Word & Sacrament - Gospel Sanctification

My concern is for the many out there (including myself), the often confused and wondering, asking...

how do we live this Christian life?  If you haven't struggled with this, then you're not paying attention to your own conscience and how you fall short of true holiness every single day...

Continuing with sanctification.... I asked a number of questions in this article that could be summed up simply as, "How does the Holy Spirit sanctify the redeemed in the course of their earthly sojourn?"  Depending on one's school of theological presuppositions, that can be answered in different ways.  For the Deeper Life folks sanctification occurs through experiencing the inward Christ, i.e. a mystical encounter.  Others may hold to the idea of sanctifying merit through good works aided by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. Both these and other like approaches, unfortunately, turn one's eyes inward and away from Christ crucified as offered in the gospel.

What is so striking to me is that when sanctification is discussed it is almost always in the context of the believer's individual walk with the Lord, alone... out there in the world, by himself. Though that's a part of the picture, it is incomplete, for ... Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph.5:25-27).  When Christians gather for worship on the Lord's day, it is then and there that God meets them, ministers to them, nourishes and cleanses them unto sanctification by his Word and Sacrament.  That intersection of heaven and earth the bruised reeds whom he has chosen can take to the bank!

In the Old Testament there were daily sacrifices of a lamb, morning and evening, for cleansing and purging the sins of the covenant people of Israel.  And on the Sabbath day those sacrifices were doubled!  Those doubled sacrifices pointed forward to the fulfillment and efficacy of Jesus' cleansing blood for the sanctification of the people of God as offered in Word and Sacrament each Lord's day.  No striving.  No need to produce sinless works.  No mystical experiences to acquire.

On that day, the preached Word - law and gospel - again, rightly diagnoses our infirmity, i.e. the sin and stain that still touches every thought, word, and deed... yes even our very soul - and proclaims the blood of the Lamb which speaks of Jesus taking away our sins and in exchange imputing to us his righteousness. Hearing with faith and repentance we come to that fount for the purging of sin, shame and guilt as the Spirit applies Christ's merit of obedience and the power of his blood to our consciences. In the Lord's Supper believers are freely offered the bread and wine, Jesus' body and blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood (1662 BCP).  God proclaims and communicates this authoritatively and efficaciously by his Spirit through the means of his Word and Sacrament. And this double sanctifying grace of the gospel is received (upon hearing, eating and drinking) through simple faith with thanksgiving in Christ alone.

Going forth, then, into the week with various vocations, having been cleansed and strengthened in faith, we are assured that our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus, continues to plead in heaven his sanctifying blood on our behalf. Then, as guilty stains of the flesh and dust of the world again begin to cling to us, Let us [again and again] therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need... with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water (Heb. 4:16; 10:22).

More from John Owen's Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit -

This whole matter of sanctification and holiness is peculiarly joined with and limited unto the doctrine, truth, and grace of the gospel; for holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls...

The “law,” indeed, for certain ends, “was given by Moses,” but all “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” There neither is, nor ever was, in the world, nor ever shall be, the least dram of holiness, but what, flowing from Jesus Christ, is communicated by the Spirit, according to the truth and promise of the gospel.

(1.) He requires nothing of us (which we had all the reason in the world to expect that he would) to make atonement or satisfaction for our sins...

(2.) He requireth nothing of us in a way of righteousness for our justification for the future. That this also he would have done we might have justly expected; for a righteousness we must have, or we cannot be accepted with him... Neither is there any mention in the whole gospel of God’s requiring a righteousness in us upon the account whereof we should be justified before him, or in his sight; for the justification by works mentioned in James consists in the evidencing and declaration of our faith by them. 

(3.) God requireth not anything of us whereby we should purchase or merit for ourselves life and salvation: for “by grace are we saved through faith; not of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2:8,9...

God, therefore, requires nothing at our hands under this notion or consideration, nor is it possible that in our condition any such thing should be required of us; for whatever we can do is due beforehand on other accounts, and so can have no prospect to merit what is to come. Who can merit by doing his duty? Our Savior doth so plainly prove the contrary as none can farther doubt of it than of his truth and authority, Luke 17:10...

Moreover, where sanctification is enjoined us as our duty, it is prescribed under this notion of cleansing ourselves from sin: “Wash you, make you clean,” Isaiah 1:16. “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved,” Jeremiah 4:14. “Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”...

Nothing do they more earnestly labor after in their prayers and supplications than a cleansing from it by the blood of Christ, nor are any promises more precious unto them than those which express their purification and purging from it; for these are they which, next unto their interest in the atonement made by the sacrifice of Christ, give them boldness in their approaches unto God. So our apostle fully expresseth it, Hebrews 10:19-22: “Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water...”

The foundation of all our confidence in our access unto God, the right and title we have to approach unto him, is laid in the blood of Christ, the sacrifice he offered, the atonement he made, and the remission of sins which he obtained thereby: which effect of it he declares, verse 19, “Having boldness by the blood of Jesus.” The way of our access is by pleading an interest in his death and suffering, whereby an admission and acceptance is consecrated for us: Verse 20, “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated.” And our encouragement to make use of this foundation and to engage in this way is taken from his discharge of the office of a high priest in our behalf: ‘“Having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near...”

But besides all this, when we come to an actual address unto God, that we may make use of the boldness given us in the full assurance of faith, it is moreover required that “our hearts be sprinkled, and our bodies washed;” — that is, that our whole persons be purified from the defilement of sin by the sanctification of the Spirit... 

So is it in the gospel, where the blood of Christ is said to “purge” our sins with respect to guilt, and to “wash” our souls with respect to filth.

Sanctified by the blood of Christ through faith...

Sanctification... by good works?... by works and grace?...  Sanctification... becoming more holy - through increased holy acts?... by becoming less of a sinner?  Does what started out through faith alone in Christ alone by God's grace alone now switch over to us, our efforts, our faithfulness and works in sanctification?  Or are we still sinners... recipients who receive, through faith, the virtue of Jesus' death and resurrection in our sanctification (WCF 13.1) as we did, through faith, in our justification?  In other words, is that which justifies the believer the same which sanctifies him? Or more specifically, being that we are justified by his blood (Rom.5:9), is it also the blood of Christ shed for sinners that sanctifies in this life?

Some words of  John Owen on the subject.  He is a bit difficult to read but well worth the effort, especially here concerning the office of the Holy Spirit, the blood of Christ, and the instrument of faith in our sanctification.

From the Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit by John Owen:

Therefore, by the blood of Christ herein is intended the blood of his sacrifice, with the power, virtue, and efficacy thereof. And the blood of a sacrifice fell under a double consideration:-- (1.) As it was offered unto God to make atonement and reconciliation; (2.) As it was sprinkled on other things for their purging and sanctification. Part of the blood in every propitiatory sacrifice was still to be sprinkled round about the altar, Lev. i. 11; and in the great sacrifice of expiation, some of the blood of the bullock was to be sprinkled before the mercy-seat seven times, chap. xvi. 14. This our apostle fully expresseth in a great and signal instance: Heb. ix. 19, 20, 22, "When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. ... And almost all things are by the law purged with blood." Wherefore, the blood of Christ, as it was the blood of his sacrifice, hath these two effects, and falls under this double consideration:-(1.) As he offered himself by the eternal Spirit unto God to make an atonement for sin, and procure eternal redemption; (2.) As it is sprinkled by the same Spirit on the consciences of believers, to purge them from dead works, as Heb. ix. 12-14. And hence it is called, with respect unto our sanctification, "The blood of sprinkling," chap. xii. 24; for we have the "sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," 1 Pet. i. 2.

2. The blood of Christ in his sacrifice is still always and continually in the same condition, of the same force and efficacy, as it was in that hour wherein it was shed. The blood of other sacrifices was always to be used immediately upon its effusion; for if it were cold and congealed it was of no use to be offered or to be sprinkled. Blood was appointed to make atonement, as the life or animal spirits were in it, Lev. xvii. 11. But the blood of the sacrifice of Christ is always hot and warm, having the same spirits of life and sanctification still moving in it. Hence the zosa kai prosphatos, Heb. x. 20, -- always living, and yet always as newly slain. Every one, therefore, who at any time hath an especial actual interest in the blood of Christ, as sacrificed, hath as real a purification from the defilement of sin as he had typically who stood by the priest and had blood or water sprinkled on him; for the Holy Ghost diligently declares that whatever was done legally, carnally, or typically, by any of the sacrifices of old at any time, as to the expiation or purification of sin, that was all done really and spiritually by that one sacrifice, -- that is, the offering and sprinkling of the blood of Christ, -- and abideth to be so done continually. To this purpose is the substance of our apostle's discourse in the ninth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews. And they had various sorts of sacrifices, wherein to this end the blood of them was sprinkled, they being propitiatory in their offering; as, -- (1.) There was the tmyd, or continual burnt-offering of a lamb or kid for the whole congregation, morning and evening, whose blood was sprinkled as at other times. And hereby the habitual purification of the congregation, that they might be holy to the Lord, and their cleansing from the daily incursions of secret and unknown sins, was signified and carried on. (2.) On the Sabbath-day this juge sacrificium was doubled morning and evening, denoting a peculiar and abounding communication of mercy and purging grace, through the administration of instituted ordinances, on that day. (3.) There was the great annual sacrifice at the feast of expiation, when, by the sacrifice of the sin-offering and the scape-goat, the whole congregation were purged from all their known and great sins, and recovered into a state of legal holiness; and other stated sacrifices there were. (4.) There were occasional sacrifices for every one, according as he found his condition to require; for those who were clean one day, yea, one hour, might by some miscarriage or surprisal be unclean the next. But there was a way continually ready for any man's purification, by his bringing his offering unto that purpose. Now, the blood of Christ must continually, and upon all occasions, answer unto all these, and accomplish spiritually what they did legally effect and typically represent. This our apostle asserts and proves, Heb. ix. 9-14. Thereby is the gradual carrying on of our sanctification habitually effected, which was signified by the continual daily sacrifice. From thence is especial cleansing virtue communicated unto us by the ordinances of the gospel, as is expressly affirmed, Eph. v. 25, 26, denoted by the doubling of the daily sacrifice on the Sabbath. By it we are purged from all our sins whatever, great or small, as was typified in the great sacrifice on the day of expiation. And unto him have we continual recourse upon all occasions of our spiritual defilements whatever. So was his blood, as to its purifying virtue, to answer and accomplish all legal institutions...

... (1.) How the blood of Christ doth thus cleanse us from our sins, or what it is that is done thereby. (2.) How we come to be made partakers of the benefit thereof, or come to be interested therein. (1.) As to the first, it must be observed, what hath been declared before, that the uncleanness we treat of is not physical or corporeal, but moral and spiritual only. It is the inconformity of sin unto the holiness of God, as represented in the law, whence it is loathsome to God, and attended with shame in us. Now, wherever there is an interest obtained in the purifying virtue of the blood of Christ, it doth (by the will, law, and appointment of God) do these two things:-- [1.] It takes away all loathsomeness in the sight of God, not from sin in the abstract, but from the sinner, so that he shall be as one absolutely washed and purified before him. See Isa. i. 16-18; Ps. li. 7; Eph. v. 25-27. [2.] It taketh away shame out of the conscience, and gives the soul boldness in the presence of God, Heb. x. 19-22. When these things are done then is sin purged, our souls are cleansed.

[regarding the Holy Spirit] -It is he who discovereth unto us, and spiritually convinceth us of, the pollution of sin, and of our defilement thereby. Something, indeed, of this kind will be wrought by the power of natural conscience, awakened and excited by ordinary outward means of conviction; for wherever there is a sense of guilt, there will be some kind of sense of filth, as fear and shame are inseparable. But this sense alone will never guide us to the blood of Christ for cleansing. Such a sight and conviction of it as may fill us with self-abhorrency and abasement, as may cause us to loathe ourselves for the abomination that is in it, is required of us; and this is the work of the Holy Ghost, belonging to that peculiar conviction of sin which is from him alone, John xvi. 8. I mean that self-abhorrency, shame, and confusion of face, with respect unto the filth of sin, which is so often mentioned in the Scripture as a gracious duty; as nothing is a higher aggravation of sin than for men to carry themselves with a carnal boldness with God and in his worship, whilst they are unpurged from their defilements. In a sense hereof the publican stood afar off, as one ashamed and destitute of any confidence for a nearer approach. So the holy men of old professed to God that they blushed, and were ashamed to lift up their faces unto him. Without this preparation, whereby we come to know the plague of our own hearts, the infection of our leprosy, the defilement of our souls, we shall never make application unto the blood of Christ for cleansing in a due manner. This, therefore, in the first place, is of us as the first part of our duty and first work of the Holy Ghost herein. [2.] The Holy Ghost proposeth, declareth, and presents unto us the only true remedy, the only means of purification. "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, not cure you of your wound," Hos. v. 13. When men begin to discern their defilements, they are apt to think of many ways for their purging. What false ways have been invented to this purpose hath been before declared. And every one is ready to find out a way of his own; every one will apply his own soap and his own nitre. Though the only fountain for cleansing be nigh unto us, yet we cannot see it until the Holy Ghost open our eyes, as he did the eyes of Hagar; he it is who shows it unto us and leads us unto it. This is an eminent part of his office and work. The principal end of his sending, and consequently of his whole work, was to glorify the Son; as the end and work of the Son was to glorify the Father. And the great way whereby he glorifieth Christ is by showing such things unto us, John xvi. 14. And without his discovery we can know nothing of Christ, not of the things of Christ; for he is not sent in vain, to show us the things that we can see of ourselves. And what is more so of Christ than his blood, and its efficacy for the purging of our sins? We never, therefore, discern it spiritually and in a due manner but by him. To have a true spiritual sense of the defilement of sin, and a gracious view of the cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ, is an eminent effect of the Spirit of grace. Something like it there may be in the workings of an awakened natural conscience, with some beams of outward gospel light falling on it; but there is nothing in it of the work of the Spirit. This, therefore, secondly, we must endeavour after, if we intend to be cleansed by the blood of Christ. [3.] It is he who worketh faith in us, whereby we are actually interested in the purifying virtue of the blood of Christ. By faith we receive Christ himself, and by faith do we receive all the benefits of his mediation, -- that is, as they are tendered unto us in the promises of God. He is our propitiation through faith in his blood as offered; and he is our sanctification through faith in his blood as sprinkled. And particular acting of faith on the blood of Christ for the cleansing of the soul from sin is required of us. A renewed conscience is sensible of a pollution in every sin, and is not freed from the shame of it without a particular application unto the blood of Christ. It comes by faith to the fountain set open for sin and uncleanness, as the sick man to the pool of healing waters, and waiteth for a season to be cleansed in it...

And this actual application by faith unto the blood of Christ for cleansing, the mystery whereof is scorned by many as a thing fanatical and unintelligible, consists in these four things:-- 1st. A spiritual view and due consideration of the blood of Christ in his sacrifice, as proposed in the promises of the gospel for our cleansing and purification. "Look unto me," saith he, "and be ye saved," Isa. xlv. 22; which respects the whole work of our salvation, and all the means thereof. Our way of coming into our interest therein is by looking to him, -- namely, as he is proposed unto us in the promise of the gospel: for as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, so was he in his sacrifice on the cross lifted up, John iii. 14; and so in the gospel is he represented unto us, Gal. iii. 1. And the means whereby they were healed in the wilderness was by looking unto the serpent that was lifted up. Herein, then, doth faith first act itself, by a spiritual view and due consideration of the blood of Christ, as proposed unto us in the gospel for the only means of our purification; and the more we abide in this contemplation, the more effectual will our success be in our application thereto. 2dly. Faith actually relieth on his blood for the real effecting of that great work and end for which it is proposed unto us; for God sets him forth as to be a propitiation through faith in his blood as offered, Rom. iii. 25, so to be our sanctification through faith in his blood as sprinkled. And the establishing of this especial faith in our souls is that which the apostle aims at in his excellent reasoning, Heb. ix. 13, 14; and his conclusion unto that purpose is so evident, that he encourageth us thereon to draw nigh in the full assurance of faith, chap. x. 22.

Relevant scripture-
Heb. 9:
1 Now even a first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and its sanctuary, a sanctuary of this world.
 2 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first, wherein were the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the Holy place.
 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of holies;
 4 having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was a golden pot holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
 5 and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat; of which things we cannot now speak severally.
 6 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services;
 7 but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offereth for himself, and for the errors of the people:
 8 the Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet standing;
 9 which is a figure for the time present; according to which are offered both gifts and sacrifices that cannot, as touching the conscience, make the worshipper perfect,
 10 being only (with meats and drinks and divers washings) carnal ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
 11 But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
 12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.
 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh:
 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
 16 For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.
 17 For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.
 18 Wherefore even the first covenant hath not been dedicated without blood.
 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses unto all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
 20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded to you-ward.
 21 Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled in like manner with the blood.
 22 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.
 23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
 24 For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us:
 25 nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own;
 26 else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

 28 so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation. 

Heb. 10:

 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
 15 And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness to us; for after he hath said,
 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws on their heart, And upon their mind also will I write them; then saith he,
 17 And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
 20 by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
 21 and having a great priest over the house of God;
 22 let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water,
 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised:

Heb. 12:
 24 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.

1 Peter 1:
² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 5:
25 even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;
²⁶ that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
²⁷ that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Magical-Mystical sanctification tour...

Sanctification by works can take all manner of forms.  I think most Christians get sidetracked into some type of it, mainly due to the fact that we are by nature law-creatures.  Being sinners born under the covenant of works, we are wired to work for a wage, even when the very thing we are working for has already been freely given through faith.  Tell me what to do to grow in Christ and how to do it!

Early in my Christian life (1970's) I was with a church in southern California that taught salvation was accomplished by Christ alone and received by faith alone.  Jesus' words, "It is finished" summed up our understanding.  Not too bad, eh?  We were adamant that there was no law or works we had to do to gain or keep God's favor... until we got to the practical "how to" grow/live the Christian life, i.e. our template of sanctification.  We knew enough to eschew any works of outward law-keeping, Mosaic or otherwise, as a means of spiritual transformation.  After all, the Christian life is a spirit-life.  Yes, we had a better way!



Sanctification for the enlightened was to follow certain spiritual disciplines in order to "mystically experience" Christ (which was really measured by nothing more than one's inward feelings).  And, of course, in our thinking this had nothing to do with works.  Little did we know...  Around that system of a mystical experience of Christ we built our theological means of growth and grace with our own particular "confessional" terms and phrases:

• experience life
• to know the Lord
• experience reality
• touch the Lord
• pray the Scriptures
• come into His presence
• practicing His presence
• "get out of" your soul and into your spirit
• set your mind on the Lord
• live in your spirit, not in your mind.
• the highest authority is your spirit

We had certain verses that pointed the way and supported the above.  To advance in the Christian life meant to encounter daily, hourly, even moment by moment, an inward Christ through a subjective experience.  Faith need not apply, at least not in the same way that faith, as a God-given grace, receives the gift of salvation from him.  This wasn't about receiving, but climbing and attaining.

The way it worked was, more or less, as you set your mind on the Lord and spent time "in God's presence," you were gradually being transformed into the image of Christ (assuming your "sense" or feeling bore witness to His presence)... [What that means is a whole other topic]  You knew you were in his presence when you obtained that certain "peaceful, easy feeling."  This mystical sanctification model hung, in a large part, on proof-texts like 2 Cor. 3:18 - But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.  On paper it sounded pretty good, especially to those who weren't into that outward works-righteousness thing.  But it was really nothing more than a subjective, feelings-based, attain-to-the-glory-now, climb-the-ladder-scheme that inevitably led to the same three outcomes of any other method of works-sanctification:  hypocrisy, self-deception, lack of assurance, and even despair.

Ordo Salutis

At the Valiant For Truth blog at the Westminster Seminary California web site, Kim Riddlebarger has an excellent article titled Basics of the Reformed Faith: The Order of Salvation.  He writes in part:

"This is not an abstract concept because Scripture itself speaks of our salvation as being accomplished for us according to a divinely-ordained progression. The first of these passages is the so-called “golden chain” of salvation found in Romans 8:28-30. In that passage Paul writes, “and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

"The passage has been described as the “golden chain” of salvation because Paul not only speaks of an unbreakable order to the plan by which God saves us (the chain), but the apostle is clear that our salvation from beginning to end is the work of a gracious and sovereign God, who having begun the process of our salvation, sees it through the end (the “gold”)....

"In yet another passage, Paul lays out a similar “order” of salvation (1 Corinthians 6:11), when the apostle writes, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”...

"Washing refers to regeneration, that divine act whereby we are given new life and are cleansed from the guilt of sin, and when sin’s power over us is broken. All those “washed” are also said to be sanctified. That is, those regenerated by God’s Spirit are now set apart for God’s holy purposes and begin the life-long process of dying to sin and rising to newness of life (sanctification). Those set part by God for his own holy purposes are also said to be justified–that is when we are regenerated, we come to life and place our trust in Jesus Christ. When we place our trust (faith) in Christ, Christ’s merits are reckoned or credited to us, so we are declared righteous before God. Paul ends this particular list of benefits by informing us that all of this was accomplished by the Holy Spirit, who applies to us the saving work of Jesus Christ."

Read the whole thing!

Sanctimonious sanctification...

OK then... I kinda like that title.  Maybe it'll fit.

When a friend or spouse accuses you of being thoughtless in some word or deed, how do you initially respond?  If you're like me, your first reaction is to think (and probably say), "Oh, you've got it all wrong!  You don't understand.  No, that's not what I meant.  You're being much too sensitive..."  In other words, my gut reaction is, "Not Guilty!"  When accused, my first inclination is to desperately rush to establish my "rightness."

I've written a bit on the topic of sanctification at this blog.  Why?  Sanctification is not only where the rubber meets the road in the Christian's day to day life, it's also, unfortunately, where the camel of  merit-based works can slip its nose under the tent of God's free mercy given to sinners.

How do we grow in grace as Christians (and what does that mean)?  How do our works factor into our salvation?  Am I gradually becoming more holy?  Is salvation, at least in part, dependent on my subjective, progressive sanctification?  In considering these questions one may ask, can the blessing of saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone become marginalized and relegated to that of a first blessing only, i.e. a first step in the Christian life? Is the template supposed to be - once in the door of salvation, i.e. justified in Christ through faith, I then move on from there to the next step of good works empowered by the Spirit for sanctification?  Some seem to think of it this way.

Important questions that need addressing.  To begin, The Westminster Confession of Faith points us in the right direction.  Here's a gleaning:

• The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, has fully satisfied the justice of His Father; and purchased, not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for those whom the Father has given unto Him. (WCF 8.5)
• This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it. (WCF 10.2)
• Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God. (WCF 11.1)
• All those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption... (WCF 12)
• 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... (WCF 13.1)
• The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened. (WCF 14.1)
• These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the Gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life. (WCF 16.2)
• We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come; and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom, by them, we can neither profit, nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins, but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and because, as they are good, they proceed from His Spirit, and as they are wrought by us, they are defiled, and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment. (WCF 16.5)

One can put to memory these biblical truths.  And yet, like the man who forgets his image upon walking away from a mirror, we can too easily fall back into a false assumption that our works are somehow in the mix as necessary for a right standing before God.  Why is it that that is our bent?  Simply said, by nature we are sinners, self-justifying sinners.  We not only fall short of God's moral law, we have woven into our nature the depraved hutzpah to self-justify our sinful persons before God, others, and especially ourselves. It's as natural as breathing.  That is what sinners do.  Fish swim.  Dogs bark.  Sinners self-justify.  We, who are made in God's image, created to be holy, though redeemed are yet still fallen.  And in and of ourselves - holy we are not!  The tension between that which we are and what we know we should be still bewitches us.  So by nature we still tend towards minimizing our sin and working to sell ourselves as good enough.

This being our condition, it's not hard to see, as Christians, how we instinctively assign self-merit to our works (I'm getting better/more holy, really I am!) while at the same time minimizing our faults.  Biblically, we know that self-merit offers no help for man before God and yet it sneaks into our calculus again and again.  We are self-justifying creatures at the core.  We insistently insist that our best intentions and curve-based efforts be graded as a passing in the court of justice.  We just don't give up all that easily on the project of renovating ourselves despite the futility of it!  Yet, when we attempt to balance on the fulcrum between our works and God's grace for sanctification, we inevitably slide down to the works side of that see-saw.  And depending on our makeup, we either land as self-assured hypocrites or bruised reeds despairing of God's favor wondering, "What in the world is wrong with me that I can't be more faithful?'  More of a saint and less of a sinner!

This is the vicious cycle and trap that results from seeing sanctification as something beyond and separate from our justification in Christ.  But to look in the mirror of Jesus we see not only ourselves... sinners in motive, thought, word, and deed, we see Jesus and his shed blood.  There we give up on our efforts as futile, and find not rejection but acceptance.  Through faith, the sinner looking to Christ alone receives freely the "rightness" he so desperately needs.  Therein is pardon for sin and cleansing for the fallen soul.  By that blood the sinner is forgiven and the judgment against him fully paid. Therein the sinner is accounted righteous and obedient with the righteousness and perfect obedience of Jesus.  The believing sinner has been made right with God, Christ-justified!  It is to that cross alone that his faith initially and continually must look.  Sanctification, then, is not the process of adding to or rebuilding that which Christ has already accomplished.  The faith of one's sanctification is the faith that rests in one's justification, the faith that daily and increasingly looks to Christ's merit alone.

The Nature of Good Works

What is it that causes a believer's works to be acceptable before God, i.e. as good and righteous?  Does the believer become progressively more and more righteous in sanctification so that some thoughts, words, and deeds have been so "transformed" that they are acceptable because they are without any corruption or sin - inherently righteous?  How are we to think about the good works of believers?  Is salvation dependent, in some measure, on the righteous quality of those works or solely on justifying faith upon which good works stand?

Some thoughts:
There be no true lively faith except good works do follow.
There be no good and acceptable works except those that do follow from faith.
There is no righteousness that flows from our good works or resides inherently in them.

As Scripture affirms:

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Rom. 14:23)

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” (Gal. 3:10)
...the law is not of faith. (Gal. 3:12)

John Calvin, in Book 3.17.10 in the Institutes of the Christian Religion, wrote on this very question.  It is crucial as to how we understand the nature of the believer's good works, in order to not elevate them as to "to impair or destroy the doctrine of justification."

• 10. In this way we can admit not only that there is a partial righteousness in works (as our adversaries maintain), but that they are approved by God as if they were absolutely perfect. If we remember on what foundation this is rested, every difficulty will be solved.  The first time when a work begins to be acceptable is when it is received with pardon. And whence pardon, but just because God looks upon us and all that belongs to us as in Christ? Therefore, as we ourselves when ingrafted into Christ appear righteous before God, because our iniquities are covered with his innocence; so our works are, and are deemed righteous, because every thing otherwise defective in them being buried by the purity of Christ is not imputed.  Thus we may justly say, that not only ourselves, but our works also, are justified by faith alone. Now, if that righteousness of works, whatever it be, depends on faith and free justification, and is produced by it, it ought to be included under it and, so to speak, made subordinate to it, as the effect to its cause; so far is it from being entitled to be set up to impair or destroy the doctrine of justification. Thus Paul, to prove that our blessedness depends not on our works, but on the mercy of God, makes special use of the words of David, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered;” “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.” Should any one here obtrude the numberless passages in which blessedness seems to be attributed to works, as, “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord;” “He that has mercy on the poor, happy is he;” “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,” and “that endureth temptation;” “Blessed are they that keep judgment,” that are “pure in heart,” “meek,” “merciful,”, they cannot make out that Paul’s doctrine is not true. For seeing that the qualities thus extolled never all so exist in man as to obtain for him the approbation of God, it follows, that man is always miserable until he is exempted from misery by the pardon of his sins. Since, then, all the kinds of blessedness extolled in the Scripture are vain so that man derives no benefit from them until he obtains blessedness by the forgiveness of sins, a forgiveness which makes way for them, it follows that this is not only the chief and highest, but the only blessedness, unless you are prepared to maintain that it is impaired by things which owe their entire existence to it. There is much less to trouble us in the name of righteous which is usually given to believers. I admit that they are so called from the holiness of their lives, but as they rather exert themselves in the study of righteousness than fulfill righteousness itself, any degree of it which they possess must yield to justification by faith, to which it is owing that it is what it is.

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou dost train us up with so much diligence and assiduous care, and regard us as dear and precious like an hereditary vine, - O grant, that we may not bring forth wild grapes, and that our fruit may not be bitter and unpleasant to thee, but that we may strive so to form our whole life in obedience to thy law, that all our actions and thoughts may be pleasant and sweet fruits to thee. And as there is ever some sin mixed up with our works, even when we desire to serve thee sincerely and from the heart, grant that all stains in our works may be so cleansed and washed away by the sacrifice of thy Son, that they may be to thee sacrifices of sweet odour, through the same, even Christ Jesus, who has so reconciled us to thee, as to obtain pardon even for our works. Amen. (Prayers of John Calvin from his Commentary on Hosea)

Ode of sinful man...

And now for something completely different...

And when the rains came falling down
it was too late for me.
Ten thousand shadows on a wall
but I could not see.
Heeding not the voices
I would not hear.
Lost in my illusion
of pleasure and fear.
And when the rains came down
it was too late for me.
And when the rains came falling down
it was too late for me.

Building an edifice 
to last for all time.
All the while, in changing sands,
etching mortal lines.
And the stabs of my conscience,
the white noise of my mind,
Stir only the shallows
of my distracted insides.
And when the rains came down
it was too late for me.
And when the rains came falling down
it was too late for me.

© Jack Miller 2009

The Gospel, Sanctification, and faith...

I want to use a partial comment of mine from a thread at another blog to highlight a concern.  Addressing another commenter, I wrote:

"You ended your comments with, “To be quite honest, I’m happy and relieved that His Spirit is working within me to put sin to death. Though I’m acquitted through my justification and accepted as a son through my adoption, I’d still like the Lord to continue to work in my life.  I consider all of it the good news of the gospel.”  In these words you seem to be saying, in effect, that ‘my loving my neighbor’ (His Spirit working within me) is part of the gospel. Are you including our good works, i.e. progressive sanctification, as part of the gospel?"

In short my question is, does the gospel include - not only the objective finished work of Jesus Christ in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension - but also the subjective work of sanctification, i.e. my good works and the work of the Spirit in mortifying sin?  The answer should be no.  It seems that the gospel is understood by some to be less and less about the proclamation of the unique work of complete salvation won for sinners by Jesus alone and more and more about God's work in us and how we live. Once the gospel begins to include the subjective work of God within believers as shown by good works, it is a short distance to advocating that one can "live the gospel!"... "One's Spirit-wrought works of love are Jesus' gospel to others!"  The gospel then becomes, at least in part, dependent on the evidence and display of a one's holy and loving acts, which in every saint will always be lacking and always less than perfect, given that he is simultaneously a sinner.

This broad understanding of the gospel is a potential recipe for weakening faith and increasing works-righteousness as one seeks to measure up in thought, word, and deed to "the good news" he is supposed to be exhibiting.  It inserts progressive sanctification into the “gospel proper” by considering everything in the Word (promises, laws, threats, admonitions, works) as the good news of the gospel. Certainly we agree it is “good news” that the Spirit is working in us, conforming us to Christ as God predestined.  But that is not part of the good news that the New Testament writers proclaimed.

The way I understand it is that the subjective (yet real) part of God’s work in the believer is distinct from the free promise of God which was kept and accomplished entirely by Jesus Christ through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension and as proclaimed in the gospel. And yet that subjective work in us is indeed connected to it as a sure and holy effect.  That accomplishment of God’s free promise in Christ is the glad tidings – the gospel – and it is that to which a believer's faith looks and finds salvation (Rom. 1:16). The term “gospel”, too often, is simply used in too loose a fashion.  By including everything of God’s Word in it, that glorious gospel word loses meaning and focus, thereby confusing faith as to where to look for nourishment and strength.

From Calvin’s Inst. 3:2.29 -
Free promise we make the foundation of faith, because in it faith properly consists. For though it holds that God is always true, whether in ordering or forbidding, promising or threatening; though it obediently receive his commands, observe his prohibitions, and give heed to his threatening; yet it properly begins with promise, continues with it, and ends with it. It seeks life in God, life which is not found in commands or the denunciations of punishment, but in the promise of mercy. And this promise must be gratuitous; for a conditional promise, which throws us back upon our works, promises life only in so far as we find it existing in ourselves. Therefore, if we would not have faith to waver and tremble, we must support it with the promise of salvation, which is offered by the Lord spontaneously and freely, from a regard to our misery rather than our worth. Hence the Apostle bears this testimony to the Gospel, that it is the word of faith, (Rom. 10: 8.) This he concedes not either to the precepts or the promises of the Law, since there is nothing which can establish our faith, but that free embassy by which God reconciles the world to himself.

Concerning Sanctification as the Effect of Justification...

Concerning the meaning of the phrase "sanctification has its ground in justification," some out there in bloggo-land may be getting hung up on the term ground and reading more into to it than is warranted. Certainly there is no justification or sanctification to be found outside of our union with Christ. So that his gracious person and work are the ultimate ground and source of salvation, from election to glorification. Christ Jesus is the water we believers swim in and the water in which and through which God mercifully does all things.  That being said, sanctification and justification are not parallel blessings independently given in Christ.  Rather they are connected as effect is to cause as stated by this obscure reformer:

In short, I affirm, that not by our own merit but by faith alone, are both our persons and works justified; and that the justification of works [sanctification] depends on the justification [forensic] of the person , as the effect on the cause.  (John Calvin, Acts of the Council of Trent with the Antidote)


Calvin further explains in Institutes 3.14.21:
(Outline) 21. A third objection--viz. that the good works of believers are the causes of divine blessings. Answer. There are inferior causes, but these depend on free justification, which is the only true cause why God blesses us. These modes of expression designate the order of sequence rather than the cause.
21. Moreover, when Scripture intimates that the good works of believers are causes why the Lord does them good, we must still understand the meaning so as to hold unshaken what has previously been said--viz. that the efficient cause of our salvation is placed in the love of God the Father; the material cause in the obedience of the Son; the instrumental cause in the illumination of the Spirit, that is, in faith; and the final cause in the praise of the divine goodness. In this, however, there is nothing to prevent the Lord from embracing works as inferior causes. But how so? In this way: Those whom in mercy he has destined for the inheritance of eternal life, he, in his ordinary administration, introduces to the possession of it by means of good works. What precedes in the order of administration is called the cause of what follows. For this reason, he sometimes makes eternal life a consequent of works; not because it is to be ascribed to them, but because those whom he has elected he justifies, that he may at length glorify (Rom. 8:30); he makes the prior grace to be a kind of cause, because it is a kind of step to that which follows. But whenever the true cause is to be assigned, he enjoins us not to take refuge in works, but to keep our thoughts entirely fixed on the mercy of God; "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life," (Rom. 6:23). Why, as he contrasts life with death, does he not also contrast righteousness with sin? Why, when setting down sin as the cause of death, does he not also set down righteousness as the cause of life? The antithesis which would otherwise be complete is somewhat marred by this variation; but the Apostle employed the comparison to express the fact, that death is due to the deserts of men, but that life was treasured up solely in the mercy of God. In short, by these expressions, the order rather than the cause is noted.  The Lord adding grace to grace, takes occasion from a former to add a subsequent, so that he may omit no means of enriching his servants. Still, in following out his liberality, he would have us always look to free election as its source and beginning. For although he loves the gifts which he daily bestows upon us, inasmuch as they proceed from that fountain, still our duty is to hold fast by that gratuitous acceptance, which alone can support our souls; and so to connect the gifts of the Spirit, which he afterwards bestows, with their primary cause, as in no degree to detract from it.

Calvin uses the phrases free justification, the mercy of God, and gratuitous acceptance to point to the same thing, that the primary cause of everything pertaining to salvation flows from God's sovereign grace and mercy as freely offered in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That which secures a man's salvation is ultimately not dependent upon his works, i.e. his progressive sanctification.  As both the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the Westminster Confession of Faith teach, good works are the evidence of faith, the fruit of a true and lively faith, i.e. the effect.  The reformers jealously guarded this understanding of salvation with the words by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, lest the error of Rome would again find a foothold in the church.  And it is this that the apostle Paul taught in order that - "... in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:  for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory." (Eph. 2:7-9) ASV.

The Ground of Sanctification...

Regarding the liberty from sin for which man so thirsts, I ended my last post (first post here) with these words of Owen's:    
  

    Fourthly; Christ is not in the law; he is not proposed in it, not communicated by it, - we are not made partakers of him thereby.  This is the work of grace, of the gospel.  In it is Christ revealed, by it he is proposed and exhibited unto us; thereby are we made partakers of him and all the benefits of his mediation.  And he it is alone who came to, and can, destroy this work of the devil.... This "the Son of God was manifested to destroy."  He alone ruins the kingdom of Satan, whose power is acted in the rule of sin.  Wherefore, hereunto our assurance of this comfortable truth is principally resolved.  And what Christ hath done, and doth, for this end, is a great part of the subject of gospel revelation.


Me:
Again, the subject matter under discussion by Owen is summarized by the verse from Romans 6:14, "Sin shall no longer have dominion over you; for ye are not under law but under grace."  The law is limited by God's purpose for it.  It can only point the way.  The law gives no aid in freeing the sinner from the rule and tyranny of sin.  That office is found alone in God's sovereign grace declared in the gospel of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.  Through faith in Him by grace alone, sins are pardoned, the believer is justified with the righteousness of Christ, and the reign and rule of Sin is broken.  The believer has been delivered from sin's dominion and translated to the kingdom of Christ Jesus, now under God's reign of grace unto righteousness.  And this good news, the power of God unto salvation as witnessed to and transmitted by the Holy Spirit, is the effectual ground upon which the believer walks in sanctification.  It is not a walk free of sin or battles with the flesh - but a walk, though with many limitations and weaknesses, that nonetheless increases in faith and godliness through trusting dependence upon the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that which He has secured for the redeemed. 


From the last section in Owen's A Treatise of the Dominion of Sin and Grace:


     It is that which the law and all the duties of it cannot procure.  The law and its duties, as we have declared, can never destroy the dominion of sin.  All men will find the truth hereof that ever come to fall under the power of real conviction.  When sin presseth on them, and they are afraid of its consequents, they will find that the law is weak, and the flesh is weak, and their duties are weak, and their resolutions and vows are weak; - all insufficient to relieve them.       ... They sin and promise amendment, and endeavor recompenses by some duties, yet can never extricate themselves from the yoke of sin.  We may therefore learn the excellency of this privilege, first, from its causes, whereof I shall mention some only:-      1.  The meritorious procuring cause of this liberty is the death and blood of Jesus Christ.  So it is declared, 1Pet.1:18-19; 1Cor.6:20, 7:23.  Nothing else could purchase this freedom... "Christ died, and rose, and revived," that he might be our Lord, Rom.14:9, and so deliver us from the power of all other lords whatever.      
   ... Let those that are believers, in all the conflicts with sin, live in the exercise of faith on this purchase of liberty made by the blood of Christ; for two thing will hence ensue:- [1.]  That they will have a weighty argument always in readiness to oppose unto the deceit and violence of sin... See Rom.6:2.  [2.]  The internal efficient cause of this liberty, or that whereby the power and rule of sin is destroyed in us, is the Holy Spirit himself; which farther evinceth the greatness of this mercy.  Every act for the mortification of sin is no less immediately from him than those positive graces are whereby we are sanctified.  It is "through the Spirit" that we "mortify the deeds of the body," Rom.8:13.  Where he is, there, and there alone, is liberty...      
     ...Wherefore, a great part of our wisdom for the attaining and preserving this liberty consists in the acting of faith on that promise of our Saviour, that our heavenly Father will "give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him" of him.  When sin in any instance, by any temptation, urgeth for power and rule in us, we are ready to turn into ourselves and our own resolutions, which in their place are not to be neglected; but immediate cries unto God for such supplies of his Spirit as without which sin will not be subdued, we shall find our best relief.  Bear it in mind, try it on the next occasion, and God will bless it with success....      
     ... We are called into a theatre, to fight and contend; into a field, to be tried in a warfare.  Our enemy is this sin, which strives and contends for the rule over us....      
     ... First, The conflict with sin, making continual repentance and mortification absolutely necessary, will continue in us whilst we are in this world.  Pretences of perfection here are contrary to the Scriptures, contrary to the universal experience of all believers, and contrary to the sense and conscience of them by whom they are pleaded, as they make it evident everyday.      
     ... This is our lot and portion; this is the consequent of our apostasy from God, and of the depravation of our nature thereby....      ... It is so ordered that the continuance of sin in us shall be the ground, reason, and occasion, of the exercise of all grace, and of putting a lustre on our obedience.
     ... Herein lies the spring of humility and self-resignation to the will of God.      
     ... Wherefore, the continuance of us in this state and condition in this world, - is best for us, and highly suited unto divine wisdom, considering the office and care of our Lord Jesus Christ for our relief.
     ... There is mercy administered in and by the gospel for the pardon of all that is evil in itself or in any of its effects:  "There is no condemnation unto them that are in Christ Jesus."  Pardoning mercy, according to the tenor of the covenant, doth always disarm this sin in believers of its condemning power; so that, notwithstanding the utmost endeavours of it, "being justified by faith, they have peace with God."      
     ... The great rule for preventing the increase and power of vicious habits is, watch against beginnings.  Sin doth not attempt dominion but in particular instances, by one especial lust or another.
     ... The strict charge given us by our Lord Jesus Christ to "watch," and that of the wise man, "above all keepings to keep our heart," have especial regard unto these beginnings of sins's obtaining power in us.      
     ... Make continual applications unto the Lord Christ, in all the acts of his mediation, for the ruin of sin, especially when it attempts a dominion in you, Heb.4:16.  This is the life and soul of all directions in this case, which needs not here to be enlarged on; it is frequently spoken unto.  Lastly, Remember that a due sense of deliverance from the dominion of sin is the most effectual motive unto universal obedience and holiness; as such it is proposed and managed by the apostle, Rom.4.