As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Can we please God? Should we try to? Is there a place for striving in the Christian life? Can God be disappointed with the Christian? Does the gospel make any demands? These are good questions that require a good deal of nuance and precision to answer well.” - Kevin DeYoung
“With this large sampling of [NT] appeals to be sanctified (1) by striving and (2) in pursuit of approval, where did the idea emerge that we should ‘cease striving’ and eschew ‘approval’?” - DBTS Blog
“…while Shepherdism, the New Perspective, the Federal Vision, and the King Jesus Gospel are emphatically wrong in polluting the doctrine of justification with human merit, their call to emphasize the obedience of faith should not go unheeded.” - Mark Snoeberger
“While I’m not an expert on American evangelicalism, I think aspects of 17th-century antinomianism have become mainstream in many of our churches. Many believers assume that some, if not all, of the moral law no longer applies, or that it only applies because the commands are re-affirmed in the New Testament” - TGC
A battle has been raging for some years now regarding how believers progress in sanctification. It has probably been raging in one form or another for centuries. For those who have not been following it, a few words on why the question is important.
First, by definition, genuine believers want their character and conduct to please the One they call Lord. Second, they also discover quickly by experience (if not by reading the NT) that they do not immediately please Him completely and consistently. Third, they want to know what they should do to improve. In short, “What must I do to be sanctified?” is a question every true disciple is interested in answering correctly.
One school of thought that has made major inroads in the last few years generally reacts negatively to calls to Christian duty and obedience—especially when those calls focus on our nonconformity to the world we live in. Warnings against “legalism” and appeals to “get the gospel right” or to be truly “gospel centered” are typical. To the extent that this perspective offers a clear view of sanctification at all, it often boils down to “just preach the gospel to yourself; that’s all you need to do; God will do the rest.”
“[A]ny Christian who even suggests that drinking and smoking and consuming entertainment is not necessarily the wisest testimony to present before the world, are shamed as being legalists. They will be labeled the ‘weaker’ brothers…”
“Nobody in the discussion was saying, ‘A person is justified by works of the law.’ Nor was anyone saying, ‘Christians have no moral obligations.’ So what was the disagreement really about? And how should we think about it today?”
Discussion