Conclusion
Sanctification must be not be accepted merely as God’s act of justifying a person from the penalty of his sin at the new birth. We already have an adequate term for that - justification. While justification has an element of sanctification in it, it does not describe what the Bible means by the word sanctification. Sanctification is an ongoing personal experience in a believer’s life which starts at conversion.
The believer is progressively sanctified through Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as he or she obeys the word of God, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). It continues until it finds completion when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Biblical Sanctification therefore has an Initial, Progressive, and Final (Ultimate) stage to it. Ultimate Sanctification brings Progressive Sanctification to an end. This can only be achieved when the believer is brought into the eternal state at death or at the Return of Christ.
It is the responsibility of every Christian to deal with the fact that sin often rears its head, and take the appropriate action. Thus he sanctifies himself more and more so that the very likeness of Christ can be seen in him. This includes the fact that he has to separate himself unto God and away from the world in thought, word and deed. Some call this Positive Sanctification - the consecrating of oneself to God. Such a work will continue throughout the rest of his life. Biblical Sanctification depends upon the degree of commitment one gives to the Lord. If he actively walks in holiness then he will be declared holy by the Lord. Therefore sanctification takes commitment and discipline on the part of the one desiring to be cleansed.
We finish our study on the topic of Biblical Sanctification with a quote from James Smith (Daily Bible Readings), “The sanctification of the Spirit commences in regeneration, it is carried on through life, and will be complete in the day of Christ. It consists in making us holy, or inwardly and outwardly conforming us to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It separates us from the world, sets our hearts against sin, consecrates us to the Lord’s service, makes us zealous for His glory, and creates us anew in Christ. Physically we are the same as before, but morally and spiritually we differ. The more we experience the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the more clearly we shall discover our own sinfulness, the more we shall see the need for the Saviour’s blood, the more we shall bless God for the Redeemer’s finished work on Calvary, and the more carefully and cautiously we shall walk in our pilgrimage journey in this ungodly world. Nothing will prove our election by the Father, or our redemption by the Son, but the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.”