How Does Sanctification Work? Quotes

“In the Bible itself, the word sanctify is most often used in the past tense. It describes something that has already happened. It is one way of describing how God decisively acts to make you his own. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You are chosen, holy, and beloved. You have been made alive together with Christ. God in Christ forgave you. You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. He called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called saints, together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In all these ways, the Bible affirms that you already belong to God. See Rom. 8:15; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Eph. 2:5; 4:32; Col. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:9.”
― David A. Powlison, How Does Sanctification Work?

“I seek God daily because I need to. When I don’t meet God personally, thoughtfully, and humbly, I suffer the consequences. It’s analogous to forgetting to eat. I suffer because I am hungry, not because I feel guilty. “I’m hungry and I need to eat” is different from “I really should have eaten, and I failed again.”
― David A. Powlison, How Does Sanctification Work?