“Sanctification means that the Christians have been judged already, and that they are being preserved until the coming of Christ and are ever advancing towards it.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
“Progressive sanctification is not a partnership with the Spirit in the sense that we each – the believer and the Holy Spirit – do our respective tasks. Rather, we work as He enables us to work. His work lies behind all our work and makes our work possible.”
― Jerry Bridges, Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey
“Conversion does not make us perfect, but it does catapult us into a total experience of discipleship that affects – and infects – every sphere of our living.”
― Richard J. Foster, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups
“Lighten up” (don’t) turn prayer into a work but listen for God and let oneself be surprised. Overly rigid adherence to a spiritual direction built around formal liturgical adherence and highly structured prayer time can work against the sanctification of the ordinary. Christ is effectively imprisoned, to be visited at stated times and otherwise ignored”.”
― Margaret Guenther, Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction
“Struggles are a part of the sacred sanctification process. There are no soft or slothful ways to become sanctified to the point that we are prepared to live in the presence of the Savior. And there can be blessings in the burdens we bear. As a result of these struggles, our souls are stretched and our spirits are strengthened. Our character becomes more Christlike as we are tried and tested.”
― L. Lionel Kendrick
“A true Christian does not see God’s promise of forgiveness as a license to sin, a way to abuse His love and presume on His grace. Rather, he sees God’s gracious forgiveness as the means to spiritual growth and sanctification. He continually thanks God for His great love and willingness to forgive.”
― John MacArthur, Alone With God
“What does it mean to persevere? It means that we continue to believe, and that we live like believers, which means obediently. It doesn’t mean sinlessness; it doesn’t mean that we are on some steady and never-failing incline up into pure sanctification; it does not deny stumbling or messy spirituality; it doesn’t deny doubt and problems. It simply means that the person continues to walk with Jesus and doesn’t walk away from him in a resolute manner.”
― Scot McKnight, A Long Faithfulness: The Case for Christian Perseverance
“To love someone is to desire and work toward their becoming the best version of themselves. The one person in all the universe who can do this perfectly for you is God.”
― John Ortberg Jr., The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You
“As with every aspect of our sanctification, the renewal of the mind may be painful and difficult. It requires hard work and discipline, inspired by a sacrificial love for Christ and a burning desire to build up His body, the Church. Developing a Christian worldview means submitting our entire self to God, in an act of devotion and service to Him.”
― Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity
“Normal Christian life is a process of restoration and renewal. Our joy is not static. It fluctuates with real life. It is vulnerable to satan’s attacks.”
― John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
“The way to conquer sin is not by working hard to change our deeds, but by trusting Jesus to change our desires.”
― David Platt, Follow Me
“If you yield yourself up to His divine working, the Lord will alter your nature; He will subdue the old nature, and breathe new life into you. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and He will give you a heart of flesh. Where everything was hard, everything shall be tender; where everything was vicious, everything shall be virtuous: where everything tended downward, everything shall rise upward with impetuous force. The lion of anger shall give place to the lamb of meekness; the raven of uncleanness shall fly before the dove of purity; the vile serpent of deceit shall be trodden under the heel of truth.”
― Charles H. Spurgeon, All of Grace
“All things as they move toward God are beautiful, and they are ugly as they move away from Him.”
― A.W. Tozer, The Attributes of God: Deeper into the Father’s Heart
“Sanctification is like a clumsy, slow walk rather than a light switch that we turn from off to on.”
― Edward T. Welch, When People Are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man
“What Paul understands by holiness or sanctification (is) the learning in the present of the habits which anticipate the ultimate future.”
― N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
Faith Unlocked 