What is Victory Outreach’s
view on sanctification?
How does a person become holy? Can a person become absolutely sinless?

The Bible affirms that because God is holy, Christians should be holy (Lev. 11:44-45; 1 Pet. 1:15-16; cf. Matt. 6:9). The word “holy” (qadosh in Hebrew) refers to something that is set apart or separate. It is the opposite of what is impure and profane. To sanctify means “to make holy.” Sanctification therefore involves the condition in which a person or object is transformed into the likeness of God. Some people use the word “anointing” to define sanctification, but often what they intend to say is that an “anointed” person is specially-endowed or gifted by the Holy Spirit to perform a certain calling or ministry. Sanctification, on the other hand, is bestowed upon every believer and includes an ethical dimension – the believer is being freed from a sinful lifestyle and conformed to God’s standards for righteousness and godliness.

We believe that sanctification is both an event and a process. By way of illustration, two thousand years ago Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God here on earth, but the completion and full realization of that kingdom will not occur until Jesus returns. Hence, God’s kingdom is both a present and future reality – it is both “now” and “not yet.” In a similar way, when a person becomes a Christian they are sanctified, but the completion of that sanctification is still futuristic.

At the time of conversion, believers are cleansed from their sins and experience regeneration by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thes. 2:13; Tit. 3:5). In this sense, sanctification is an event related to the conversion experience and justification by faith. From that moment onward, believers are considered “saints” or “holy ones” (Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; 1 Pet. 2:8-9). They are set apart as holy even if they have not reached the ultimate standards God has for them. We note that Paul calls the Corinthian Christians “sanctified,” “holy,” and “saints” even though he corrects and warns them about their immature and sinful behavior throughout most of his correspondence with them (1 Cor. 1:1-2; 2 Cor. 1:1).

Sanctification is also progressive. After conversion, the life-long process of sanctification takes place. We continue to be made holy by refraining from sin, exercising different virtues and fruits of the Spirit, and drawing closer to God (Rom. 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:18; 6:147:1; Gal. 5:16-26; Col. 3:9-10; 1 Thes. 4:3-7; 2 Pet. 1:5-10; 3:14). The Book of Romans discusses the sinful state of humankind (Rom. 1:18-3:20) before stressing the remedy: justification by faith in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:21-5:21). After this, the book outlines how a Christian can live a godly life (sanctification) with final glorification as the ultimate goal (Rom. 6:1-8:39). Our journey is complete when we receive our glorified bodies after the Lord returns (Rom. 8:18-23, 29-30; 1 Cor. 15:20-58; Phil. 3:20-21).

Do Christians ever reach perfection in this present life? Victory Outreach believes that while some Christians achieve a level of maturity that God intends for them, they will never be absolutely flawless or sinless until Christ returns. While Christian maturity and moral purity should be our goals (Eph. 4:13), the Bible states that if we say we are sinless we are deceiving ourselves and not abiding in the truth (1 John 1:8-10). The New Testament writers understood that while Christians are to strive to be holy, they nevertheless sin and fall short of God’s standards (Rom. 7:14-25; Phil. 3:12-13; 1 John 1:8-2:2). Yet this is no excuse for Christians to indulge freely in sinful behavior. The correct application of 1 John 3:4-6 is not that we are to become absolutely sinless in this present life or else we are not truly saved. Rather, we are to refrain from the type of continual sin that exemplifies the lifestyle of those who do not know Christ. In other words, sin should not be the hallmark identification of those who live in Christ. If a person’s conversion makes no difference related to the way he/she lives and how he/she strives against sin, then there is reason to question whether that person really knows the Lord and is truly a Christian.

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus sets up the goal for his followers to be “perfect.” But this does not necessarily mean that the Lord expected all his followers to be perfectly sinless in the present age; rather, they must strive to become perfect in love. In the immediate context, Jesus is claiming that the disciples are to exemplify God’s perfect love and compassion, which means that not only should they love their neighbors, but also their enemies (Matt. 5:43-48; cf. Luke 6:26-36; Col. 3:12-14; 1 John 4:16-21). They are to keep their heavenly Father’s righteous standards by loving God, their neighbors, and doing to others what they would want to be done to themselves (Matt. 7:12; 22:37-40; cf. Rom. 13:8-10). Our Lord understood that we would continually fall short of his glory until he returns. This is why, in the Lord’s Prayer, he encouraged us that until his “kingdom come” to always pray, “forgive us our sins…and lead us not into temptation” (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).