Well, obviously, the Reformed world is in the midst of a controversy over sanctification. To help bring some balance and perspective to the discussion the faculty of Westminster Seminary California has been discussing sanctification this season on Office Hours. In the providence of God the latest episode in the series a discussion with W. Robert Godfrey on the role of the law in sanctification.
In Matt 5:17 our Lord Jesus said about the law: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (ESV) and in v 19: “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great vin the kingdom of heaven” (ESV). He followed those words with an exposition of the law in the Sermon On The Mount. The Apostle Paul repeated and explained the 10 commandments in his epistles to the churches. After the apostles, in reaction to persecution the early church emphasized the necessity of sanctification and the moral law. The medieval church so emphasized the importance of the moral law that she gradually came to teach acceptance with God by grace through faith and obedience to the law. The Reformation rejected that doctrine as contrary to Scripture and confessed justification by God’s unmerited favor alone, through faith alone. All the Protestants agreed that, though we are not saved or accepted with God by our law keeping the law does have an important role in the Christian life.
Bob Godfrey is President and Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary California and the author of several books, one of which is Westminster Seminary California: A New Old School, which he co-authored with Darryl Hart.
Here is the episode.
Here are the episodes for Season Five: New Life in the Shadow of Death.
Here are all the episodes. Subscribe to Office Hours in iTunes.
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Thank you Richard, and R. Scott Clark, will listen in the morning.
Sorry for the typos…on my cell.
I have yet to begin to listen as yet, but this topic us running wild on Facebook. Many of my reformed friends are advocating a sanctification that is monergistic, and any who who says its synergistic is in grave error and no not the truth… It seems to be gaining weight from followers of Son Fortner who not only rejects this latter view, but rejects the confessions …any help in this area from you will only increase my current study .
I can’t quite follow all your negatives but
1. Salvation, which comprises justification and sanctification (and final glorification) is of God – monergistically. The confessions uphold that and I thought Don Fortner did too. Anything that hints of man contributing to his salvation/sanctification has been consistently declared heretical
2. There are others, also wearing the reformed label and claiming consistency with the confessions, who fear that the above would lead to a dependence that amounted to nothing more than passivity, and a freedom that justified licentiousness. They do not to require man to contribute to his salvation, but to participate in his sanctification.
3. The dispute, which echoes earlier disputes between the Catholics and Reformation Protestants, depends on whether there is a sense of ‘participation’ that does not slide into ‘contribution’.
4. You will have to listen and read with your ‘heart’ as much as with your head to discern the validity of much of the language out there
McKinley,
There are loads of resources here:
http://heidelblog.net/category/sanctification/
Listen to this series:
http://heidelblog.net/category/office-hours-season-5-new-life-in-the-shadow-of-death/page/2/
Particularly this episode:
http://heidelblog.net/2013/12/office-hours-mike-horton-on-sanctification-and-justification/
This might help:
http://heidelblog.net/2013/01/god-not-man-is-the-author-of-sanctification/
You might also read the Westminster Larger Catechism on sanctification:
Dr. Godfrey is a national treasure.
Rhett,
Don’t you mean national monument? 🙂
Enjoyable and efficacious as always.
I’m 16 minutes in, and I appreciate everything Dr. Godfrey has said so far. It does seem that what Dr. Godfrey is saying, stands against what I’m hearing in some reformed circles.