Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

nigh a hundred times. The conception of holiness and sanctification, however, is no
other in the New Testament than it is in the Old. In the former as well as in the latter
holiness is ascribed in a derived sense to man. In the one as well as in the other ethical
holiness is not mere moral rectitude, and sanctification is never mere moral
improvement. These two are often confused in the present day, when people speak of
salvation by character. A man may boast of great moral improvement, and yet be an
utter stranger to sanctification. The Bible does not urge moral improvement pure and
simple, but moral improvement in relation to God, for God’s sake, and with a view to
the service of God. It insists on sanctification. At this very point much ethical preaching
of the present day is utterly misleading; and the corrective for it lies in the presentation
of the true doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification may be defined as that gracious and
continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He delivers the justified sinner from the
pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good
works.
D. THE NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION.
1. IT IS A SUPERNATURAL WORK OF GOD. Some have the mistaken notion that
sanctification consists merely in the drawing out of the new life, implanted in the soul
by regeneration, in a persuasive way by presenting motives to the will. But this is not
true. It consists fundamentally and primarily in a divine operation in the soul, whereby
the holy disposition born in regeneration is strengthened and its holy exercises are
increased. It is essentially a work of God, though in so far as He employs means, man
can and is expected to co-operate by the proper use of these means. Scripture clearly
exhibits the supernatural character of sanctification in several ways. It describes it as a
work of God, I Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20,21, as a fruit of the union of life with Jesus Christ,
John 15:4; Gal. 2:20; 4:19, as a work that is wrought in man from within and which for
that very reason cannot be a work of man, Eph. 3:16; Col. 1:11, and speaks of its
manifestation in Christian virtues as the work of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22. It should never be
represented as a merely natural process in the spiritual development of man, nor
brought down to the level of a mere human achievement, as is done in a great deal of
modern liberal theology.
2. IT CONSISTS OF TWO PARTS. The two parts of sanctification are represented in
Scripture as:
a. The mortification of the old man, the body of sin. This Scriptural term denotes that act
of God whereby the pollution and corruption of human nature that results from sin is
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