Totally agree. Which actually leads to another question however... Is our justification equivalent to being saved in the end? In other words, is our sanctification necessary, essential, to our final saved position?
Terrific question, deserving of its own original post. I would say that our sanctification is necessary and essential to our final saved position.
“Justification—which is to say, forgiveness of our sins and consequent
righteousness before God—is brought about by faith in the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus
Christ; it is this which satisfies the demands of God’s justice in the face of our sins and
reconciles us to God. Sanctification—which is to say, the active process of the believer’s
chosen life of holiness—is brought about by choosing to behave morally, to avoid sin and
to demonstrate through our actions a love of God and our neighbor. Both are a matter of
God’s grace. And both are necessary to salvation. Those who seek salvation by the
sincere performance of good works alone are doomed to failure, if they have not been
first justified by faith. Likewise, those who rely solely on their justification through faith
for their salvation, but thereafter do not live according to the Spirit they have received,
also are doomed to failure.”
“But does not one flow naturally from the other?” I asked. “Is not justification
through faith in Christ a guarantee of sanctification as well?”
“You ask two different questions, Mark! Yes, the same faith which justifies may
also lead one to be sanctified, by implanting in the believer the will to act in accordance
with God’s will. But that is not a necessary consequence. Free choice remains to be
exercised. A person chooses to believe, and also chooses to behave—and one can make
the first choice yet not make the second in harmony with the first.”
“But if a man truly believes something, surely he will act in accordance with that
belief.” Now it was I who was beginning to sound like Timothy. “If one behaves other
than in accordance with one’s professed belief, does that not betray the belief as not truly
held to begin with?”
"You confuse faith with faithfulness, Mark. We do not cast off human flaws and
weaknesses simply by believing in the saving gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. By that faith
the slate is instantly wiped clean—and handed back to us. How we will write on it after
that is up to each of us, with all our flaws and frailties, but also with the saving grace of
God to help us overcome them.”
