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s including 1 the inner renewal of the holy spirit in the christian and 2 the living out of that inner renewal in the christian s new life of good works 11 the lutheran confessions hold that it is necessary to exhort people to christian discipline and good works and to remind them how necessary it is that they exercise themselves in good words as an evidence of their faith and their gratitude toward god 11 for christians good works are necessary fruits of faith in the life of a christian and that they proceed from a renewed heart that is thankful to god for his mercy and love 11 these good works done by christians are rewarded by god 12 those individuals who commit mortal sin render themselves subject to divine wrath and eternal death unless turned again they are reconciled to god through faith 13 14 the formula of concord summarizes salvation in lutheran christianity 11 first the holy spirit kindles faith in us in conversion through the hearing of the gospel faith apprehends the grace of god in christ whereby the person is justified after the person is justified the holy spirit next renews and sanctifies him and from this renewal and sanctification the fruits of good works will follow fc solid declaration article iii righteousness 40 41 tappert 11 the lutheran confessions state 11 after a person has been justified by faith a true living faith becomes active through love gal 5 6 thus good works always follow justifying faith and are certainly to be found with it since such faith is never alone but is always accompanied by love and hope fc epitome article iii righteousness tappert p 474 11 we also reject and condemn the teaching that faith and the indwelling of the holy spirit are not lost through malicious sin but that the holy ones and the elect retain the holy spirit even though they fall into adultery and other sins and persist in them fc article iv good works 11 martin luther taught in his large catechism that sanctification is only caused by the holy spirit through the powerful word of god the holy spirit uses churches to gather believers together for the teaching and preaching of the word of god 15 sanctification is the holy spirit s work of making us holy when the holy spirit creates faith in us he renews in us the image of god so that through his power we produce good works these good works are not meritorious but show the faith in our hearts ephesians 2 8 10 james 2 18 sanctification flows from justification it is an on going process which will not be complete or reach perfection in this life 16 in the process of sanctification humans cooperate with god enabled by prevenient grace for the holy spirit is given credit for our faith and for the surrender of the will to god romans 3 21 28 galatians 3 10 14 luther s works vo 26 p 106 small catechism ii 6 12 the formula of concord teaches but the intellect and will of the unregenerate man are nothing else than subiectum convertendum that is that which is to be converted it being the intellect and will of a spiritually dead man in whom the holy ghost works conversion and renewal towards which work man s will that is to be converted does nothing but suffers god alone to work in him until he is regenerate and then he works also with the holy ghost cooperates that which is pleasing to god in other good works that follow in the way and to the extent fully set forth above sd ii 90 17 18 the lutheran churches teach that god rewards good works done by christians the apology of the augsburg confession teaches we also affirm what we have often said that although justification and eternal life go along with faith nevertheless good works merit other bodily and spiritual rewards and degrees of reward according to 1 corinthians 3 8 each will receive his wages according to his labor 12 luther viewed the ten commandments as a means by which the holy spirit sanctifies thus we have the ten commandments a commend of divine doctrine as to what we are to do in order that our whole life may be pleasing to god and the true fountain and channel from and in which everything must arise and flow that is to be a good work so that outside of the ten commandments no work or thing can be good or pleasing to god however great or precious it be in the eyes of the world whoever does attain to them is a heavenly angelic man far above all holiness of the world only occupy yourself with them and try your best apply all power and ability and you will find so much to do that you will neither seek nor esteem any other work or holiness 19 pietistic lutheranism heavily emphasizes the biblical divine commands of believers to live a holy life and to strive for holy living or sanctification 20 anabaptism edit anabaptist belief emphasizes that sanctification is initiated by being born again by the spirit of god and then practiced by following or being a disciple of christ the role of the spirit word of god suffering self denial as well as the community of believers in sanctification is also considered essential sanctification is believed to be a process that begins with conversion and continues throughout the christian life perfectionism or eradication of the flesh is rejected and it is considered necessary to take up the cross and deny yourself daily to truly be a disciple of christ when a believer steps out of the sanctification process his salvation is seen as jeopardized sanctification is seen as mortifying the deeds of the flesh cleansing impure motives and thoughts of the mind and heart as well as glorifying the father through worship obedience and faith working in love anglicanism edit a 2002 anglican publishing house book states that there is no explicit teaching on sanctification in the anglican formularies 21 a glossary of the episcopal church usa gives some teaching anglican formularies have tended to speak of sanctification as the process of god s work within us by means of which we grow into the fullness of the redeemed life 22 outside official formularies sanctification has been an issue in the anglican communion since its inception the 16th century anglican theologian richard hooker 1554 1600 distinguished between the righteousness of justification that is imputed by god and the righteousness of sanctification that comprises the works one does as an inevitable result of being justified 23 jeremy taylor 1613 1667 argued that justification and sanctification cannot be separated they are two steps in a long process 24 a 19th century church of england work agreed with jeremy taylor that justification and sanctification are inseparable however they are not the same thing justification is found in christ s work alone sanctification is the work of the holy spirit in us and is a progressive work 25 baptist edit baptists believe in progressive sanctification the work of sanctification of the believer through grace and the decisions of the believer after the new birth 26 27 28 reformed edit it is not clear that john calvin in his institutes of the christian religion conceives of sanctification as a doctrine separate from justification there is no separate treatment there of a doctrine of sanctification instead the clearest references he makes to the process of the christian s growth in holiness appear in book iii of the institutes which concerns the work of the holy spirit there he intermixes the grace by which justification is accomplished and the grace that empowers the christian toward moral reform following augustine calvin embraces a non perfectionist account of sanctification as progressive but incomplete until eschatological consummation i insist not that the life of the christian shall breathe nothing but the perfect gospel though this is to be desired and ought to be attempted i insist not so strictly on evangelical perfection as to refuse to acknowledge as a christian any man who has not attained it in this way all would be excluded from the church since there is no man who is not far removed from this perfection while many who have made but little progress would be undeservedly rejected 29 against those who maintain the perfection of holiness in the present life calvin replies we deem it sufficient briefly to reply with augustine that the goal to which all the pious ought to aspire is to appear in the presence of god without spot or blemish but as the course of the present life is at best nothing more than progress we shall never reach the goal until we have laid aside the body of sin and been completely united to the lord 30 but the imperfection of sanctification in this life is not for calvin an excuse for slackness in the search thereof the grace of justification is not separable from the grace that makes one perform good works and the grace that perfects what is deficient in the works of the regenerate justification moreover we thus define the sinner being admitted into communion with christ is for his sake reconciled to god when purged by his blood he obtains the remission of sins and clothed with righteousness just as if it were his own stands secure before the judgment seat of heaven forgiveness of sins being previously given the good works which follow have a value different from their merit because whatever is imperfect in them is covered by the perfection of christ and all their blemishes and pollutions are wiped away by his purity so as never to come under the cognizance of the divine tribunal the guilt of all transgressions by which men are prevented from offering god an acceptable service being thus effaced and the imperfection which is wont to sully even good works being buried the good works which are done by believers are deemed righteous or which is the same thing are imputed for righteousness 31 methodism edit in wesleyan arminian theology which is upheld by the methodist churches inclusive of the holiness movement methodism teaches that sanctification has three components initial progressive and entire 32 we believe that sanctification is that work of the holy spirit by which the child of god is separated from sin unto god and is enabled to love god with all the heart and to walk in all his holy commandments blameless sanctification is initiated at the moment of justification and regeneration from that moment there is a gradual or progressive sanctification as the believer walks with god and daily grows in grace and in a more perfect obedience to god this prepares for the crisis of entire sanctification which is wrought instantaneously when believers present themselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to god through faith in jesus christ being effected by the baptism with the holy spirit who cleanses the heart from all inbred sin the crisis of entire sanctification perfects the believer in love and empowers that person for effective service it is followed by lifelong growth in grace and the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ the life of holiness continues through faith in the sanctifying blood of christ and evidences itself by loving obedience to god s revealed will articles of religion the wesleyan church 32 as such sanctification the beginning of holiness begins at the new birth 33 with the grace of god methodists do works of piety and mercy and these works reflect the power of sanctification 34 examples of these means of grace works of piety and works of mercy that aid with sanctification include frequent reception of the sacrament of holy communion work of piety 35 and visiting the sick and those in prison work of mercy 36 john wesley held that the doctrine of entire sanctification was the grand depositum of methodism 37 wesleyan covenant theology also emphasizes that an important aspect of sanctification is the keeping of the moral law contained in the ten commandments 38 as such in sanctification one grows to be more like christ 39 this process of sanctification that begins at the new birth first work of grace has its goal as christian perfection otherwise known as entire sanctification second work of grace 33 40 which john wesley the progenitor of the methodist faith described as a heart habitually filled with the love of god and neighbor and as having the mind of christ and walking as he walked 41 to john wesley the work of entire sanctification was distinctly separate from regeneration 42 and was wrought instantaneously though it may be approached by slow and gradual steps 42 a more complete statement of wesley s position goes like this it is that habitual disposition of soul which in the sacred writings is termed holiness and which directly implies the being cleansed from sin from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit and by consequence the being endued with those virtues which were also in christ jesus the being so renewed in the spirit of our mind as to be perfect as our father in heaven is perfect 43 this is the doctrine that by the power of god s sanctifying grace and attention upon the means of grace may cleanse a christian of the corrupting influence of original sin in this life it is expounded upon in the methodist articles of religion 44 sanctification is that renewal of our fallen nature by the holy ghost received through faith in jesus christ whose blood of atonement cleanseth from all sin whereby we are not only delivered from the guilt of sin but are washed from its pollution saved from its power and are enabled through grace to love god with all our hearts and to walk in his holy commandments blameless 44 terming the experience of entire sanctification the baptism of the holy spirit john william fletcher the systematic theologian of methodism emphasized that the experience of entire sanctification through the indwelling of the holy spirit cleanses the believer from original sin and empowers the believer for service to god 45 justification is seen as an initial step of acknowledging god s holiness with sanctification as through the grace and power of god entering into it a key scripture is hebrews 12 14 follow after holiness without which no one shall see the lord the importance of growth in grace according to methodist doctrine is important before and after entire sanctification 46 in order to maintain right relationship with god it is necessary that we grow in grace eph 4 15 16 col 2 6 7 i pet 1 5 10 ii pet 3 18 both before and after sanctification there is however a more abundant growth with increased fruitage after sanctification john 15 2 to keep sanctified the soul must continually seek god s face and strength luke 21 36 psalm 105 4 this is the maturing process of all spirit filled saints articles of religion immanuel missionary church 46 in the same vein in addition to entire sanctification the kentucky mountain holiness association affirms a belief in the progressive growth in grace toward christian maturity through a consistent christian life of faith and good works 47 wesleyan theology teaches that the state of entire sanctification can be lost through willful sin 48 after we have received the holy ghost any careless...