When Is Sanctification Not Possible?

Christianity is not individualistic. Perhaps that is a drum that you've heard me beat before. When someone is saved, they are saved as individuals. I don't want to diminish one's personal relationship with Christ. We do have that, and it is to be celebrated! In fact it is celebrated by the community of faith. However, God has ordained community to be the locus of sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which we are made holy, and it cannot be accomplished without others. It is not that sanctification is more difficult alone. It is that sanctification is not possible on your own. This not some rhetorical flourish or hyperbole. It is thoroughly grounded in Scripture.

Jesus' Prayer for Us

When Christ is mere hours before death, he prays for us. This majestic prayer is recorded for us in John 17, and it has been called the High Priestly Prayer. In particular, let's look at verses 20-23.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." (John 17:20–23 ESV)

When Jesus asks the Father "that [we] may all be one," he does so with the express purpose of displaying Trinitarian glory. At its core, the goal of sanctification is to reflect the glory of God. It is to be a public display of holiness. Paul notes it is the journey of every Christian to be transformed from one degree of glory to the next (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). So when Jesus includes in his prayer a request for unity, he is asking his Father to make us reflect something of the beauty of the Trinity, a bending of the unity of the Godhead toward us. The glory given by the Father to the Son is now shared with the New Covenant Community, the Church. 

Does this feel like a stretch? Is this request for unity really related to sanctification? Look how verse 20 starts: "I do not ask for these only." This ties the supplication of John 17:20–23 to the previous supplication, a request that those who are there with him at the moment of the prayer would be sanctified in the truth. 

"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." (John 17:17–19 ESV)

Sanctification is the process by which the believer is made holy. Literally, we are being made separate. Separate from what? Sanctification is, in part, a separation from the world, i.e. the whole system of rebellion against God. However, it is more than that. In being separated from the world, we are also becoming unified with others who are likewise being sanctified.

The Glory of God Displayed

If Paul's letter to the Romans is his longest exposition of the doctrine of salvation, it may be that his letter to the Ephesians is his densest. Enmeshed in the beautiful description of what is true of us in Christ, we read Paul's doxology:

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV)

Paul's prayerful praise includes request that God's glory would be in displayed "in the church and in Christ Jesus." What does that mean? The context is key. The surrounding passages speak about how Gentile believers and Jewish believers have been united in Christ. The differences between the two groups could not be greater, but those differences are now inconsequential. "There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:4–6 ESV). God's glory is revealed in the uniting of people. God's glory is displayed in the Church. If you have been saved by God, then you are in a community of people who "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1b–3 ESV)

The Spirit's Work

That last phrase brings us now to the Spirit's role in displaying glory. The fruit of the Spirit (seen in Galatians 5:22-23) are best seen in relationships.

• Love: It is impossible to exhibit Christian love apart from the church. The love spoken of here is not only love for God but also love for others.
• Joy: The joy the Spirit produces is multi-faceted and can be the joy that we have in God. Additionally, that joy includes rejoicing in the joys of others. Christian joy is not self-centered.
• Peace: The hostility between man and God has been eradicated by Christ at the cross. In doing so, Jesus also reconciles us to each other.
• Patience: We are to be patient in all sorts of situations. Things do not always go as we had planned. One way this is seen is when we deal with others. We are so easily frustrated by others, but the Spirit works within our hearts to be patient with them.
• Kindness: Some of these attributes of the fruit of the Spirit may have aspects that speak to moments when we are isolated. However, kindness is not one of them. Kindness demands a direct object. We show kindness to someone.
• Goodness: To do good, we do good to others. Paul mentions this gain in Galatians 6:10, where we are to "do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." 
• Faithfulness: To do what we say we will do extends not only to our relationship with God but also to our relationship with others.
• Gentleness: Like kindness, gentleness is others-focused. To the weak, we exercise our strength to build up.
• Self-control: In case we think self-control as an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit that can be exercised apart from the Church, we must think deeply. Self-control is exhibited when we resist sin, and that sin is often in a community.

In fact, all nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit are strengthened and developed in relationships with other believers. These are attributes of our Savior, and the Spirit brings them to their fullest display when believers live in relationship. We are sanctified together to show the comprehensiveness of Christ's work.

Conclusion

So why is sanctification not possible alone? It would be a complete misunderstanding of sanctification. At its essence, sanctification is not focused on the individual. Sanctification is about bringing glory to Christ. Sanctification is about the united body of Christ being matured together. Paul says it like this to the Ephesians:

"[W]e are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." (Ephesians 4:15b–16 ESV)