Is Sanctification Positional, Progressive, or Neither? - Part 1

Many teach that sanctification is both positional and progressive.

But what does the Bible teach?

Let’s examine what the Bible teaches about sanctification to understand it more clearly.

The Greek word for sanctify is hagiazó.

Hagiazó means to set apart for special purposes.

Hagiazó also means pure, clean or to purify or to cleanse.

The word hagiazó is translated as sanctify and sanctified or holy and made holy in different versions.

The NIV and other translations use the word holy.

The writer to the Hebrews uses the word hagiazó in Hebrews 10:10-14 when he writes,

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Berean Study Bible and other translations uses the word sanctified.

And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet, because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.

So, as we see, the words holy and sanctified are used interchangeably by different Bible translations.

Let’s examine the context of Hebrews 10:10-14.

The writer of Hebrews draws many contrasts between the blood of animals and the blood of Jesus.

One of the contrasts is that the blood of animals under the old testament of the law of Moses cannot internally or eternally cleanse or purify a person from sins, thus making them holy or pure before God so that they can know God personally and closely.

However, the blood of Jesus internally and eternally cleanses a person from sins so they can know God personally and closely.

This is what the writer of Hebrews means when he writes in Hebrews 10:10,

And by that will [the new testament of grace established in the one-time blood sacrifice of Jesus in contrast to the old testament of law and the continual blood-sacrifice of animals], we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus, his blood has purified or cleansed internally and eternally from all sins (see also Hebrews 1:3; 9:11-28; 10:1-14; 13:11-12), enabling people to draw close to God in a personal relationship – free from judgment and condemnation for sins but assured of closeness with God.

Some translations insert the word being in Hebrews 10:14.

Let’s take a look at one of these translations.

The English Standard Version translates Hebrews 10:14 this way.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

However, other translations do not insert the word being.

One of these is the New American Standard, which translates Hebrews 10:14 in the following way.

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

So, why do some versions insert the word being and other translations omit the word being?

The reason why is because in this verse the word being is NOT in the Greek manuscripts.

The New American Standard has translated Hebrews 10:14 correctly, while other translations that add being have translated this verse incorrectly.

The blood of Jesus is not progressively purifying believers from sins; rather, believers have been permanently purified from all sins for all time so they can know God personally.

This is the point of the writer of Hebrews.

The Jewish people were consistently seeking purification from sins by daily sacrificing animals.

Yet with one sacrifice for all sins for all time, Jesus eternally purified us from all sins.

This purification from sins is received by faith, which is the point of the writer of Hebrews.

The writer is seeking to convince the Jewish people to stop working under the old testament of law for the purification for sins but to start resting by faith in the new testament of grace where the blood of Jesus has made them holy, sanctified, purified, or cleansed from all sins for all time.

This is what Jesus, following his ascension, tells Paul when he appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus.

Jesus told Paul in Acts 26:17-18,

“I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

In Acts 15:9, Peter states,

“He did not discriminate between us [Jews] and them [Gentiles], for he purified their hearts by faith.”

Through the writer of Hebrews, the ascended Jesus, and Peter, we discover that sanctification – purification from sins – happens the moment a person believes or trusts in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.

Therefore, this is not progressive sanctification but immediate sanctification.

However, many teach this is positional sanctification, meaning that “in Christ” a person is sanctified…yet in their real experience they are not really sanctified or purified from all sins, so they must progressively seek purification from sins so they can remain close to God (fellowship).

It is vital to know that the phrase “positional sanctification” is nowhere in the Bible.

To Jesus, the writer of Hebrews, and Peter, sanctification is actual…it is real…it is personal.

The problem with the teaching of positional sanctification is that to these teachers, being “in Christ” is not a real, personal reality but only a positional truth.

However, biblically, being in Christ is a real, actual, personal reality where a person is no longer identified with Adam but is identified with Jesus – and this is real!

A believer is not sanctified positionally in Christ; rather, they are actually and personally sanctified-purified-cleansed from all sins because of the blood of Jesus that purifies from all sins for all time.

The blood of Jesus that purifies from all sins is actual, not positional.

This is why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:11,

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

To reduce the blood of Jesus to cleansing from sins (sanctify) in a positional manner is to devalue the reality of the blood of Jesus that actually cleanses from all sins.

Believers in Jesus are not positionally sanctified from all sins; rather they actually and personally sanctified from all sins by the blood of Jesus.

If we are only positionally sanctified, then we can never be close to God in a personal relationship.

The writer of Hebrews, Jesus, Paul, and Peter are not talking about positional sanctification from sins; instead, they are talking about actual, personal sanctification from sins.

The truth is sanctification as it relates to cleansing from sins is neither positional or progressive; rather, sanctification is immediate, actual, and personal…a spiritual truth that happens in believers’ lives the moment they place their faith in Jesus.

The purpose of immediately and actually being cleansed from sins (sanctification) is so a person can know God personally and be close to God continually, with no fear of being dirty before God and distant from God.

This is the point the writer of Hebrews makes.

He is seeking to convince the Jewish people that closeness with God does not come by daily purification from sins through the blood of animals; but it has come through the blood of Jesus, which has internally and eternally cleansed believers from sins and brings them close to God in a personal relationship that can never be disrupted by sins.

In Part Two of Is Sanctification Positional, Progressive, or Neither?, we will examine other verses regarding sanctification.

To read Part Two: Click below.

Is Sanctification Positional, Progressive, or Neither? Part Two