TUESDAY COLUMN: Post mortem sanctification

No Christian group teaches that a Christian can get all the sanctification they ever need while on earth. Even those in the “holiness movement” who liked the term “entire” sanctification still taught that there was more sanctification to be gotten later—between death and heaven. This final perfecting sanctification brought us the Protestant doctrine of “Glorification.” Glorification is the third stage of the work of salvation (Justification—Sanctification—Glorification). In glorification God finishes the work of perfecting the Christian readying us for eternity in Heaven.

What I've been pondering is the difference between Catholics and Protestants in understanding this final sanctification. Virtually all protestants believe this final work of sanctification is instantaneous—that is, in a moment at death God finally finishes His work perfecting the Christian—a instantaneous final sanctification. On the other hand Catholics teach that most Christians go through a gradual or progressive final sanctification—in Purgatory. This intrigues me. John Wesley at times gives hints he was somewhere in between—maybe envisioning and intermediate state where a person continued to grow in grace.

So I’m wondering what you think about final sanctification. Do you believe in instantaneous or progressive final sanctification--the Protestant or Catholic view? Is there any growth in grace after death or do we "get all there is to get" when we die? How did Protestants, almost all of whom accept only gradual sanctification in this life with and accept instantaneous sanctification at death while Catholics teach a more gradual process of final sanctification? Where in Scripture might Wesley have gotten hints at some sort of intermediate state of growth in grace?

So, what do you think?

The discussion of this column is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=161502633

Keith Drury September 7, 2010

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