Sanctification - The "Lutheran landmine"


Is there a third use of the Law? Can Lutherans and Reformed find common ground on their views of Santification? What do we say to a brother who isn't growing in their faith?

My friend Van and I had a conversation about sanctification the other day and I thought that this is an issue that I should blog about for two reasons - I'd like to get my thoughts down and on paper, and I'd like to hopefully get some thoughtful replies on this. If you would like to respond, just use the comments link at the bottom of this post.

I think there is a lot of common ground that the Reformed and Lutherans can find on this issue and perhaps both of us can help clarify each other's positions. In the interest of clarity, I should mention that Van is Reformed and I am Lutheran - however both of us are still formulating our opinions on this matter, so if I do misrepresent either side I would appreciate correction.

This issue is the "Lutheran landmine", to borrow a phrase from a visiting pastor, because Lutherans are very uncomfortable talking about it. This is due to the fact that Lutherans are justification people - "the first evangelicals" as Veith says, because of the centrality of the Gospel in the Lutheran faith. We read in Romans 8 (verse 2) that "the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death", and we are uncomfortable doing anything that might allow someone to turn back to the Law.

This means the Lutheran method for confronting someone is to admonish them to return to the Word of God - not only the Bible, but the Word made flesh, Christ. We believe that the Spirit will use the Word through the Law and the Gospel to actually correct the person's heart if they truly believe in Christ. While a pastor is to use the Office of the Keys and call out a person's specific sin, the remedy is always driving them back to the Word, and not simply making it a matter of their work.

The Reformed also believe that the Christian is not under the rule of the Law, at least from what I can tell. They do, however, see a use in the Law of driving a person to more closely examine their faith in Christ. This means that while they believe that all whom God chooses have nothing to fear from the Law, the Law ought to scare someone who is not producing fruit into examining whether or not they are simply a part of the visible church without actual saving faith.

Both of these are contrasted with most of modern evangelicalism. Contemporary Christians are quite Law-oriented in their pursuit of sanctification. Sanctification is largely considered something that I do, rather than a work that is wrought by God. It is also highly focused on outward sins, as is the moralism of most contemporary views on justification - i.e. the new Christian is admonished to give up sexual promiscuity, drinking and smoking.

Reformed and Lutherans on this, therefore, present a united front. As we are in the process of reforming contemporary Christianity's view of justification, reformation of sanctification must follow. Once we do away with "decisional regeneration" (as Van called it), - the idea that I choose Christ, and that act initiates my being born again - we must then do away with the notion that I am the key actor in my sanctification. As Phillipians 2:12-13 tells us, let us hold even more so to Christ and our justification in the knowledge that it is not I, but God who works in me, who produces good works.

Posted: Fri - May 7, 2004 at 02:11 PM | | | | | | |

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