What Is Sanctification? The True Bible Meaning

Sanctification is a theological term for basically Christian living, it's called progressive sanctification. But if you step back and look at how the Bible uses the term, it's a little different actually. The New Testament, when it talks about sanctification, it just means being set apart. And that happens when a person becomes a Christian, God sets that person apart. The older translations call that being a saint. So I'm Saint Andrew, Saint Andrew because I'm set apart, I'm a holy one of God because He saved me from my sins.

Now, throughout the Christian life, you think of it as that past event, the Christian life, and the future. That past tense, I am saved, I am sanctified. Right now, I am being saved, I am being sanctified. And future tense, I will be saved, I will be sanctified, that's glorification. So usually, the term sanctification is talking about that middle progressive sanctification of gradual growth. And there are several major views on this, different models of sanctification. There's a Wesleyan view that says basically a Christian can live in a state of perfection, Christian perfection, not divine perfection, not angelic perfection, Christian perfection, where basically they live free from known sin.

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