For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14 NIV)
Our faith in Jesus isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning.
And it’s more than a profession of faith. It’s a process. It’s a progression from death to life. And that process and progression is labeled in Scripture as sanctification.
The word sanctification comes from the Greek word hagiasmos, which means “purification.”
It’s connected to the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus, as the Apostle Paul penned in his letter to the Church in Corinth:
And that is what some of you were. 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. (1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV)
The question is: what does it mean to be sanctified?
And what does the process of sanctification look like in our lives?
What Does It Mean to Be Sanctified?
To be sanctified is to be transformed. It’s the process of God forming us into His image. It’s the progression out of sin and darkness and into life in the Kingdom.
Sanctification is how salvation moves from just a concept in our minds to a way of life.
Because that’s what Jesus came to offer us. Not just a concept for transformation, but a way to be transformed. And sanctification is that process.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6, in Christ, we are washed, sanctified, and justified. Which also means that we were something that needed washing. It means that we came to Jesus in need of transformation and justification.
But what we were before Christ is transformed in Him and through Him.
And that transformation takes place in the process of sanctification.
How Does God Sanctify Us?
In his letter to the Church at Rome, the Apostle Paul writes:
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29 NIV, emphasis added)
God’s desire is to conform us to the image of His Son. To sanctify us and form us. To not leave us where we are, but lead us into life and life abundant in His Kingdom.
And the process of sanctification is formative.
Sanctification has more to do with becoming than just ascending to a specific belief system.
In Romans 12, we see it framed like this:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2 NIV)
The word transformed is metamorphoō in the Greek, which means to change into another form. (Blue Letter Bible, n.d.)
In the process of sanctification, we are being changed into another form. We’re being molded, like clay in the hands of a master potter. We’re being shaped into who we were intended to be all along.
Sanctification is the beautiful, formative process that transforms us, both inside and out.
And God does that through a variety of ways.
But, here are a few of the most common:
His Word
In the Scriptures, we learn so much about God’s character and nature.
But we also learn about ourselves. Our tendencies to wander, and our proclivities to sin.
The Scriptures reveal who we are outside of the Kingdom and outside of relationship with God.
But, the Scriptures also reveal who we become in Christ.
In the Word, we see the truth of our value, our purpose, and the love which the Father has for us. And it’s through the Scriptures that God corrects our perceptions and establishes truth in our hearts and minds.
His Ways
It’s important to remember that Jesus was, and is, our example.
As Paul wrote in Romans 8, God’s desire was for Jesus to be the “firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
The firstborn implies that we are created to live like Jesus. To be like Jesus in what we say and how we live. But, in order for that to happen, we have to be sanctified.
And part of that process is learning from Jesus how to live. We look at how He handled difficult people or situations. We look at how He healed the sick and cared for the poor. In seeing the way Jesus lived, we also see how we are called to live.
And through sanctification, we are formed to live as Jesus lived.
His Spirit
At the core of the sanctification process is God’s Spirit.
Sanctification isn’t a process we go through alone. And it’s also not a process we do in our own strength.
Jesus Himself told us that He would not leave us alone.
Through the Spirit of God, we are daily being transformed. Sanctified and shaped by and through the love of God, poured out to us through His Spirit.
Our formation doesn’t rely solely on our strength and willpower.
Our formation and our sanctification relies on His Spirit.
And that truth should undergird all of our thoughts and theology about sanctification.
Take Your Study to the Next Level
Want to learn more about the doctrine and process of sanctification?
Sign up for our free online course: The Doctrine of Sanctification.
In this course, Dr. Joel Muddamalle explores the sanctification process of becoming more like Jesus and being conformed to His image. He delves into the concept of cheap grace and the cost of grace, emphasizing the need to live out the freedom and grace given to us.
To learn more about the free course, or to sign up, click here.
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References:
Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Lexicon: Strong’s G3339 – metaschēmatizō. Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved September 15, 2025, from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3339/kjv/tr/0-1/
