Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:11

“You were sanctified.”

Our slavery to the dominion of sin was the result of our guilt incurred by Adam’s sin, further aggravated by our own personal sin. Through our union with Christ in his death, however, our guilt, both from Adam’s and from our own sins, was forever dealt with. Having then died with Christ to the guilt of sin, we died to, or were delivered from, the dominion of sin.

Whether we say we died to the dominion of sin, or we were delivered from the dominion of sin through our death to the guilt of sin, the result is the same. We no longer continue in sin as a dominant lifestyle. Sin no longer has dominion over us.

This death to, or deliverance from, sin’s dominion is often called definitive sanctification. You’re probably more or less familiar with the word sanctification, which historically has been used as a shorthand expression for Christian growth. Its basic meaning, however, is “separation,” and in using the term definitive sanctification we’re speaking of a decisive break—a decisive separation from sin as a ruling power in the believer’s life. It’s a point-in-time event occurring simultaneously with justification. It’s a change wrought in us by the monergistic action of the Holy Spirit as he removes us from the kingdom of darkness and brings us into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13).

That’s why Paul could write to the Corinthian believers as those who had already been sanctified, even though they were still quite immature in their Christian walk (see 1 Corinthians 1:2,30; 6:11). This definitive break with the dominion of sin, which is solely the work of the Holy Spirit, occurs in the life of everyone who trusts in Christ as savior. There’s no such thing as justification without definitive sanctification.

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