The Narrow Path Ministries

Hi paidion,

You wrote:

So what God has determined to bring about, he speaks of as if it has already occurred, even if it has not yet occurred. That indicates just how certain it is that it will come to pass. We can be certain that:

...he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6)

Thus it can be said that "you have been sanctified" even though it is NOT a completed fact. You are in the process of being sanctified, and since God is doing it (with your coöperation), it shall surely come about.

This does not prove anything about sanctification, that God speaks of it as having already occurred when it hasn't. And besides the statement referenced in the OP was by Paul.

dizerner wrote:

You think good works is sanctification? So if we do enough good things it makes us holier? Wouldn't it rather be the inward conviction and molding of the Spirit?

I think it is both. Jesus said "apart from me you can do nothing". And I think we have to contribute something; He won't do it for us.

Homer wrote:dizerner wrote:

You think good works is sanctification? So if we do enough good things it makes us holier? Wouldn't it rather be the inward conviction and molding of the Spirit?

I think it is both. Jesus said "apart from me you can do nothing". And I think we have to contribute something; He won't do it for us.

Reminds of the verse: first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

Homer wrote:

Paidion wrote:So what God has determined to bring about, he speaks of as if it has already occurred, even if it has not yet occurred. That indicates just how certain it is that it will come to pass. We can be certain that:

...he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6)

Thus it can be said that "you have been sanctified" even though it is NOT a completed fact. You are in the process of being sanctified, and since God is doing it (with your coöperation), it shall surely come about.

This does not prove anything about sanctification, that God speaks of it as having already occurred when it hasn't. And besides the statement referenced in the OP was by Paul.

No, it doesn't PROVE anything about sanctification, but it is an indicator. People who are being sanctified can be spoken of as having been sanctified.

However, according to lexicons, "sanctified" has at least two distinct meanings:

1. to dedicate, separate, set apart for God
2. to purify, make righteous

Perhaps Paul used it in the first sense in 1 Cor 1:2 and this would indicate a completed fact, as the Corinthian church was set apart from the world and for God, whereas the word is used in the second sense to indicate ongoing salvation or sanctification.

On the other hand, Paul may[/u] have been using it in the second sense, stating as a fact that the Corinthian Christians had been sanctified, when actually they (like all other Christians) are in the process.