Once for All, Again and Again, and More and More

Part 3, Saints Who are Sinners

In the last post I described how I try to balance justification and sanctification in my Bible study out at the prison. I do this dialectically, speaking about both justification and sanctification, keeping them in tension, seeking a balance between their truths. 

Recently, though, I found another way to frame the relationship between justification and sanctification from an article by the theologian George Hunsinger entitled "A Tale of Two Simultaneities: Justification and Sanctification in Calvin and Barth." It's not often that an academic work of systematic theology can help you pastorally in a prison, but Hunsinger's article did that.

In the title of Hunsinger's article the "two simultaneities" goes back to Luther's famous statement that the Christian is simultaneously both sinner and saint. Hunsinger uses that lens of the saint/sinner simultaneity to explore how John Calvin and Karl Barth attempted to balance justification and sanctification in their work.

One tool Hunsinger uses in making this comparison is a tripartite rubric:

1. "Once for all": The "once for all" sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

2. "Again and again": Our need, as sinners, to receive the gift of grace, mercy, and forgiveness over and over, again and again, throughout our lives.

3. "More and more": The journey to grow into and experience the abundant life God has called us to, full of holiness, peace, and wellness.

The foundation for everything, obviously, is the work of Christ in his "once for all" sacrifice. Nothing can happen, not justification or sanctification, without Christ. Whatever we experience, by way of grace or holiness, is the work of Christ in us. This "once for all" foundation displaces any temptations toward anthropocentrism and Pelagianism in our doctrines of either justification or sanctification. 

Having established the "once for all" Christological core, we can then talk about justification and sanctification.

Justification is experienced as "again and again." We're sinners, and sin accompanies us throughout our lives. And when we sin, feelings of guilt and shame threaten to demoralize us. In these moments, we must return to grace to receive anew God's love and mercy. We receive this grace "again and again" throughout our lives. 

Sanctification is experienced as "more and more." There is more to the Christian life than embracing grace over and over again. There is also a deeper participation in the life of God. In the language of the Gospel of John, we receive from God "grace upon grace." We can receive "more and more" from God. More joy. More love. More peace.  We step "more and more" into the abundant life. 

I've found this framework--with the hooks "once for all," "again and again," and "more and more"--to be a lovely and easy way to describe the relationship between justification and sanctification. Everything stands upon Christ and his "once for all" sacrifice. And because of Christ, we can receive mercy "again and again" in our lives. But Christ is also wanting to give us "more and more" of the abundant life. All three are in play all of the time. Once for all. Again and again. More and more.