A sharp and unrelieved tension cuts across the Reformed doctrine of sanctification: regenerate sinners are spiritually weak on account of remaining sin; yet, the regenerate believer is charged with the duty of unrelenting obedience to God's commands. Put another way, the Heidelberg Catechism in Q114 teaches that believers have only "small beginnings" of righteous obedience; yet, they must strive wholeheartedly to obey all the commandments of God. This "Reformed tension" is also expressed by Paul in Philippians 2:12 13. The feebleness and weakness of believers is indicated in verse 13 by the very fact that Paul insists the Christian can only take a step forward in obedience if God works in them both to will and to do. If a regenerate believer cannot obey apart from the power of God, then the power of remaining sin must be strong and the inner drive towards righteousness must be feeble and weak. Yet, at the same time, Paul emphatically insists in verse 12 that believers are under divine obligation to make real progress in sanctification as they “work out” their sanctification “with fear and trembling.” The main point of this message is that in spite of remaining sin, the believer is called to work out their sanctification by walking in obedience to God’s commands through the grace which God supplies.
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