Rooted & Grounded

ROOTED & GROUNDED Theology for the thinking Christian  |  July 1, 2026 Justification and sanctification are not two steps in a sequence. They are two eyes looking at the same reality from different angles. It is almost comical how easily Christians separate what the Reformers insisted on keeping joined. We speak of justification and sanctification as if they were neighbors who occasionally wave from across the street. We tell people to "accept Christ" (justification!) and then, after the evangelism seminar ends, to "grow in Christ" (sanctification!) as though these were two entirely different projects requiring two different sets of tools. The Reformers would have found this baffling. Luther, Calvin, and their successors did not teach justification and sanctification as separate doctrines. They taught them as inseparable benefits flowing from a single source: union with Christ. You do not receive forgiveness wi...