The Gift of Eternal Life and The Necessity of Sanctification

Without question, eternal is the free gift of God given to believers, as Paul states:

 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

At the same time, and in the same New Testament, we also read that the pursuit of sanctification is absolutely necessary for anyone to enter into eternal life. This is explicitly stated in Hebrews 12:14, where we are commanded to:

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

To pursue sanctification is to seek to live a more and more holy life in this world, and this is not an optional activity. Those who do not pursue sanctification will not see the Lord, that is, they will not enter into eternal life.

Or, as Paul makes clear, those who do not actively pursue sanctification will die:

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12-13)

To put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit is to pursue sanctification. Those who claim Christ are obligated to put to death the deeds of the body; if they do not, they will die.

This explains why Paul exhorts us as Christians to “…cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1). To cleanse oneself from all defilement of flesh and spirit is to pursue sanctification.

This explains why John says that whoever has his hope fixed on Christ “…purifies himself, just as He (Christ) is pure.” To purify oneself is to pursue sanctification.

So it is clear that eternal life is the free gift of God, and it is just as clear that believers must pursue sanctification in order to receive eternal life.

Is there a contradiction here?

In what follows I’m going to suggest that there is no contradiction; eternal life is the free gift of God and salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ apart from works of the law. No one will enter into eternal life by means of self-righteous human works; indeed, to rely on them is damning.

At the same time and without contradiction those who claim Christ will not enter into eternal life without exercising personal diligence in the pursuit of sanctification. This truth may seem to be at odds with salvation by grace through faith, but in fact these clear teachings of scripture are in perfect accord with one another.

Running the Race of Faith

I think there’s been a misunderstanding. To begin, I believe that much of the apparent contradiction between God's free gift of eternal life and calls to pursue sanctification grows out of a misunderstanding of the nature of God's “free gift.” What exactly does God’s free gift of eternal life include? 

First, we need to understand that there are essentially two types of gifts. First there are gifts that are received passively, like the gifts we get at Christmas or on a birthday. Someone gives us a gift, we receive the gift, and it's ours. I give; you receive. A transaction has taken place between us, and all that remains is for you to do is enjoy the gift. Most of the gifts we give are meant to be received passively.

Many see God’s gift of eternal life as a gift to be received passively. Through faith in Jesus, God gives us eternal life. He gives; we receive. A transaction has taken place, and all that remains is for us is to enjoy the gift. And understandably, because salvation is by grace through faith apart from human works, many think that receiving the gift of eternal life involves no works at all.

It’s true that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do TO EARN God’s gift of eternal life. A gifts, by definition, is not earned. However, God’s gift of eternal life is not one to be received passively.

You see, there is another type of gift. In addition to gifts received passively, there are also gifts of enablement. As the name suggests, these gifts enable the recipient to do something he or she could not otherwise do. As an illustration, a wealthy woman might pay the full tuition for a poor man to go to Harvard. That's clearly a free gift; the poor man did nothing to earn it. However, his enabling gift cannot be received passively.

The poor man receives notification from Harvard that he has been accepted for admission, and that his tuition has been fully paid. He has been enabled to go to Harvard, but a passive response to this gift will nullify the gift. To enjoy the benefits of his gift, the poor man must meet with his adviser and register for classes. He must attend his classes and do the work that’s required to graduate. The gift he received has enabled him to receive a degree from Harvard, but he must do the work required to enjoy the benefits of that gift. 

At this point I want to be very very careful. God’s gift of eternal life is a gift of enablement, but my illustration above is seriously flawed.

The woman in the illustration pays for the poor man to go to Harvard; that’s her part. The poor man must work hard at Harvard to graduate; that’s his part. In the illustration, whether the man graduates from Harvard or not rests entirely on him. The woman’s gift enables the poor man to attend classes, but it’s the man’s own hard work that secures the benefits of her gift.

This is not the way God’s gift of eternal life works, and the crucial difference is power. As Peter says, God’s…:

 “…divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness…” (2 Peter 1:3)

God's gift of enablement is an enabling power in us; it is the gift of His Holy Spirit residing in our hearts. When we are born again God the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Our hearts are changed, our affections are changed, and at that point we are given the ability to pursue sanctification apart from human legalistic works.

Consider Paul’s command:

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

With God’s Holy spirit residing in us, we have been granted the ability to work out our salvation. To work out your salvation is to pursue sanctification, but what’s stunning here is the confluence of our will and God’s work in us.

When we work out our salvation, we are the ones working. We are the ones choosing to put to death the deeds of our bodies by the Spirit. We are the ones reckoning ourselves to be dead to some sin and alive to God when we are tempted. We are the ones making choices to do any one of a thousand things that we know would please God.

We work, we choose, but most of the time the choices we need to make aren’t easy; we need help. And so as we choose, we also turn to God, looking for grace to help in time of need. We breathe a silent prayer when temptation is about to overwhelm us, and when we do that God the Holy Spirit steps in and empowers our choice to say “no” to sin. The temptation fades, and that battle is won. And there will be many battles. So each time we face sin, a sinful thought, a sinful desire, whatever, we turn to God by faith, seeking His grace, and His Spirit responds in us with power.

Will we fail to do this sometimes? Yes. But in my experience the only time I fail in my fight against sin is when I fail to turn to God for help in my time of need.

Grace is power, and wherever and whenever the desire to sin arises, we have free access to God’s throne. It is there that we find grace, the power to help when we need it most. And that avenue is open to us every second of every minute of every day, 24/7, 365. We are never without access to God’s grace.

And it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we are able to approach the throne; it is He who always lives to make intercession for us. And so, each victory over sin comes to us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

And so we understand that our personal pursuit of sanctification is NOT salvation by human works. When we work out our salvation, in reality it is God who is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Our works, in the pursuit of sanctification are not truly ours, but God’s.

We can see this same dynamic in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Paul is comparing his work to that of the other apostles, and he says:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” 

(1 Corinthians 15:10)

Grace is power. Paul engaged his will and worked hard to do what God commanded Him, and yet was not Paul doing the work (“yet not I”); Paul's work was the power of God's grace working through him. Our work in sanctification is our work, but it is at the same time the power of God's grace working through us. That's why salvation, realized through sanctification, is still salvation by grace through faith.

And it's not about perfection. It’s important to understand that nothing here is to suggest that Christians will or must achieve perfect sanctification in this life in order to enter into eternal life.

The moment a person is born again he or she has already been perfectly sanctified in Christ. As the author of Hebrews makes plain in Hebrews 10:10 and 14:

“By this (God's) will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

When we are born again we “have been” (perfect tense) sanctified, and that sanctification is perfect in Christ, as the Author says just 4 verses later in Hebrews 10:14:

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14, NKJV)

When we are born again we are perfected forever in sanctification. Christ’s work has perfected forever (perfect tense) those who are being sanctified (in the present-present tense). So those who are perfected in sanctification are those who are actively pursuing sanctification (who “are being sanctified") in this life. In other words, our pursuit of sanctification is the evidence that we have already been perfectly sanctified in Christ.

So, God’s free gift of eternal life is not a gift received passively that guarantees salvation without the involvement of the Christian. Rather, the free gift of eternal life includes God’s power for us to pursue sanctification. In sanctification we battle what remains in us of indwelling sin, and it is God Who empowers us to have victory. We will not exercise God’s power perfectly. We will falter and fail at times, but those who have been perfectly sanctified will persist in the pursuit of practical sanctification in this world until death, or until Christ returns.

And this leads us now to a sober note of warning.

The Apostle Paul was deadly serious about pursuing sanctification. Paul practiced what he preached, and his practice was earnest and passionate:

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).

Paul says, “I buffet my body,” (more literally “I bruise my body”) and make it my slave. In his battle against the remnants of his own sin nature, Paul practiced rigorous self-discipline for the purpose of godliness. He dealt ruthlessly with his own indwelling sin (what Paul elsewhere calls “the flesh”). There was absolutely nothing casual about Paul's pursuit of sanctification; he engaged in that activity with deadly earnest and ran in such a way as to “win the prize” (See 1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

One might say, “Well, that was Paul, the super apostle. We would expect him to be that dedicated.” The sobering truth is that Paul expected every Christian to be just as dedicated as he.

After describing for the Corinthian Christians his own passionate pursuit of holiness in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (above) Paul issues this command to them:

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Paul was deadly serious about pursuing his personal sanctification, and he commands us to follow his example. How can we do otherwise?

Practical Application

Finally, how does this work out in real life? What I have described here is not just a theological talking point. Thanks be to God, I see His grace expressed through my own efforts in sanctification in my life today.

When I'm tempted to sin, by faith I turn to God, and I find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). In that moment the Spirit empowers me to stand against temptation and to defeat it. Or when I find a sinful attitude rising in my heart, I turn to God. By faith I consider myself to be dead to that sinful attitude and alive to God (Romans 6:11). When I do that, the Spirit intervenes with grace, and I am empowered to send my bad attitude packing.

These are examples of the way in which I actively put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. And as I engage in this process, little by little, in my attitudes and in my actions, in what I say and in what I do, I am becoming conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. I am pursuing sanctification by grace through faith in Christ, and progress is being made.

Do I do this perfectly? Nope. But what's interesting is that the only time I fail is when I fail to turn to God in my time of need. Every time I do turn to Him I find grace to help, I find real power to defeat temptation and to prevent sin. What Paul says is certainly true:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The way of escape Paul describes is the power of grace that God provides when we turn in faith to Him for help.

And once again, just for clarity, this is not a works salvation; I am not saving myself and I am certainly not earning my salvation. I have already been saved; that happened when I was born again. Rather, my pursuit of sanctification is the confirmation of my perfect sanctification in Christ, and this process will continue until the day I die.

Today, as Paul commands, I too am working out my salvation with fear and trembling and I see God at work in me. So if at the end of the day I am a little more like Christ than I was at the beginning, I have no room to boast. I'm not being changed by my own power, but by His. I am not earning merit with God, I am actively walking in the powerful salvation He provides. And so whatever little tiny baby step I take in holiness today is 100% His grace and 0% me. All the progress I make, I make in absolute begging dependence on the grace of God, and so all glory goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I have one last thing. If you've stuck with me thus far, thank you. One question remains. In all of this, what about the assurance of salvation? John says:

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 John 5:11-12)

As John makes clear, knowing that you have eternal life (assurance) depends on knowing that you “have the Son.” Those who are pursuing sanctification, those who are walking in obedience unto holiness will see the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Christ, actively working in them. And as He works in us day to day, as we grow into the image of Christ, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are in fact children of God. Rather than diminishing assurance, the pursuit of sanctification reassures us again and again of our participation in the great salvation God provides.

Please feel free to send your questions, comments, or concerns.

Blessings!

Ken