In season 5 of Office Hours we’re focusing on the biblical, Christian, confessional doctrine and practice of sanctification, the process of being made holy, of being brought into gradual conformity to Christ by the grace of the Spirit through dying to sin and being made alive to Christ. We’re calling the series, “New Life In the Shadow of Death.” The series title is meant to capture the paradox of our new life. We have been given new life in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, “the Lord and giver of life” (Nicene Creed) but that new life, as we are being made alive with Christ (vivification), comes in the midst of death. Believers are gradually dying to sin (mortification) and that dying flows out of our union with Christ in his death (Col 2:11–12; Rom 6).
David VanDrunen, Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics joins us to get us started by helping us to get oriented to the biblical, Christian, and confessional teaching on sanctification.
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R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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Sorry for the typo. Should be “objectivity/subjectivity.”
Thanks Frank. I hope the series is encouraging. It’s been edifying to do.
This is an excellent start to the series. I really appreciated the clear presentation of human activity in sanctification beginning around 19:00. We’ve been subjected to some lopsided teaching on sanctification from otherwise solid Reformed guys for the past several years. I hope that this season of Office Hours stays on track with the Biblical and confessional balance – objectivity/objectivity, God’s work/our response, God’s promises/our duties, sanctification progressive here/perfected in glory.
Reformed teaching on sanctification is nothing more than the outworking of Romans 8:3-4, 12-13, and Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13.
It’s nice of you to give a phone number, however, from the UK this is expensive, and from the third world ridiculously so. Without professing to anticipate ever phoning Office Hours , may I suggest that you also give a Skype address?
The phone number allows listeners to record a message. Is that possible with Skype? Listeners are welcome to record a message and send it to us at officehours@wscal.edu
If you can skype, you can skype call a phone number around the world for next to nothing. It’s how i stay in touch when i travel around the world. The quality tends to be variable depending on the internet connection, but it is more than adequate for most purposes.
I’ve just been told about Viber, like Skype but ‘better’ and free