Tuesday, May 06, 2008

S v J

A friend just spoke with me about sanctification and justification. I feel like these terms are often used somewhat interchangeably, and I don't feel like I have a clear idea concerning what each means and how they relate to each other. How do you define them or understand them? If you had to explain them to a friend who wanted to know "how they worked," what would you say?

3 comments:

Julie C said...

ok, I'm going to try to put in a link, but if I do it wrong, just go to lds.org and look for D. Todd Christofferson's talk on S&J. The talk.

He starts out saying how similar they are, but at some point maybe a page or so down he differentiates them as - justification is becoming not guilty before the law (having sins removed and no longer being accountable for them); sanctification is being cleansed of the effects of our sins (becoming clean/pure in spirit again). In religious terms, we ususally see them as part of the same process, but they can be separated. I think. Based on what he said.

JonF said...

My unresearched, off-the-top-of-my-head answer:
Justification is having the guilt for our sins removed (by the atonement). Justification comes through repentance.
Sactification is the process of becoming holy. Sactification comes through conversion.

In other words, after you are justified, you are still the same person with the same tendencies, but you are guiltless – until the next time you sin. The sactification process actually changes who you are into a more holy (less sinful) person, until you are completely holy, or perfect. So while you are in the process of becoming holy, you need the justification less often or to a lesser degree. Both are made possible by the atonement, and justification makes sancitification possible.

Unknown said...

I've heard one related to the sacrifice of blood, and the other connected to the body. don't remember which is which though. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, I would love a reference to that.