-10). "There is therefore now no condemnation" (Romans 8:1) for those who trust in Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ justifies us in the eyes of God.
• Once we are saved, our lives are transformed, the old passes away and the new person is born (2 Corinthians 5:17). As every Christian knows, the old self continues to try wrestling back control. The process of sanctification (and it is a process) is the manner in which the Holy Spirit transforms us to be like Jesus Christ.
• Sanctification is the process of being conformed to Christ's image (Romans 8:29), which takes place as we abide in Him (John 15).
• Because we live in a sinful world run by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) and because humans have a sinful nature, we are still tempted and deceived into sinful behavior even after we are saved (James 1:14-15; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Peter 5:8-11).
• The New Testament is replete with instructions to put sin to death, precisely because sin is still a problem for believers (Colossians 3:5-17; Romans 6—8). Paul wrote, "We all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). This is our sanctification, and it comes gradually and in ever-deeper layers.
• The process of sanctification is done by the Holy Spirit with our cooperation and leads to the fruit of the Spirit. Christians gradually become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, faithful, and more self-controlled; that they gradually are more like Christ (Galatians 5:22-23).
• The final stage of sanctification comes at our death. This is also referred to as glorification. When we pass on from this life, we pass into eternal life (John 3:15-16; Romans 2:7; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 1 Corinthians 15:42-45, 50-58). We will be free from the presence of sin.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Imagine you are guilty of murdering someone. Everyone knows you are guilty; you admitted your guilt and now you are standing before a judge who confirms your guilt and passes out a sentence of death. Just before they take you to be executed, someone stands up and says, "I will take the punishment for them!" This person didn't commit the crime, but the judge allows the substitutionary execution and you are set free. This is exactly what Jesus has done for you.

Believers have been “set free from sin” (Romans 6:7, 18)—from its control over us and the punishment that follows from it. Our justification leads to our sanctification; without the former, we cannot have the latter.

Sanctification includes definitive sanctification at conversion when we are set apart from sin, progressive sanctification as we grow throughout life in Christlikeness, and final sanctification (glorification) when we are made perfectly holy in God’s presence. Until our death, the Holy Spirit works within us to sanctify us and make us more like Jesus Christ. God ultimately does the work in our hearts, and we are called to cooperate in the process of sanctification. We do this through spiritual disciplines, such as consistent study of God's Word, time spent in prayer, and time spent with other Christians. We seek to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22), meaning we seek to obey God (John 14:15). We are incapable of making ourselves holy, but do participate in it.

Sanctification works at a different pace for everyone because everyone is different. But everyone who has put their faith in Jesus and thus has the indwelling Holy Spirit, regardless of pace, is being sanctified, becoming more like Christ, sinning less, and having their lives transformed from the inside out. Every one of us is called to cooperate with God in that process, putting our sin to death and putting on the "new self" in Christ (Ephesians 4:24).

UNDERSTAND

• Justification is a one-time legal declaration in which God, by grace through faith in Jesus, fully forgives our sin and declares us righteous before Him.
• Sanctification is a lifelong transforming process where the Holy Spirit makes believers more like Christ.
• Justification secures our standing; sanctification shapes our living.

REFLECT

• How does knowing you are fully justified in Christ affect how you respond when you struggle with ongoing sin?
• How are you intentionally cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s work to sanctify you into Christlikeness?
• How does resting in God’s declaration of righteousness free you to pursue spiritual growth without fear or shame?

ENGAGE

• How should understanding justification shape the way we view sanctification?
• What practices help us cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification?
• How do justification and sanctification together help us understand both assurance of salvation and the call to holiness?