Justification: The term justification frequently contrasts with sanctification. In this sense, justification refers to God’s declaring a person to be righteous, which involves a positional, judicial standing that includes deliverance from the penalty of sin. This is what Paul refers to in Romans 8:30: “the ones whom he called, these he also declared righteous; and the ones whom he declared righteous, these he also glorified.” God justifies a person at a point in time.

Sanctification: Sanctification, in contrast, is experiential. It refers to the practical outworking of righteousness in a believer, who is set apart from sin unto God and experiences deliverance from the power and practice of sin. The common theological term is progressive sanctification, which emphasizes the continual, gradual, maturing, lifelong nature of a believer’s growth in holiness.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION

The following table specifies several differences between justification and sanctification:

“Dead to the Tyranny of Sin Through Our Union with Christ”

Romans 6:1-14

BIG PICTURE: Believers who are united to Jesus participate in his victory over sin and the new life his resurrection inaugurated. Consequently, Christians are no longer “slaves to sin” (6:6) because we have been “set free” from sin and have become “slaves” to God and righteousness (6:17–22). Sin is no longer our “master” (6:14a). So be joyfully confident, Christian: God gives us hope for the future → but he also transforms the way we live until we attain that hope!

1. United with Jesus in death and resurrection (1–5)
2. The results of dying with Jesus (6–7)
3. The results of being raised with Jesus (8–10)
4. Putting our new status into action (11–14)

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The Basic Logic of Romans 6:1-11

1. Christ died to sin and rose to a new life (10)
2. Christians have died with Christ and will be raised with Christ (3, 5)
3. Therefore, Christians have died to sin and will be raised to a new life, a life that has begun already (2, 8, 11)

This lesson owes a debt to three books in particular: Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans; Moo, D. J. (2014). Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey; Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans