What does 'Wrong Preservation of Sanctification' refer to?

• A. Self effort to keep God's commandments
• B. Dependence on the Spirit
• C. Gradual growth in holiness
• D. A declaration of righteousness

Answer: (A)

This phrase points to the mindset that holiness is kept by my own effort to obey God’s commands. It treats sanctification as something I sustain through discipline and rule-keeping rather than something God sustains in me by His Spirit. The Bible presents sanctification as the Spirit’s ongoing work in a believer, produced by grace and grounded in Christ’s finished work, not a fleshly checklist I must complete to stay holy. When we rely on personal performance to preserve holiness, we neglect the Spirit’s power and the sufficiency of Christ, turning growth into a matter of willpower instead of dependence on God. The healthier view sees sanctification as a Spirit-enabled process that grows out of faith and relationship with God, while justification is the related but distinct declaration of righteousness, and gradual growth describes the ongoing transformation that results from living by the Spirit.