How Our Sanctification Impacts the Growth of Others: Takeaways from How Does Sanctification Work? by David Powlison

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“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”—Rom. 8:28-29 

As one who shepherds the souls of others, it’s important to understand how sanctification works. Not just our past salvation. Not the future promise of perfected sanctification. But right now, in our present, everyday, sanctification.

However, before we get into that, it may be important to say why it’s important to care about our own growth. Mark Dever puts it this way:

“A preacher can stand in his pulpit preaching Sunday after Sunday, but a congregation may not really take these qualities to heart until they see individuals they know well living out these qualities. God’s Holy Spirit changes us powerfully through such examples.”[1]

As leaders, whether in public or private, we do not live in a vacuum. Like it or not, our lives are on display. It doesn’t really matter how biblically accurate our words are if there isn’t the life to back it up. We certainly don’t want to be “whitewashed tombs (Matt. 22:27-28).”

This is why OakHaven Ministries places a high premium on the personal growth of leaders. I’ll confess, in my own experience in campus ministry and as a pastor’s wife, when it gets busy, it’s easy to think: Good behavior. Good deeds. Good enough.

But this is not what God intends for us. He already has saved us, rescuing us from darkness and enlivening our dead spirits into new creations (Eph. 2:1-5; 2 Cor. 5:17). This is our once-for-all past sanctification. On the other end is our future sanctification, also once-for-all, when He perfects the work of forming us into image bearers that reflect the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

However, in between these two definitive events of past and present sanctification lies the painstakingly slow, complicated, and challenging task of God helping us work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). It is this complex present-day sanctification that David Powlison focuses on in his book How Does Sanctification Work?

Understanding this sanctification has many implications on our personal and ministry lives. Here are a few of my takeaways and how they are helping me to think about how I serve others.

Our sanctification will share common elements with other believers while at the same time be specifically tailored to us.

I find this a beautiful thing. Scripture is broad but also runs deep. The Great Commandments (Matt. 22:37-40) is for all of us. It’s a succinct description of what He desires for His followers.

Yet this commandment can look so different in each of our lives. We will all struggle with keeping it in different ways. I have marveled how God has used the adoption of our disabled daughter into our family to sanctify my husband and me differently. He used it to target my lack of compassion while challenging my husband’s self-reliance.

This affects how we share the Word as well. While there are universal truths in Scripture, Powlison warns against oversimplifying it. Even while sharing from one passage, God can use that same message to address a multitude of issues in a specificity of ways. Because His Spirit dwells within each of us, we can trust He will highlight the words each person needs to hear and bring it to bear in their lives, better than we ever can.

As we learn how to let God’s Word penetrate our own particular areas of need, we model how they might apply it to their lives. God’s truth is for all of us, but as we seek to specifically apply it to our own growth edges, we encourage others to do likewise in theirs.

Sanctification is a communal process, not an individual one.

But even as God works in us individually, He also works in us together. In our individualistic society, we tend to think of the “you” in biblical commands as singular when they are really plural. It is not merely just you but “you all.”

This is another point in the book that struck me. The apostle Paul tells us that God is working towards building up His temple (singular) but that temple is made up of many parts (plural). Christ is the cornerstone, the apostles and prophets are the foundation, with each of us being saints and members of this household of God (Eph. 2:19-22). Peter describes us as “living stones” being built up as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:4-5). Each of us brings something into this family. What God is doing individually in us adds to the heavenly structure He is building.

For that reason, because we will all be part of the same building, the growth and maturity of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ should be of vital interest and importance to us. Their growth, my growth, contributes to our corporate growth. Powlison points out that we aren’t really growing unless we’re growing together.

This has great impact on our ministry as well. Caring about the growth of others is often another indicator that we ourselves are growing. We care about the spiritual lives of others more than their entertainment, approval or comfort. This care is translated not merely into good preaching and teaching but also good listening. Instead of viewing those in our care as projects to fix, we want to be instruments in the hands of God to work with Him in developing the stories He is writing in them. We are not to overwrite them with our own agenda or lump them all in the same category but to take the time to patiently and thoughtfully help them untangle their story, work within their circumstances, and apply God’s truth into their relationships and season of life with specifics fitting and pertinent to them.

As a counselor, Powlison models this as he shares stories and insights gleaned through his many years of discipling others in the counseling room. Instead of seeing other people’s problems as a burden he must carry because it’s part of his job, he delighted in hearing them. Because he cared for his brothers and sisters’ growth in Christ, he was able to savor the stories, even though they were often hard to hear. Do I have that same attitude when others come to me for help?

Caring for the souls of others and pointing them to Christ is one of the greatest privileges we have. Like Him, we will want to grow in our skills of being able to personally counsel well, even as we preach truth from the pulpit.

Sanctification is a lifelong journey, but it will be finished.

I have mentioned this already, but I wanted also to build on it.

I confess that in my younger years, I believed the false idea that once redeemed by Christ, I should not struggle any longer with sin. I would get discouraged when I would fail yet again. I would feel shame when I did what I knew I shouldn’t. I would feel guilty when I didn’t care as much as I ought.

This, perhaps, reflected my lack of understanding of how deep my sin runs. As someone who has often prided herself in being a “good girl” all her life, this was disconcerting to realize. And yet it was the most important thing I ever learned about myself. Perhaps this is one of the more defining moments of my own sanctification. It is God’s kindness that allowed me to recognize how very deep my sin runs. It is so ingrained in my nature that, but for the grace of God, I cannot not sin.

However, this awareness, as uncomplimentary as it was, has actually been a comfort to me. Instead of pressuring myself to do better, scolding myself when I don’t, or expecting myself to change overnight, I felt my burden lightened. Yes, we are to be examples, but God does not expect His leaders to be perfect. In fact, the humility to admit our sins and failings, to confess to Him and repent of our ways, to seek restitution and forgiveness from others—all are actually evidences of our sanctification as well.

Throughout the book, Powlison candidly shares his own sins and failures. This, from a man I greatly admire, was refreshing and an example in itself. Since his passing in 2019, he now enjoys freedom from the failures he struggles with, but in this book, I was able to catch a glimpse of his own struggles and his honest assessment of his sins and weaknesses as he experienced them.

This awareness of my sin also had implications on my ministry. Instead of recoiling in horror or shock when someone admits their sin or being impatient when a counselee regresses, I am reminded of this lesson of how deeply entrenched our sin is. We are truly a mixed bag where good and evil coexist. This is the reality of life here as redeemed people living in a broken world.

Our past and future sanctification may be black and white, but this in between time will never be so. It is a multi-varied shade of gray. At any given moment, even our best outward actions may be tainted with selfish self-interest on the inside. And even in our worst moments, God is able to work His good, to transform us into the image of Christ.

Some Closing Thoughts

As we develop this ministry, we hope to encourage your own personal growth in Christ, even as you seek to guide and point others to Him. As we allow God to change and grow us, we are being equipped to understand and empathize with others on this same journey. Together, we follow the Lord as He guides us through His Word and apply it to the nooks and crannies of our lives.

While we have a particular heart for ministry leaders, these ideas are not reserved for those in vocational ministry. Even if you are a parent at home, you are a leader, shepherding your own children. Your growth in Christ is just as vital and important as theirs. Don’t neglect your own growth and maturity, but take the time to make space for God to address the issues in your own heart. In fact, parenting is one of God’s greatest tools for our sanctification, with particular children that will certainly draw out the rough edges of our character for His work. I know this from personal experience!

Thanks for reading (or listening) to this post. May I pray for us?

Heavenly Father, thank You for rescuing us from the curse of sin, through Jesus. Thank You for the promise of our future sanctification, where all You have started here will be perfected. In the meantime, would You walk with us through this valley of the shadow, where sin still lurks and fears still surround us? We need your help to resist the temptations that come our way, the discouragements that make us want to quit before we reach the end. Thank You for not leaving us alone but indwelling us by Your Spirit. Help us to see His work in one another’s lives and seek to encourage that work in each other, for Your glory and the good of others. We love You and seek to serve You. In the name of Christ we pray, Amen.

[1] Mark Dever, The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept (1 Thessalonians)