According to Scripture, sanctification is for all in Christ. Sanctification is not the "second blessing," coming as a distinctly separate stage in the Christian life. One who believes in Christ is immediately justified and sanctified by the Spirit of God.
Believers are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). The blood of Jesus sanctifies every true believer in Christ. Sanctification by the Spirit sets us apart as God's people in Christ.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to walk in the will of God and to please God. For this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3). The battle in sanctification is against the lust of the flesh. Every believer may find victory yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification means believers are set apart as the purchased possession of Christ. We are bought with the price of His blood shed at the cross. The cross work of Christ is applied to our lives by the Holy Spirit, in regeneration as well as sanctification.
For the believer, justification happened in the past upon trusting Christ as Lord and Savior. However, sanctification is past and present, leading to glorification at the return of Christ. Until then, believers are are being sanctified by the Spirit in Christ.
