How Does Sanctification Work? (eBook) by David Powlison

Many popular views try to reduce the process of Christian growth to a single template: Remember past grace. Rehearse your identity in Christ. Avail yourself of the means of grace. Discipline yourself. But Scripture portrays the dynamics of sanctification in a rich variety of ways. No single factor, truth, or protocol can capture why and how a person is changed into the image of Christ. Weaving together personal stories, biblical exposition, and theological reflection, David Powlison shows the personal and particular ways that God meets you where you are to produce change. He highlights the variety of factors that work together, helping us to avoid sweeping generalizations and pat answers in the search for a key to sanctification. This book is a go-to resource for understanding the multifaceted, lifelong, personal journey of sanctification.

Title

How Does Sanctification Work?
Author(s)

David Powlison
Series

9Marks Church Questions
ISBN

9781433556135
Format

eBook
Publisher

Crossway
Topic

Holiness
Audience

Adults
Pages

128
Published

12/05/2017

David Powlison

David Powlison served as CCEF’s executive director (2014-2019), a faculty member, and senior editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He held a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary. David wrote extensively on biblical counseling and on the relationship between faith and psychology. His books Seeing with New Eyes and Speaking Truth in Love probe the implications of Scripture for how to understand people and how to counsel. The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context explores the background and development of CCEF’s mission. David is survived by his wife Nan, their three children and spouses, and seven grandchildren.

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Overall rating

5.0 based on 1 review

How Does Sanctification Work?

Do you become sanctified by remembering what Jesus has done for you on the cross and your justification? Are you more holy because you're regularly at church, hearing good preaching, and taking the Lord's Supper? Did you become more Jesus, as you remembered God's sovereignty and plan to work out all things for your good? Have you found accountability groups are helping to make you responsible for your conduct? Powlison, says in response, "Yes. Maybe. It depends." Christians often want a simple method that they can follow that'll guarantee their growth in holiness or at least set them on the right path for life. Powlison in this short, simple - but deep book - sets out to tell us that there is no magic fix for making us more like Christ that will work for all people, at all times, in all places. Too often books on sanctification, or growing in our Christlikeness are based upon an author's personal experience and then extrapolated to cover the whole Christian life (e.g. Jared Wilson's Gospel Wakefulness). Powlison simply says: not so fast. Becoming more like Christ is more difficult than that: God will sanctify us, he'll speak to us through his word, wise Christians will instruct us, suffering will shape us, and we will respond. But what this looks like will vary, just as the people that God has made will vary. The book concludes with a few case studies of how this works out in individuals lives that may be of benefit to you. Personally I found Powlison's insights in the first half of the book to be worth the price of the book alone. I heartily recommend this little book on the process of sanctification, especially if you're in Christian Leadership.