Shorter Catechism

Q 35. What is sanctification?

A. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace,1 whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God,2 and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.3

Larger Catechism

Q 75. What is sanctification?

A. Sanctification is a work of God's grace, whereby they whom God hath, before the foundation of the world, chosen to be holy, are in time, through the powerful operation of his Spirit4 applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them,5 renewed in their whole man after the image of God;6 having the seeds of repentance unto life, and all other saving graces, put into their hearts,7 and those graces so stirred up, increased, and strengthened,8 as that they more and more die unto sin, and rise unto newness of life.9

1. Ezekiel 36:27

   And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

   Philippians 2:13

   for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

   2 Thessalonians 2:13

   But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. (ESV)

2. 2 Corinthians 5:17

   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

   Ephesians 4:23-24

   and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

   1 Thessalonians 5:23

   Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

3. Ezekiel 36:25-27

   I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

   Romans 6:4

   We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

   Romans 6:6

   We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

   Romans 6:12-14

   Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

   2 Corinthians 7:1

   7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

   1 Peter 2:24

   He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (ESV)

4. Ezekiel 36:27

   And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

   Philippians 2:13

   for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

   2 Thessalonians 2:13

   But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

   Ephesians 1:4

   even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

   1 Corinthians 6:11

   And such were some of you. 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. (ESV)

5. Romans 6:4-6

   We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

   For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

   Colossians 3:1-3

   3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

   Philippians 3:10

   that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (ESV)

6. 2 Corinthians 5:17

   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

   Ephesians 4:23-24

   and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

   1 Thessalonians 5:23

   Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

7. Acts 11:18

   When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

   1 John 3:9

   No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (ESV)

8. Jude 1:20

   But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

   Hebrews 6:11-12

   And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

   Ephesians 3:16-19

   that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

   Colossians 1:10-11

   so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, (ESV)

9. Ezekiel 36:25-27

   I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

   Romans 6:4

   We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

   Romans 6:6

   We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

   Romans 6:12-14

   Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

   2 Corinthians 7:1

   7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

   1 Peter 2:24

   He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

   Galatians 5:24

   And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (ESV)