Perfection of Individuals and the Family
Is Sanctification through your works or the Spirit working in you?
Ensign, May 2010, pgs 9-10; “Every law and principle and power, every belief, every ordinance and ordination, every covenant, every sermon and every sacrament, every counsel and correction, the sealings, the calls, the releases, the service—all these have as their ultimate purpose the perfection of the individual and the family, for the Lord has said, ‘This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39).” – Boyd K. Packer, The Power of the Priesthood
Philippians 1:6; “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 2:13; “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Ephesians 3:20; “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…”
2 Thessalonians 2:13; “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”
1 Peter 1:2; “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
The list of scriptural verses you could use to show that it’s God who does the sanctifying work inside the believer is virtually endless.
It’s easy enough to get caught up in the nitty-gritty details of what we think is going to be good enough for God but at the end of the day when you meet Him are you prepared to hear His report of how you did?
James also told us in his epistle that if you want to rely on your own good works you’ll be judged by them. How much is going to be enough?
If God knew just how much work it would take to create the earth and He called it good don’t you think He’d know how much work it’d take for His Holy Spirit to do the sanctifying work inside you?
James also said that without your good works your faith is dead and you are condemned.
Now, if you want to know actual LDS doctrine, which is in perfect agreement with all the passages sited above, it is this.
The Holy Ghost is the one that does the work of sanctification; it is by his power that people are sanctified and fit to dwell with God.
However, he will only sanctify you according to your willingness to obey the commands of God.
Thus, those who are disobedience receive no (or little) of the sanctifying power of the Spirit.
Those who are obedient some of the time receive some of the sanctifying power of the Spirit.
Those who are truly righteous receive all of the sanctifying power of the Spirit.
It is not the works themselves that sanctify, but it is the works that prepares a person for the sanctification that comes from the spirit.
thus, as the Bible states, it is the Spirit that sanctifies working within us; but as President Packer says, the purpose of all the ordinances and works is this sanctification, as they prepare us to receive it.