What Is Apostasy? Can a Christian Become Apostate?

AN ESSAY BY Andy Naselli

DEFINITION

Apostasy is decisively turning away from the faith. An apostate is a person who once claimed to be a Christian but has irreversibly abandoned and renounced orthodox Christianity.

SUMMARY

Apostasy is decisively turning away from the faith. An apostate is a person who once claimed to be a Christian but has irreversibly abandoned and renounced orthodox Christianity. On the one hand, the Bible warns people who claim to be Christ-followers: God will not finally save you if you do not persevere in the faith and good works. On the other hand, the Bible comforts Christ-followers: God preserves all genuine Christians as eternally secure (preservation), and all genuine Christians continue in the faith (perseverance).

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Introduction

Apostasy is decisively turning away from the faith. An apostate is a person who once claimed to be a Christian but has irreversibly abandoned and renounced orthodox Christianity.

There is a tension throughout the New Testament between warning and comfort. On the one hand, God warns professing believers that he will not finally save them if they do not persevere in the faith and good works. On the other hand, God comforts genuine believers that he will preserve them to the end.

Apostasy, preservation, perseverance, and assurance are four distinct theological concepts that interrelate. It is difficult to talk about any one of them without talking about the other three. This article focuses on apostasy. (See the articles “Preservation and Perseverance” and “Assurance of Salvation: How Can I Know I am Saved?”)

Warning: God Will Not Finally Save You If You Do Not Persevere in the Faith and Good Works

Not everyone who claims to be a Christ-follower is actually a Christ-follower (Matt 7:21–23). What seems to be genuine faith may actually be spurious (Matt 13:1–23). That is why the Bible repeatedly warns those who claim to be Christians to beware apostasy (e.g., John 15:1–8; 1Cor 15:1–2). Here is a sampling of ten warning passages:

• Rom 8:13: “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Those who characteristically live according to their sinful nature will experience eternal death.
• Rom 11:20b–22: “They [i.e., unbelieving Jews] were broken off because of their unbelief, but you [i.e., Gentile Christians] stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” Paul warns Gentile Christians that they will remain part of God’s people only if they persevere in faith.
• 1Cor 9:27: “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” Paul exercises self-control so that he does not apostatize. If he did not keep his body under control, he might, for example, have immoral sex, and the sexually immoral (i.e., people for whom unrepentant immoral sex characterizes their life) do not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 5–6). Being “disqualified” from this race means being disqualified from inheriting the kingdom of God.
• Col 1:21–23a: “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard….” Paul warns that persevering in the faith is a condition for final salvation. He does not want false teachers to disqualify the Colossian Christians (Col 2:18).
• 1Tim 1:18–20: “This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Hymenaeus and Alexander were likely false teachers who once claimed to be Christians but then apostatized (cf. 2Tim 2:17–19; 1Jn 2:19).
• 1Tim 4:1: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” Departing from the faith is apostatizing.
• 1Tim 5:8, 11–12: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.… But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.” Denying the faith (cf. 2 Tim 2:12b) and abandoning one’s former faith refer to apostatizing.
• Heb 6:4–6: “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” God uses warnings like this as a means to exhort genuine Christians to persevere. Some who claim to be Christians have a superficial faith even though they appear to be genuine Christians. Only genuine Christians have a faith that perseveres: “We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Heb 3:14).[1]
• Heb 10:26–27, 29, 36, 39: “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.… How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?… You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.… We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” Some who seemed to be genuine Christians were only superficially attached to the Christian community and eventually demonstrated that they were never genuine Christians (cf. 1Jn 2:19). They apostatized by rejecting the truth and the Son of God himself. God uses this warning as a means to exhort genuine Christians to persevere in the faith.
• 2Pet 2:20–21: “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.” Those false teachers initially appeared to be Christians, but they rejected the truth and thus are more accountable for their sin (cf. Luke 12:47–48).

Warning passages are a God-ordained means to a God-ordained end. That is, they are one of the ways God ensures that all genuine believers will persevere.

Comfort: God Will Preserve Genuine Christians to the End  

Someone who once professed to be a Christian may become apostate. But a genuine Christian cannot become apostate. Those who apostatize demonstrate that they were never genuine Christians: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1Jn 2:19).

Preservation: God Preserves All Genuine Christians as Eternally Secure

Preservation (or eternal security) is God’s sovereign work of preserving all genuine Christians through faith as eternally saved and safe (John 6:39; 17:11–12; 10:27–30; Rom 5:9–10; 8:1–4, 28–39; 11:29; 1Cor 1:4, 8–9; Eph 1:13–14; 4:30; Phil 1:6; 1Thes 5:23–24; 2Thes 3:3; Heb 6:17–20; 7:23–25; 1Pet 1:3–5; 1Jn 2:18–19; 5:18). All believers have eternal security and cannot lose it because God is faithful and all-powerful.

Perseverance: All Genuine Christians Continue in the Faith

Perseverance means that genuine Christians can neither totally nor finally fall away from the faith but will certainly continue in the faith to the end and be eternally saved (Col 1:22–23; Heb 3:14). The areas in which believers must persevere include their personal faith (John 8:31; 1Jn 4:15; 5:1, 4; Heb 3:14; 6:11; 10:22; Jude 21), sound doctrine (John 7:17; Col 1:22–23; 1Jn 4:6), and good works (John 10:27; Eph 2:10). All genuine Christians persevere in the faith. “They will never perish” (John 10:28).

That does not mean that genuine Christians never temporarily lapse in their faith, resist God, or otherwise sin. Christians are sinners—repenting sinners. And those who claim to be Christians must beware false faith. Professing Christians with false assurance inevitably end up in hell contrary to their expectation (Matt 7:21–23). So those who claim to be Christians must be diligent to confirm their calling and election by cultivating the qualities of faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (2Pet 1:5–7, 10). Christians must cultivate “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6).

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24–25).

FOOTNOTES

1. See R. Bruce Compton, “Persevering and Falling Away: A Reexamination of Hebrews 6:4–6,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 1.1 (1996): 135–67.

FURTHER READING

• Herbert W. Bateman IV, ed., Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews.
• John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Bunyan masterfully portrays how God enables all genuine Christians to persevere to the end. For some versions that my family enjoys, see here.
• D. A. Carson, “Granted That There Are Spurious Conversions in the Bible, What Criteria Help Us to Discern That a Profession of Faith Is Genuine?”
• D. A. Carson, “Reflections on Assurance,” ch. 10 in Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace.
• Bruce Compton, “Persevering and Falling Away: A Reexamination of Hebrews 6:4–6.”
• Wayne Grudem, “The Perseverance of the Saints (Remaining a Christian),” ch. 40 in Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.
• John Murray, “Perseverance,” ch. 8 in Redemption: Accomplished and Applied.
• Robert A. Peterson, Our Secure Salvation: Preservation and Apostasy.
• Matthew Pinson, ed., Four Views on Eternal Security.
• John Piper, Five Points: Toward a Deeper Experience of God’s Grace, in vol. 8 of The Collected Works of John Piper.
• Thomas R. Schreiner, Run to Win the Prize: Perseverance in the New Testament.
• Thomas R. Schreiner and Ardel B. Caneday, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance.
• Sam Storms, Kept for Jesus: What the New Testament Really Teaches about Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Security.

The Unpardonable Sin

AN ESSAY BY Andy Naselli

DEFINITION

The unpardonable sin is the extreme sin Jesus warns against in Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29, and Luke 12:10. Christians hold at least four different views on what the unpardonable sin is.

SUMMARY

This essay will survey four views on the unpardonable sin: (1) Commit a really bad sin such as adultery, murder, or denying Christ under pressure. (2) Assert what is false about the Spirit. (3) Attribute Spirit-empowered miracles to Satan. (4) Decisively reject clear truth the Spirit revealed about Jesus by attributing his mighty works to Satan. This article argues for the fourth view.

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Introduction

The unpardonable sin is the extreme sin Jesus warns against in Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke 12:

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (Matt 12:31–32). 

Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin (Mark 3:28–29). 

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (Luke 12:10).

People refer to this extreme sin as the unpardonable sin, the unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and the eternal sin. Some people agonize whether they are guilty of committing it. Can a person commit the unpardonable sin today? If so, who and how? Why is the sin unforgivable? The answers depend on what exactly the sin is. What follows explains four views on what the unpardonable sin is and argues for the fourth view.

View 1. Commit a Really Bad Sin Such as Adultery, Murder, or Denying Christ under Pressure

According to this popular view, most sins are forgivable, but sins such as adultery, murder, and denying Christ when threatened with persecution are so bad that they are unforgivable. This view is wrong not merely because it doesn’t fit the literary context of Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke 12. It is wrong because the Bible includes examples of people who committed those very sins and received God’s forgiveness: (1) King David committed adultery and murdered Uriah (2Sam 11–12; Ps 51); (2) Paul testifies, “formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent [NIV: a violent man]” (1Tim 1:13; cf. 1Cor 15:9); and (3) the Apostle Peter denied Christ three times (John 18:15–18, 25–27; 21:15–19). Genuine Christians still sin in all kinds of ways—including grieving the Holy Spirit of God (Eph 4:30). Anyone who claims otherwise is a liar: “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1Jn 1:10). But God forgives repenting sinners because of Jesus: “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1Jn 2:1a).

View 2. Assert What Is False about the Spirit

Most of the early church fathers who address the unpardonable sin take this view. For example, Cyril of Jerusalem asserts, “A man must often fear to say, either from ignorance or assumed reverence, what is improper about the Holy Spirit, and thereby come under this condemnation” (Catecheses 16.1).

This view is unlikely because it is describes the sin too generally. Many non-Christians have expressed false beliefs about the Spirit but later have become Christians and believed correctly about the Spirit. And many Christians have expressed false beliefs about the Spirit but later corrected those beliefs as they matured in understanding what the Bible reveals about the Spirit. For example, a Christian may realize that it is wrong to refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” since he is a person.

View 3. Attribute Spirit-Empowered Miracles to Satan

This view is common among dispensationalists. Some who hold this view specify that one could commit this sin only during Jesus’ earthly ministry because the Spirit-empowered miracles refer exclusively to the miracles that Jesus performed. Others argue that one could commit this sin during the period of supernatural sign miracles in the first century but not after that since sign miracles ceased. Limiting the miracles to Jesus’ miracles, they argue, is too narrow since the context of Luke 12:10 includes miracles by Jesus’ twelve disciples.

This view is not compelling because, as D. A. Carson argues, “Apart from the question of whether miracles take place now, Jesus elsewhere warned that miracles are not necessarily the criterion of true discipleship ([Matt] 7:21–23); i.e., they do not necessarily reveal the Spirit’s presence and power.”[1]

View 4. Decisively Reject Clear Truth the Spirit Revealed about Jesus by Attributing His Mighty Works to Satan

Those who commit the unpardonable sin, explains John Calvin, “with evil intention, resist God’s truth, although by its brightness they are so touched that they cannot claim ignorance.”[2] They decisively reject clear Spirit-revealed truth about Jesus by attributing his mighty works to Satan. They decisively reject Jesus because they never repent. They continue to rebel against Jesus until they die. Instead of submitting to who Jesus is and recognizing that the Spirit empowered Jesus’ mighty works, they rebel against Jesus by declaring that Satan empowered his mighty works.

The unpardonable sin is not an accidental, impulsive, or unguarded slip of the tongue. It is deliberately repudiating the truth about Jesus. God responds to such rebellion by hardening the rebel’s heart and not giving that person a desire to repent and believe. The sin is unforgivable because God never enables that person to repent and believe. So this is a sin that only unbelievers can commit.

Only God knows who is guilty of this sin. It is impossible for a mere human to know with certainty that a fellow human has committed the unpardonable sin and is thus beyond repentance. Many people who appear to have committed this sin later repent and believe.

This sin can overlap with apostasy. (Apostasy is decisively turning away from the faith. An apostate is a person who once claimed to be a Christian but has irreversibly abandoned and renounced orthodox Christianity.) Since some people who commit the unpardonable sin have never claimed to be Christ-followers, they are not technically apostates. The Pharisees whom Jesus addressed, for example, were not apostates. They were on the brink of committing the unpardonable sin, but they did not claim to be Christ-followers and then irreversibly abandon and renounce Christ and his teachings.

But those who commit the unpardonable sin are similar to apostates in that they have resolutely rejected the truth and are beyond repentance. The fate of those who commit the unpardonable sin parallels the fate of apostates in at least three passages on apostasy: “it is impossible … to restore them again to repentance” (Heb 6:4–6); “one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God … and has outraged the Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29); “there is sin that leads to death” (1Jn 5:16). In each of those three passages, notes Carson, “There is self-conscious perception of where the truth lies and the light shines—and a willful turning away from it”—just as with the unpardonable sin in the Synoptic Gospels.[3] (See the articles “What Is Apostasy? Can a Christian Become Apostate?” and “The Sin unto Death.”)

Those who have committed the unpardonable sin are not worried about it. They are hardened in their unbelief. So if you are worried that you have committed the unpardonable sin, that is a reliable sign that you have not committed it. If you are ashamed of your sin against God, then you have not committed the unpardonable sin. So instead of feeling hopelessly condemned, keep turning from your sins, and keep trusting Jesus. If you are in Jesus the Messiah, then there is “no condemnation” for you (Rom 8:1).

FOOTNOTES

1. D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in Matthew–Mark, 2nd ed., Expositor’s Bible Commentary 9 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 336.
2. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), 1:6:17.
3. Carson, “Matthew,” 337.

FURTHER READING

• Darrell L. Bock, Luke: Volume 2: 9:51–24:53, pp. 1140–43.
• D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in Matthew–Mark, 2nd ed., pp. 336–37.
• William W. Combs, “The Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Combs’s article condenses and updates his doctoral thesis: “The Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” (ThD diss., Grace Theological Seminary, 1985).
• Myk Habets, “Jesus, the Spirit, and the Unforgivable Sin: A Contribution from Spirit Christology,” Journal of Theological Interpretation 12 (2018): 39–57.
• Jonathan T. Pennington, “You Asked: What Is the Unforgivable Sin?”
• John Piper, “Beyond Forgiveness: Blasphemy against the Spirit.”
• Thomas R. Schreiner, “What Is the Unforgivable Sin?”
• Sam Storms, “What Is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?” ch. 6 in Tough Topics: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions.

Sin as Idolatry

AN ESSAY BY Benjamin L. Gladd

DEFINITION

Idolatry, the worship of something other than God, is at the root of all sin because sin seeks to steal glory from God, to whom alone it is due, and take it for the sinner.

SUMMARY

Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden to rule as kings, priests, and prophets, bringing glory to God their maker. Their sin, then, was a determination to bring glory to themselves rather than God; in short, they worshipped themselves rather than God. Israel continues this idolatrous pattern, desiring to worship a god, the golden calf, who would give them what they desired rather than waiting for the true God to tell them what he desired. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, they deemed God’s word insufficient. Jesus came and restored humanity to their roles as obedient kings, priests, and prophets through his faithful life, which ended by taking the punishment for our idolatrous failure to do the same. Now, Christians live in the overlap of these two ages, still suffering under the curse of sin and fighting against the tendencies of the old Adam while having our minds renewed by the Spirit into the image of Christ.

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Adam and Eve: The Beginning of the Story

Genesis 1–2 narrates God creating the heavens and earth to be his cosmic house, so that he may rule over and dwell with the created order. On the sixth day, God created Adam and Eve to image him on the earth—to rule as kings, priests, and prophets (Gen. 1:27–30; 2:7–24). Being created in God’s image means that Adam and Eve represent him on the earth in all their thoughts and actions. It is the divine imprint of God in humanity that reflects his divine attributes and functions. As kings, the first couple is to rule as God rules. The earth, while it is “good,” still requires management and subjection (Gen. 1:28). As priests, Adam and Eve are to spread God’s glory to the ends of the earth by transplanting Eden (Gen. 2:15). God dwells with Adam and Eve in the garden, so where the garden goes, his glory follows. As prophets, they must learn and apply God’s law to every facet of their lives (Gen. 2:16–18). God therefore creates humanity to remain wholly dependent on him and represent him faithfully on the earth.

As we turn our attention to Genesis 3, we must not lose sight of Adam and Eve’s responsibility to image God on the earth. The serpent strategically challenges their threefold office as kings, priests, and prophets, cajoling them to cast off God’s image and become independent of God and function at his level. The temptation, at the heart of it, is to become “like God” (Gen. 3:4)—to rule and think like God. The serpent’s trickery proved too much for Eve and she succumbed. Adam, too, did not hold fast to God’s promises, and he quickly followed suit. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “Sin is any lack of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (14). That is, any thought, action, disposition, etc. that does not fall into conformity with God’s commandments and glory is “sin.” What lead Adam and Eve astray is their unfounded belief that they should bring glory to themselves, to enjoy what God alone enjoys. At the root of all sin is idolatry—the worship of something other than God. Fundamentally, created things should not worship any part of the created order; images should not worship other images, one’s self or otherwise. The first instance of idolatry recorded in the Bible resulted in a “cosmic tragedy” (see Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty, 65).

The first couple’s sin sent shock waves throughout the cosmos. We immediately see the effects of their actions: they “realized they were naked” (Gen. 3:7). The word here for “naked” is related to the Hebrew word for “crafty” (Exod. 21:14; Josh. 9:4; Job 5:13). Recall that a few verses earlier in 3:1, the serpent is considered “more crafty than any of the wild animals” (3:1). The couple is, as a result of the fall, resembling characteristics of the serpent (see Meredith G. Kline, Genesis: A New Commentary, 22). Instead of representing God on the earth, Adam and Eve are now beginning to represent the serpent. Worship inevitably leads to transformation, good or ruin (see G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship, 16). Their allegiance has shifted, and now their threefold office will be used a weapon for destruction. Humanity, outside of God’s grace, will abuse one another, defile God’s earth, and promote lies and deception. But this isn’t the final word. Later on in chapter 3, God promises that a descendant of Eve will arise and accomplish what Adam and Eve failed to accomplish (Gen. 3:15). They failed to rule over the serpent and rid Eden of it, so now a faithful image bearer of God will obey where they disobeyed. Through the faithfulness of one, sin and idolatry will be undone and God’s people will one day possess a restored image.

The Nation of Israel: More of the Same

As we now consider the nation of Israel, much of what we will see corresponds to Adam and Eve in the garden. We should regard Israel as a corporate Adam. What is true of Adam is generally true of Israel. Like Adam, God commands the nation to be kings, priests, and prophets (Exod. 19:6; cf. Isa. 43:1). But also like Adam, Israel sinned against God by committing idolatry. The serpent deceived the first couple by enticing them with the offer to become gods and function outside of God. The same can be said of Israel’s failure.

While Moses is atop Sinai communing with the Lord, Israel grows impatient. They wonder if Moses has forgotten about them, so, instead of waiting patiently on the Lord, they take matters into their own hands (Exod. 32:1). Instead of acting as a faithful imager bearer and encouraging the nation to trust God, Aaron fashioned a golden calf with gold earrings (Exod. 32:2–5). Israel explicitly then breaks the first two commandments (Exod. 20:3–4). But the breach of the commandments revealed a fundamental issue in the hearts of the Israelites—a lack of trust in God’s word. God promised that he would dwell his people and that his life-giving presence would nourish and protect them (Exod. 19:5–6). Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, they deemed God’s word insufficient. The Israelites wanted to dictate the terms of their preservation. They wanted to be in charge of their destiny. They wanted to be gods and worshiping the golden calf was a means to that end.

Recall that after the fall, Adam and Eve saw themselves “naked” (Gen. 3:7), an incident that reveals their transformation into the image of the “crafty” serpent (Gen. 3:1). Remarkably, Exodus 32 portrays Israel’s idolatrous worship of the molten calf in language describing rebellious cattle to convey the idea that Israel had become like the object of its worship. Israel is called a “stiff-necked people” who were “running wild” and “out of control” (Exod. 32:9, 24–25). Sinful Israel is mocked by being depicted metaphorically as rebellious cows running amuck because the nation had become as spiritually lifeless as the inanimate golden calf. Worship always leads to transformation, so false worship, which is idolatry, will result in self-destruction incurring God’s judgment.

Despite Israel’s treacherous behavior, hope remains. The promise of a coming deliverer is an integral part of God’s covenant with Israel. God’s ultimate intention, to populate the earth with his faithful images, will be accomplished. Embedded within Israel’s law, hope remains for a future individual to fill Adam and Israel’s shoes but obey where they failed. Within the sacrificial system, too, there’s an expectation that God would one day send the ultimate sacrifice who would bear the sins of God’s people. Sin will not have the final word.

Jesus: The Faithful One

One of striking element of Jesus’s earthly ministry is his prerogative to retrace the steps of Adam and Israel. He must succeed where they fail. His chief responsibility is to save humanity from their sin and idolatry. This is why the angel instructs Joseph to name him Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 2:21). Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity’s greatest problem is estrangement from God. Sin drove a wedge between God and those in his image. So, God sends his Son to come into the world to solve humanity’s sin problem by bearing the Father’s wrath and reconciling us with him.

The Synoptic Gospels claim that the devil tempted Jesus over a period of forty days (Matt. 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:1–2). The qualification that this occurred in the wilderness together with the forty days recalls Israel’s temptation in the wilderness. Numbers 14:34 states why God’s punishment of Israel lasted forty years in the wilderness: “For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.” Each day of unfaithfulness corresponds to one year of punishment. Jesus’ forty-day wilderness experience of faithfulness is a typological microcosm of Israel’s forty-year experience of unfaithful wandering in the desert and Adam and Eve’s temptation in the garden.

The Apostle Paul explains that God “in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” (Rom. 3:25). According to the Old Testament, God promised to punish sin at the very end of history (e.g., Isa. 40:2; Ezek. 44:29), and God did so in judging his son on behalf of his people. Christ’s death is an eschatological event, offering life to those who trust him (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8–9) and judgment upon those who don’t (John 3:18). Sin and idolatry were undone through Christ’s faithfulness.

The Church: Saints in the Overlap of the Ages

Believers live now in what is often called the already-not yet, or the “overlap of the ages.” For the most part, the Old Testament anticipated that the messiah would come, vanquish Israel’s enemies, suffer on behalf of God’s people, establish the eternal kingdom, and usher in the resurrection of believers. All of these events were to occur together at the very end of history. While the coming of Christ began to fulfill these expectations, it did not bring them to their final and full fulfillment. Old Testament promises have “already” begun to be fulfilled here and now but remain to be fully fulfilled at Christ’s second coming—the “not yet.” Therefore, God’s people, though justified and spiritually resurrected on account of their union with the Last Adam (Rom. 5:19; Eph. 2:5–6; Col 3:1), still sin and commit idolatry. The saints are caught living in the overlap of two ages. Though believers are spiritually resurrected, they still possess indwelling sin and, until their bodily resurrection, will continue to sin. All of our thoughts and actions are, at some level, tainted with sin. The old Adam still lives within, though he is no longer dominant.

Such eschatological dissonance affects how we understand sin and idolatry in the present. Since we have a new birth in Christ, or, as Paul claims, we are a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), we have power over sin, for it is no longer our master (Rom. 6). Romans 12:2 states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In contrast to unbelievers who are transformed into the images of their idols (Rom. 1:21–32), believers are to be transformed into the image of Christ. God has begun to restore our image through Christ. In him, believers are true kings, priests, and prophets, who consciously and continually worship Christ through reading the Bible, prayer, participating in a local body of believers, and so on. That is what believers are called to do, but now we must consider what they are not to do.

Idolatry is more than bowing down before a physical idol. It is, as we have seen, any worship outside of God. The New Testament often weds idolatry with unrighteous behavior. First Corinthians 6:9, for example, reads, “Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality” (HCSB; cf. 1 Cor. 5:10–11; 8:1–10; 10:7, 14, 19; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 5:5).

One of the most difficult passages in the New Testament to swallow occurs in James 4:4 where he labels some within his congregations as “adulteresses” (4:4; NASB). The term “adulteresses” seems odd and gives the reader pause. The term recalls several key passages within the book of Hosea where the prophet castigates the “adulterous” Israelites for breaking the covenant (Hos. 2:4; 4:2, 13–14; 7:4). Instead of clinging to the Lord in obedience like a faithful bride, the Israelites have embraced the false gods of the pagan nations (Hos. 1:2; 2:2–13). The point of the allusion is that James’s audience is “in danger of the same kind of covenant unfaithfulness” that was pervasive in Hosea’s day (see Karen H. Jobes, “The Greek Minor Prophets in James” in ‘What Does the Scripture Say?’: Studies in the Function of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity, vol. 2, 147–58).

Therefore, believers today are called to faithful kings, priests, and prophets, exclusively devoted to the triune God. Those who hold fast to Christ and renounce the allurements of this world will live forever in the new heavens and earth where God will perfect our worship and rid us of sin and idolatry (Rev. 21:1–22:5).

FURTHER READING

• Anthony Hoekema, Created in God’s Image
• Benjamin L. Gladd, Adam and Israel: A Biblical Theology of the People of God
• Daniel I. Block, For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship
• G. K. Beale, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry. 
• G. K. Beale, “We Reflect What We Worship.”
• Meredith G. Kline, Genesis: A New Commentary
• R. C. Sproul, “Sin is Cosmic Treason”
• Richard Lints, Identity and Idolatry: The Image of God and Its Inversion
• Stephen Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible
• Tony Reinke, “We Become What We Worship”

The Nature of Sin

AN ESSAY BY Christopher Morgan

DEFINITION

Sin is the quality of any human action that causes it to fail to glorify the Lord fully, which was first present in the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which has corrupted all people except for Christ, and which leads to death, both bodily and spiritually.

SUMMARY

Sin is the failure to keep God’s law and to uphold his righteousness, thus failing to glorify the Lord fully. While there are many different manifestations that sin can take, they are all rooted in the initial disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden. All those who have been born afterwards, other than Jesus Christ, have been born into sin and cannot escape the guilt and punishment that sin incurs apart from the freedom found in Christ. God did not create sin or the suffering which sin brings into the world, but God is sovereign over his world and provides a way to be reconciled to him, faith in his Messiah, Jesus.

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The Bible uses many words for sin. Many are expressions that view sin as a failure or a “falling short” of a standard. In this sense, sin is a failure to keep God’s law (“lawlessness,” 1 John 3:4), a lack of God’s righteousness (Rom. 1:18), an absence of reverence for God (Rom. 1:18; Jude 15), a refusal to know (Eph. 4:18), and, most notably, a “coming short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Thus, sin is the quality of any human action that causes it to fail to glorify the Lord fully. More specifically, the biblical descriptions of sin can be further defined as a failure to glorify God and a rebellion against him (1 John 3:4; Rom. 1:18; 3:23; Eph. 4:18); as an offense against God and a violation of his law (Gen. 39:9; Ps. 51:4; Rom. 8:7; 1 John 3:4); as a willful act and a present state of human existence (Ezek. 18:4; Matt. 7:17); as personal and social (Josh. 7; Isa. 1:2–4; 10:1–4; Jer. 5:12, 28–29); as involving commission (a deed done), omission (a deed left undone), and imperfection (a deed done with wrong motives; Matt. 22:37); as a rouge element in creation (Gen. 1:31); as a failure to image the Creator to the world (Jer. 2:11–12; Rom. 1:23; 3:23; 8:20–22; 1 Cor. 1:18–25); as including guilt and pollution (Mark 7:21–23; Rom. 1:18; cf. 3:19–20; Eph. 2:3); as including thoughts (Exod. 20:17; Matt. 5:22, 28), words, (Isa. 6:5; James 3:1–18) and actions (Gal. 5:19–21); as deceit (Jer. 17:9; Heb. 3:12–13); and as having a beginning in history and an end in the future (1 Cor. 15:55–57; see John W. Mahony, “A Theology of Sin for Today,” in Fallen: A Theology of Sin).

Creation and Sin

At first glance, one might conclude that this first epoch of the biblical story has little to contribute to our understanding of sin. After all, sin is not even mentioned, but that silence speaks volumes! In particular, Genesis’s teaching about God’s creation clarifies two critical principles related to sin (see Christopher W. Morgan, “Sin in the Biblical Story,” in Fallen: A Theology of Sin).

First, sin is not something created or authored by God. Rather, God created a good universe and good human beings. Genesis 1–2 shows the Creator to be transcendent, sovereign, personal, immanent, and good. God’s goodness is displayed in his turning the chaos into something good—the heavens and the earth. His goodness is even more clearly reflected in the goodness of his creation, evidenced by the steady refrain, “And God saw that it was good” (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), a goodness accentuated on the sixth day: “Behold, it was very good” (v. 31). God’s generous provisions of light, land, vegetation, and animals are blessings given for man’s benefit, as are the abilities to know God, work, marry, and procreate. God blesses man with the Sabbath, places him in the delightful garden of Eden, gives him a helper, and establishes only one prohibition, given not to stifle man but to promote his welfare.

The good God creates a good world for the good of his creatures. Humans are created good and blessed beyond measure, being made in God’s image, with an unhindered relationship with God and with freedom. As a result, casting blame for sin on the good and generous God is unbiblical and unfounded. In the beginning, God creates a good cosmos with good humans who have good relationships with God, themselves, one another, and creation itself.

Second, sin is not original. It has not always existed. From a theological standpoint, God’s creation of the universe out of nothing shows that he alone is independent, absolute, and eternal. Everything else has been created. Further, the inherent goodness of creation leaves no room for a fundamental dualism between spirit and matter. Contrary to some philosophical and religious traditions, the Bible teaches that matter is a part of God’s creation and is good. Sin is ethical, not physical or tied to the cosmos itself.

From a historical standpoint, the story of creation recounts that there was a time when there was no sin. Sin is not original. The world is not now the way it was and, as Cornelius Plantinga helpfully states, “is not the way it is supposed to be” (see Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin).

The Fall and Sin

God does not create sin but creates a good universe and good human beings. Sadly, Adam and Eve do not obey God’s command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but “fall.” The Tempter calls into question God’s truthfulness, sovereignty, and goodness. The “cunning” Tempter deflects the woman’s attention from the covenantal relationship God had established. In the central scene, the fall reaches its climax. The fatal sequence unfolds rapidly: Eve “saw,” “took,” “ate,” and “gave” (Gen. 3:6), and the sequence culminates in “he ate.” But the forbidden fruit does not deliver what the Tempter promises, and instead brings new dark realities, as the good truthful covenant Lord had warned.

This initial rebellious act brings divine justice. The consequences of man’s sin are fitting and devastating. The couple immediately feel shame, realizing they are naked (3:7). They sense their estrangement from God, foolishly trying to hide from him (vv. 8–10). They fear God and his response (vv. 9–10). Their alienation from each other emerges as Eve blames the serpent, while Adam blames Eve and by intimation even God (vv. 10–13). Pain and sorrow ensue. The woman will experience pain in childbirth; the man will toil trying to grow food in a land with pests and weeds; and both will quickly discover dissonance in their relationship (vv. 15–19). Worse, God banishes them from Eden, away from his glorious presence (vv. 22–24).

How they wish they had heeded God’s warning: if you eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, “you will certainly die” (2:17). Upon eating the forbidden fruit, they do not immediately die from something like cardiac arrest. But they do die. They die spiritually, and their bodies also begin to experience the gradual decay that leads ultimately to their physical deaths (as God’s judgment states, “you will return to dust”; 3:19).

Most devastating is that these consequences not only befall Adam and Eve but extend to their descendants as well. The scene is dismal, as life becomes difficult, with all of humanity shut out of the garden.

So, in the beginning, God creates a good cosmos with good humans who have good relationships with him, themselves, one another, and creation. But sin enters the picture and disrupts each human relationship—with God, self, one another, and creation.

Paul’s remarks in Romans 5:12–21 also shed light on the fall. Romans 5:12–21 is not primarily about sin, but it is instructive, setting Christ’s work against the backdrop of Adam’s sin. In Adam, sin enters, death spreads and reigns, and condemnation is sentenced. In contrast, in Christ there is righteousness, new life, and justification.

Synthesis

Sin is fundamentally against God and a failure to live as the image of God. Most fundamentally, sin must be defined as being against God. The accounts depicting the fall suggest that sin is rebellion against God, breaking his covenant, and failing to live as his image-bearers by serving as kings and priests according to his will and on his mission. As such, sin is exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for something less, like idols (Rom. 1:23; cf. Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:11–12). Sin is falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and brings disrepute on the name of God (2:24).

Sin enters the human experience in Adam’s sin. That sin is an intruder, entering the human experience in Adam’s sin, is clear historically from Genesis. That sin enters human history in Adam’s sin is also clear theologically from Romans 5:12: “Sin came into the world through one man.” Although clarity concerning the reason(s) for Adam’s sin remains out of reach, Scripture does indicate that Adam’s sin not only results in his own punishment but also has dire consequences for all humanity. Adam sins not merely as the first bad example but as the representative of all humanity. Recall Romans 5:12–21 and the contrast between Adam’s representation of us and Christ’s representation. In Adam, there is sin, death, and condemnation. In Christ, there is righteousness, life, and justification. In Adam, there is the old era, the dominion of sin and death. In Christ, there is a new reign, marked by grace and life (cf. 1 Cor. 15:20–57).

Sin is universal—no one escapes. That the fall of Adam results in universal human sinfulness is suggested by Genesis 3–11 and emphasized by Romans 5:12–21. In particular, verse 19 clarifies, “As by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” This can also be seen through Paul’s insistence that no one is exempt, for all have sinned and fall short (Rom. 3:23); there are none righteous, not even one (3:10–18).

Sin produces universal human guilt and condemnation. Romans 5:12–21 displays this, particularly in verses 16 and 18: “The judgment following one trespass brought condemnation” (v. 16); “One trespass led to condemnation for all men” (v. 18). Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 2:1–3 speaks similarly: we were all “by nature children of wrath” (v. 3). Humans are universally guilty, in that state by nature (by birth, see Gal. 2:15), and thereby stand condemned under the wrath of God.

Sin begets universal human death. This is evident from Genesis, including God’s warning in 2:17: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” It is evident from God’s judgment upon Adam: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (3:19). The new entrance of death is also clear from the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden and from participation in the Tree of Life (vv. 22–24). That Adam’s sin results in the universality of human death is also manifest in Romans 5:12–21. Death enters human history through Adam’s sin (v. 12) and spreads to all (v. 12). Indeed, the universality of death clarifies that sin was in the world before the law was given (vv. 13–14). Paul puts it starkly, “Many died through one man’s trespass” (v. 15); “Sin reigned in death” (v. 21); and later, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:23).

Sin brings universal corruption. The corruption of all is directly related to the domain of sin and death just mentioned. Indeed, Romans 5:12–21 conjoins Adam’s sin, humans constituted as sinners, universal guilt, universal death, and the domain of death. The domain of sin and death is the macro-environmental condition in which life occurs; the particular human corruption is a part of the personal and individual aspects of the domain of sin and death.

Sin results in the reality of human suffering. As sin enters through Adam, so do its effects, suffering included. And just as God is not the author of sin, so is he not the author of suffering. Suffering is not a part of God’s good creation but is sin’s byproduct.

Sin creates shattered relationships at every level. As noted, God created a good cosmos with good human beings who had good relationships with God, themselves, one another, and creation. But sin entered the picture and brought disruption and estrangement in each human relationship, with God, self, one another, and creation.

The Good News

Indeed, “the biblical story sheds much light on sin. But clearly, sin is only the backdrop, never the point. It emerges in God’s good creation as a temporary intruder, causes much havoc, and holds many in its clutches. But it is no match for the work of God in Christ. Through his sinless life, sin-bearing death, sin-defeating resurrection, and sin-crushing second coming, sin and its offspring of suffering and death are given the death blow. Sin abounded, but grace super-abounds” Morgan, “Sin in the Biblical Story,” in Fallen: A Theology of Sin, 162).

FURTHER READING

• Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image
• Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson, eds., Fallen: A Theology of Sin
• Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin
• D. A. Carson, How Long O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil
• Henri Blocher, Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle
• Mark Thompson, “An Unavoidable Truth: The Doctrine of Sin Today”
• Wayne Grudem, “Sin” in Systematic Theology

Models of Sanctification

AN ESSAY BY Andy Naselli

DEFINITION

A model of sanctification is a view about how Christians mature as Christ-followers. Christians hold different models of sanctification.

SUMMARY

A model of sanctification is a view about how Christians mature as Christ-followers. Christians hold at least five different models of sanctification: the Wesleyan view, the higher life (or Keswick) view, the Pentecostal view, the Chaferian view, and the Reformed view. The Bible teaches the Reformed view.

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Introduction

A model of sanctification is a view about how Christians mature as Christ-followers. Christians hold different models of sanctification. This article explains five of the major views and argues that the Bible teaches the Reformed view.

But first it is important to clarify that when Christians talk about models of sanctification, we are referring to progressive sanctification. A Christian can say, “I am sanctified, I am being sanctified, and I will be sanctified.” The Bible presents three tenses of sanctification:

1. Past. Definitive or positional sanctification occurs when God sets people apart for himself at the moment they become Christians (e.g., Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom 1:7; 6; 1Cor 1:2; 6:11; Eph 1:1; 5:3; Col 1:2, 12; 3:12; 2Thes 1:10; Heb 10:10, 14; Jude 3; Rev 13:7).
2. Present. Progressive sanctification is the ongoing, incomplete, lifelong maturing process in which a Christian gradually becomes more holy (e.g., John 17:17; 2Cor 3:18; 7:1; Phil 1:6; 1Thes 4:3–4, 7; Heb 12:14; 2Pet 3:11).
3. Future. Ultimate sanctification corresponds to glorification (e.g., Phil 3:21; 1Thes 3:13; 5:23; Jude 24). This happens after death when God sets his people apart from sin’s presence and possibility.

The charts directly under the next five headings attempt to clarify five major views at the risk of oversimplifying them. Note:

• The cross in each chart represents the point of a Christian’s regeneration and conversion.
• The dotted arrows in the first three charts depict that a person may repeatedly lose and recover the resultant state from the crisis experience.

The first four views chronologically separate the time a person becomes a Christian from the time progressive sanctification begins.

The Wesleyan View of Progressive Sanctification

John Wesley (1703–1791) is the father of views that chronologically separate the time a person becomes a Christian from the time progressive sanctification begins. Wesley taught “Christian perfection,” which as he qualifies does not refer to absolute sinless perfection. Christian perfection is a type of perfection that only Christians can experience—as opposed to Adamic perfection, angelic perfection, or God’s unique, absolute perfection. The way Wesley qualifies Christian perfection hinges on how he narrowly defines sin as “a voluntary transgression of a known law.” He limits sin to only intentional sinful acts.

The essence of Wesley’s Christian perfection is perfectly loving God with your whole being and, consequently, perfectly loving fellow humans. Christian perfection occurs at a point in time after you are already a Christian. Wesley labels this second work of grace as not only Christian perfection but salvation from all sin, entire sanctification, perfect love, holiness, purity of intention, full salvation, second blessing, second rest, and dedicating all your life to God.

When Wesleyan perfectionism blended with American revivalism in the late 1830s, the holiness movement emerged. Methodist perfectionism emphasizes the crisis of Christian perfection more emphatically than Wesleyan perfectionism. Oberlin perfectionism views sanctification as entirely consecrating a person’s autonomous free will to obey the moral law. These views influenced higher life theology.

The Higher Life (or Keswick) View of Progressive Sanctification

Higher life theology is another type of second-blessing theology. Christians experience two “blessings.” The first is getting saved, and the second is getting serious. The change is dramatic. Higher life theology refers to these two distinct categories of Christians in various ways:

Category 1	Category 2
Carnal	Spiritual
Justified but no crisis of sanctification	Justified and crisis of sanctification
Justification actual (factual); sanctification possible	Sanctification actual and experiential (functional)
Received Christ by faith as your righteousness	Received Christ by faith as your holiness
Free from sin’s penalty	Free from sin’s power
First blessing	Second blessing (followed by more blessings)
First stage	Second stage
Average	Normal
Constant defeat	Constant victory
Expect defeat, surprised by victory	Expect victory, surprised by defeat
Life in the flesh	Life in the Spirit
Not abiding in Christ	Abiding in Christ
Have life	Have life more abundantly
Spirit-indwelt	Spirit-baptized and Spirit-filled
Spirit-indwelt	Christ-indwelt
Christ is Savior	Christ is both Savior and Lord
Believer	Disciple
Out of fellowship/communion with God	In fellowship/communion with God
Headship: “in Christ” positionally	Fellowship: “in Christ” experientially
The self-life (Rom 7)	The Christ-life (Rom 8)
Spiritual bondage	Spiritual liberty
Duty-life	Love-life
Restless worry	Perfect peace and rest
Experientially pre-Pentecost	Experientially post-Pentecost
No power for service	Power for service
Virtual fruitlessness	Abundant fruitfulness
Stagnation	Perpetual freshness
Feebleness	Strength
Lower life	Higher life
Shallow life	Deeper life
Trying	Trusting
The life of struggle/works	The life/rest of faith
The unsurrendered life	The life of consecration
The life lacking blessing	The blessed life
Liberated from Egypt but still in the wilderness	In the land of Canaan
The Christian life as it ought not be	The Christian life as it ought to be

Christians experience the second blessing (i.e., they move from category 1 to category 2) through surrender and faith: “Let go and let God.” There are two steps:

• Step 1 is surrender: “Let go.” It is at this point that Christians completely give themselves to Jesus as their Master. “Letting go” includes surrendering to God every habit, ambition, hope, loved one, and possession, as well as oneself. Victory over sin that involves effort is merely a counterfeit victory.
• Step 2 is faith: “Let God.” After this step, God is obligated to keep believers from sin’s power.

Let go + let God = consecration. The key is trusting, not trying, resting, not struggling.

When you experience a crisis of consecration, you are Spirit-filled. Continuing to be Spirit-filled is the only way to spiritually grow and to avoid relapsing back to category 1. The way to remain Spirit-filled is to continue to let go and let God.

The Pentecostal View of Progressive Sanctification

Pentecostalism, according to most church historians, began on December 31, 1900. According to Pentecostalism, believers should experience Spirit-baptism after conversion and initially demonstrate this by speaking in tongues.

Pentecostals are divided regarding whether Spirit-baptism happens at the sanctification crisis or at a later time. Thus, some call Spirit-baptism “the second blessing” and others “the third blessing.” The three blessings are (1) the crisis of conversion for salvation, (2) the crisis of sanctification for holiness, and (3) the crisis of Spirit-baptism for power in service.

The Chaferian View of Progressive Sanctification

Three theologians have been most influential in spreading the Chaferian view, and they are each connected with Dallas Theological Seminary: (1) Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952) cofounded Dallas Theological Seminary in 1924; (2) John F. Walvoord (1910–2002) served in leadership roles at Dallas Theological Seminary from 1935 until his death; and (3) Charles C. Ryrie (1925–2016) taught systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary (1953–1958, 1962–1983). (Most professors at Dallas Theological Seminary today do not hold the Chaferian view.)

Like higher life theology, the Chaferian view identifies three categories of people: (1) natural (unconverted), (2) carnal (converted but characterized by an unconverted lifestyle), and (3) spiritual (converted and Spirit-filled). Unlike higher life theology, the Chaferian view insists that Spirit-baptism occurs at conversion for all Christians. Spirit-baptism is a once-for-all-time act at conversion, and repeated Spirit-filling is the key for a Christian to live as a spiritual person instead of a carnal one.

(The Chaferian view of progressive sanctification is directly related to the so-called Lordship salvation controversy. See the article “Must Jesus Be Lord?”)

The Reformed View of Progressive Sanctification

What fundamentally distinguishes the Reformed view from the other four is that the Reformed view does not create two categories of Christians. The other four views divide Christians into two distinct categories (e.g., carnal and spiritual).

All Christians are both justified and being progressively sanctified (Rom 5–8). Justification and progressive sanctification are distinct:

	Justification	Progressive Sanctification
Quality	Instantly declared righteous	Gradually made righteous
	Objective, judicial (non-experiential): legal, forensic position	Subjective, experiential: daily experience
	External: outside the believer	Internal: inside the believer
	Christ’s righteousness imputed, received judicially	Christ’s righteousness imparted, worked out experientially
	Instantly removes sin’s guilt and penalty	Gradually removes sin’s pollution and power
	Does not change character	Gradually transforms character
Quantity	All Christians share the same legal standing	Christians are at different stages of growth
Duration	A single, instantaneous completed act: once-for-all-time, never repeated	A continuing process: gradual, maturing, lifelong

Justification and progressive sanctification are distinct, but they are inseparable. Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone. God’s grace through the power of his Spirit ensures that the same faith that justifies a Christian also progressively sanctifies a Christian.

All Christians are spiritual; none are permanently carnal (1Cor 2:6–3:4). Paul describes people as natural, spiritual, and carnal (or “of the flesh”). The issue is whether those are three distinct categories. Natural refers to “the person without the Spirit,” and spiritual refers to “the person with the Spirit” (NIV). All humans are in one of two categories:

Category 1	Category 2
non-Christian	Christian
unregenerate	regenerate
unbelieving	believing
unrepentant	repentant
unconverted	converted
natural (does not have the Spirit)	spiritual (has the Spirit)

Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers for not acting like who they are (3:1–4). Although they were people who had the Spirit, they were acting like people not having the Spirit because people having the Spirit characteristically live a certain way. Christians may temporarily live in a fleshly way in some areas, but Christians by definition live in a characteristically righteous way.

Paul does not teach that there is a permanent category called “carnal Christians” in which fruitless, fleshly professing believers may remain throughout their entire “Christian” life.

All Christians are Spirit-baptized (1Cor 12:13). Spirit-baptism is Christ’s judicially placing Christians in the Holy Spirit when God regenerates them, thus placing them into the body of Christ. The New Testament never commands or exhorts Christians to pursue or receive Spirit-baptism because they are already Spirit-baptized.

Conclusion

Bad theology dishonors God and hurts people. That applies to views of the Christian life that chronologically separate the time a person becomes a Christian from the time progressive sanctification begins. They are well-meaning quick-fix approaches to Christian living. But their quick fix to your struggle with sin will not result in a higher life, deeper life, victorious life, more abundant life, or anything other than a misguided, frustrated, and/or disillusioned life. There is a better way. (See the articles “Sanctification,” “The Mortification of Sin,” “The Christian Life,” “Enjoying God,” “Trusting God,” “Serving God,” “Cultivating Practical Godliness,” “Overcoming Temptation,” and “Confession of Sin.”)

FURTHER READING

Jerry Bridges

• The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness
• The Gospel for Real Life: Turn to the Liberating Power of the Cross … Every Day
• The Pursuit of Holiness
• Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
• The Transforming Power of the Gospel

John Bunyan

• The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Bunyan masterfully portrays how progressive sanctification requires active effort. For some versions that my family enjoys, see here.

D. A. Carson’s writings. Here’s a handful to start with:

• For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, volume 1 and volume 2
• The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians
• “Reflections on Assurance,” ch. 10 in Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace
• Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus
• Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation

William W. Combs

• “The Disjunction between Justification and Sanctification in Contemporary Evangelical Theology.”

Kevin DeYoung

• The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness.

Sinclair Ferguson

• “The Reformed View,” in Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification (pp. 47–76)
• In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life
• Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification
• Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (see pp. 746–809, 840–50).

Anthony A. Hoekema

• Saved by Grace (see pp. 19–27, 47–67, 192–256). This revises and expands Hoekema’s “The Reformed Perspective,” in Five Views on Sanctification.

John Murray

• Redemption: Accomplished and Applied (see chaps. 7–8)
• “Part V,” in Collected Writings of John Murray, Volume 2: Select Lectures in Systematic Theology (pp. 277–317)

Andrew David Naselli

• “Holiness,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (pp. 2364–65)
• No Quick Fix: Where Higher Life Theology Came From, What It Is, and Why It’s Harmful (This article condenses that book.)

Andrew David Naselli and J. D. Crowley 

• Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ.

Stephen J. Nichols and Justin Taylor, eds., 

• Theologians on the Christian Life series.

Barbara Hughes 

• Disciplines of a Godly Woman

R. Kent Hughes

• Disciplines of a Godly Man

John Owen 

• Overcoming Sin and Temptation.

J. I. Packer

• Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God
• Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God
• A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life

John Piper’s writings, sermons, and podcasts. I suggest starting with these books:

• Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
• Future Grace
• When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy
• The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God

John Piper and David Mathis, eds. 

• Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification. See especially the chapters by Piper (pp. 29–41, 127–38) and DeYoung (pp. 43–64).

Jonathan R. Pratt,

• “The Relationship between Justification and Spiritual Fruit in Romans 5–8.”

David Powlison,

• How Does Sanctification Work?

R. C. Sproul

• Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification.

Milton Vincent 

• A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love.

Benjamin B. Warfield

• Perfectionism, vols. 7–8 in The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield.

Donald S. Whitney

• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
• Praying the Bible