And if justification be explained, as has been before observed, as denoting an immanent act in God, whereby the elect are considered, in the covenant between the Father and the Son, as in Christ, their federal head; so they are considered as the adopted children of God, in Christ, and accordingly as they are described as chosen in Christ, unto eternal life, they are said to be predestinated unto the adoption of children, Eph. i. 6. which is a privilege to be obtained by Jesus Christ: in this respect all the elect are called Christ’s seed, that shall serve him, Psal. xxii. 30. whom he had a special regard to, when he made his soul an offering for sin, and concerning whom he had this promise made to him in the covenant, that passed between the Father and him, that he should see them, and the pleasure of the Lord, with respect to their everlasting salvation, should prosper in his hand, Isa. liii. 10. Now when Christ is considered as the head of the elect, who are in this sense called his sons, whom he has engaged to bring to glory, faith is the fruit and consequence of adoption; accordingly the apostle says, Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Gal. iv. 6.

But as justification is a declared act, and is said to be by faith, so adoption agreeing with it, is of the same nature; and accordingly we are said to be the children of God by faith, chap. iii. 26. that is, it is by faith that we have a right to claim this relation, together with the privileges which are the result thereof.

Moreover, as adoption includes in it a person’s being made meet for the inheritance, which God has reserved for him, and so is endowed with the temper and disposition of his children, consisting in humility, heavenly-mindedness, love to him, dependence upon him, and a zeal for his glory, a likeness to Christ; as the same mind is said to be in us, in some measure as was in him; in this respect adoption agrees with sanctification, which is what we are next to consider.

Quest. LXXV.

Quest. LXXV. What is sanctification?

Answ. Sanctification is a work of God’s grace, whereby they whom God hath, before the foundation of the world, chosen to be holy, are in time, through the powerful operation of his Spirit, applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them, renewed in their whole man, after the image of God, having the seeds of repentance unto life, and of all other saving graces put into their hearts; and those graces so stirred up, increased and strengthened, as that they more and more die unto sin, and rise unto newness of life.

1. We shall shew what we are to understand by the word sanctify. This is sometimes considered as what has God for its object: thus he is said to sanctify himself, when he appears in the glory of his holiness, and gives occasion to the world to adore that perfection, which he is sometimes represented as doing, when he punishes sin in a visible and exemplary manner. Thus when God threatens to call for a sword, and plead against a rebellious people, with pestilence and with blood, he is said, by this means, to magnify and sanctify himself, so as to be known, to wit, as an holy God, in the eyes of many nations. And when he fulfils his promises, and thereby advances his holiness, as when he brought his people out of captivity, and gathered them out of the countries, wherein they had been scattered, he is said to be sanctified in them, Ezek. xxxviii. 21-23. And he is sanctified by his people, when they give him the glory that is due to his perfection, as thus displayed and magnified by him: thus God’s people are said to sanctify the Lord of hosts, when they make him the object of their fear and of their dread, Isa. viii. 13.

However, this is not the sense in which we are here to understand it, but as applied to men; in which respect it is taken in various senses, namely, for their consecration, or separation unto God; thus our Saviour says, when devoting and applying himself to the work, for which he came into the world; for their sakes I sanctify myself, John xvii. 19. But this is not the sense in which it is to be understood in this answer.

Moreover, it is often taken, in scripture, for persons being devoted to God, to minister in holy things: thus Aaron and his sons were sanctified, that they might minister unto him in the priest’s office, Exod. xxviii. 41. And it is sometimes taken for an external federal dedication to God, to walk before him as a peculiar people in observance of his holy institutions. Thus when Israel consented to be God’s people they are styled, holiness unto the Lord, Jer. ii. 3. the holy seed, Ezra ix. 2. and an holy nation, 1 Pet. ii. 9. And the church, under the gospel-dispensation, as consecrated, and professing subjection, to Christ, or separated to his service, and waiting for his presence, while engaged in all those ordinances, which he has appointed in the gospel, is described as called to be saints, Rom. i. 7. and they are hereby related to him, in an external and visible way. Neither is this the sense in which the word is taken in this answer; in which we are to understand sanctification as a special discriminating grace, whereby persons are not barely externally, but really devoted to Christ by faith: it is the internal beauty of the soul, whereby all the faculties being renewed, and a powerful, effectual change wrought therein; they are enabled to turn from sin unto God, and exercise all those graces, whereby they walk in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of their lives, Luke i. 75. till this work, which is gradually carried on here, shall be brought to perfection hereafter.

2. It may farther be observed, that sanctification as described in this answer, may be considered as including in it several other graces, some of which have been already insisted on, namely, regeneration, effectual calling, and faith; and there is another grace connected with it, which will be particularly insisted on under the next answer, namely, repentance unto life; all which graces are said to be wrought by the powerful operation of the Spirit, in those who were, before the foundation of the world, chosen to be holy. Regeneration is styled, by some, initial sanctification, as all graces take their first rise from the principle which is therein implanted. Effectual calling, or conversion, is that whereby we are brought into the way of holiness, and internally disposed to walk therein. Faith is that grace whereby this work is promoted, as all holy actions proceed from it, as deriving strength from Christ, to perform them. And repentance is that whereby the work of sanctification discovers itself, in the soul’s abhorring, and flying from, every thing that tends to defile it; approves itself to God as one, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity without the greatest detestation. But inasmuch as these graces either have been, or will be particularly insisted on, in their proper place, we shall more especially consider sanctification as a progressive work, whereby it is distinguished from them, by which we daily consecrate, or devote ourselves to God; and our actions have all a tendency to advance his glory; and, by the Spirit, we are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and to live unto righteousness; so that it is not barely one single act of grace, but it contains in it the whole progress of the work of grace, as gradually carried on till perfected in glory: this is what we are to speak particularly to. And,