What is sanctification?
Sanctification is the ongoing process by which God makes believers more holy and more like Jesus. It begins at salvation and continues throughout the Christian life by the Spirit’s work.
To sanctify means to set apart as holy. When a person trusts Christ, they are set apart for God; from then on, God works to transform their character to match their new identity.
This growth is the Holy Spirit’s work, but believers participate by obedience, prayer, and feeding on God’s word. Paul prays, ‘May God himself… sanctify you through and through’ (1 Thessalonians 5:23), and says we are ‘transformed into his image’ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Sanctification is gradual and lifelong, often through both joys and trials. It will be completed when we see Christ, but for now it is the steady, Spirit-empowered journey of becoming who we already are in him.
Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.