How Works-Based Sanctification Undermines Faith-Based Justification
Orientation
The assumption that sanctification requires our effort or commitment undermines the very faith that saved us.
- Human effort in sanctification strengthens sin, not holiness.
- Shifting focus from Christ's work to our own leads to self-reliance and doubt.
- This error often begins with viewing salvation itself as a commitment we make to God.
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)
— Galatians 3:3
Clarification
Sanctification is not a separate project from justification; both are received solely through faith in Christ's finished work.
- The same faith that justifies is the faith that sanctifies.
- Christ has taken all responsibility for your Christian life; your role is to believe.
- You were regenerated by God's sovereign act, not by your promise or commitment.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
— Galatians 2:20
Structure
The biblical logic reveals that leaving the cross to 'do something for God' shifts us from the Spirit to the flesh.
- Attempting to serve God through human effort is to partake of the flesh.
- This fleshly principle first produces religious works, then manifests sinful works.
- Our utter weakness and death to self is the position where Christ's life is magnified.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)
— Romans 7:18
Weight-Bearing Prose
Works-based sanctification is a fatal theological error because it logically undermines faith-based justification. If sanctification depends on our effort, then our standing before God is no longer secured solely by Christ’s finished work. This shifts the believer from the covenantal promise of inheritance to the futility of human performance. Paul’s categories are clear: the flesh cannot produce the life of the Spirit. The principle of sin is strengthened, not weakened, by religious zeal and law-keeping. The Christian life is Christ living through the believer, not the believer following Christ externally. This is the mystery of our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection—a positional truth that is the foundation for all practical living. Baptism symbolizes this death to the law and self, and our new life by faith in the indwelling Son of God. To introduce human commitment or effort is to abandon the cross and render Christ’s work insufficient.
Integration
Your assurance and your sanctification rest on the same unchanging foundation: Christ has done everything. He drew you, saved you, and now lives in you. There is no pressure to advance or perform. The life you live is by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. Return to the position of being ruined and wrecked before Him, for that is where His strength is made perfect. Christ is your sanctification, just as He is your righteousness. He has taken all responsibility. Your part is simply to believe—to be convinced that God’s Word is true. This is a landing place of rest, not a challenge to strive. He will work in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.