Gospel-Driven Sanctification

We love the doctrine of justification. Following in the footsteps of Martin Luther and the Reformation, we hail the doctrine of justification as that “great doctrine upon which the church stands or falls.” It is precious to us—we hold it dear to our hearts—because it captures the very essence of the Gospel of God’s grace to us, to sinners who know that we can do nothing to earn our acceptance with a holy God. We know that our only hope is to be reckoned righteous on the ground of the perfect, alien righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith alone, apart from works. We love that doctrine because our goodness and our efforts and our achievements are debased, and Christ is exalted as all in all.

And we also love the doctrine of glorification. We look forward with great joy, eagerness, and anticipation to that day when our struggle with sin will finally have reached its completion—when we will find the rest and the reward upon which we have steadfastly fixed our hope for all these years here in this life. It brings great encouragement and sweetness to our souls to contemplate the day when we will finally see our dear Lord Jesus face to face—when we’ll finally discover what it will mean to have unhindered fellowship and communion with the Savior whom we love more than anyone or anything. We look forward to that day when, in the language of Psalm 16:11, we will enter in to the fullness of joy and the eternal pleasures that accompany being in His presence.

But sometimes the doctrine of sanctification doesn’t fill us with the same sense of wonder...

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