69. What else does sanctifying grace do for us?
It enables us to strive for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
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The answer here uses the language of Hebrews 12:14, a verse that reminds us that holiness is a prerequisite to seeing the Lord, which is shorthand for entering God’s full and unmediated presence in eternity. Paul also tells us that we are “saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13 DST). It is not just belief in the truth that saves us, as we hear in so many presentations of the gospel. The sanctifying work of the Spirit—and our commitment to yielding ourselves fully to this work of the Spirit—is also essential to salvation. Paul frequently warns his hearers that those who persevere in living a life driven by the flesh “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21; see also 1 Cor. 6:9–11; Eph. 5:5–6), regardless of their beliefs. Only those who invest themselves in the Spirit’s work in them, who “keep sowing to the Spirit,” will “reap eternal life from the Spirit” (Gal. 6:7–8 DST).
Romans 6:23 has long been isolated as one of the paving stones on the Romans Road, that common, if severely truncated, tool for evangelism: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NIV). Wesley deserves credit for holding this verse to its immediate context: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (v. 22 NIV, emphasis added). Eternal life remains God’s gift (v. 23), since our deliverance from beginning to end is the consequence of God’s generous and loving work on our behalf. But we arrive at this gift by way of living the new life that God empowers, the life for which God has liberated sin’s captives—a life of holiness that leads to eternal life. The genuine Romans Road makes no detours around sanctification!
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And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18 ESV)
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (2 Thess. 2:13 NIV)
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2–3)
See also Matt. 6:33; John 17:17; Rom. 8:29; 12:1; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 4:22–24; Col. 1:21–22; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 6:1–3; 12:14; 1 Peter 1:13–16; 1 John 5:3; CoF XI
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