Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

purification, it includes the idea of separation, namely, “the separation of the spirit from
all that is impure and polluting, and a renunciation of the sins towards which the
desires of the flesh and of the mind lead us.” While hagiasmos denotes the work of
sanctification, there are two other words that describe the result of the process, namely,
hagiotes and hagiosune. The former is found in I Cor. 1:30 and Heb. 12:10; and the latter in
Rom. 1:4; II Cor. 7:1, and I Thess. 3:13. These passages show that the quality of holiness
or freedom from pollution and impurity is essential to God, was exhibited by Jesus
Christ, and is imparted to the Christian.
B. THE DOCTRINE OF SANCTIFICATION IN HISTORY.
1. BEFORE THE REFORMATION. In the historical unfolding of the doctrine of
sanctification, the Church concerned itself primarily with three problems: (a) the
relation of the grace of God in sanctification to faith; (b) the relation of sanctification to
justification; and (c) the degree of sanctification in this present life. The writings of the
early Church Fathers contain very little respecting the doctrine of sanctification. A strain
of moralism is quite apparent in that man was taught to depend for salvation on faith
and good works. Sins committed before baptism were washed away in baptism, but for
those after baptism man must provide by penance and good works. He must lead a life
of virtue and thus merit the approval of the Lord. “Such dualism,” says Scott in his The
Nicene Theology, 90 “left the domain of sanctification only indirectly related to the
redemption of Christ; and this was the field in which grew up, naturally, defective
conceptions of sin, legalism, Sacramentarianism, priestcraft, and all the excesses of
monkish devotion.” Asceticism came to be regarded as of the greatest importance. There
was also a tendency to confound justification and sanctification. Augustine was the first
one to develop rather definite ideas of sanctification, and his views had a determining
influence on the Church of the Middle Ages. He did not clearly distinguish between
justification and sanctification, but conceived of the latter as included in the former.
Since he believed in the total corruption of human nature by the fall, he thought of
sanctification as a new supernatural impartation of divine life, a new infused energy,
operating exclusively within the confines of the Church and through the sacraments.
While he did not lose sight of the importance of personal love to Christ as a constituent
element in sanctification, he manifested a tendency to take a metaphysical view of the
grace of God in sanctification, — to regard it as a deposit of God in man. He did not
sufficiently stress the necessity of a constant preoccupation of faith with the redeeming
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