Is sanctification our responsibility or God's?

To answer this question we should first look at what sanctification is defined as.

Sanctify:
1. to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate.
2. to purify or free from sin: Sanctify your hearts.
3. to impart religious sanction to; render legitimate or binding: to sanctify a vow.
4. to entitle to reverence or respect.
5. to make productive of or conducive to spiritual blessing.
(http://www.dictionary.com/)


Second we should look at how this word is used in biblical context.

• John 17:18-19 "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth."
  (Jesus has set himself apart, sanctified, himself so that we are also able to be sanctified.)
• 1 Corinthians 6:11 "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (Paul states that those in the church of Corinth were sanctified in the name of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit.)
• Hebrews 10:10 "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Taking these verses into account, we can conclude that it is through Christ's sacrifice in his life and death and by the Holy Spirit that we are sanctified. So is this it? Does God just take care of this and we can go living as we please, being sanctified in God's eyes? Where exactly does the Holy Spirit fit in? Let's take a look at some more verses:

• Acts 26:18 "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'"
• Hebrews 10:26-29 "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?"
• Hebrews 10:14 "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

By the grace of the Holy Spirit people are sanctified through Christ's sacrifice and sanctified life. This only happens by faith in Christ's sacrifice. Hebrews 10:26-29 states that if we continually live as if we have no faith in this act, then we have outraged the Spirit of grace and for us it as there was no sacrifice for sins.

Let's sum this all up. Christ lead a sanctified life and was sacrificed for us, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that we may have faith in what he has done and continually live out a life that is a testimony and proof of our faith, which is also only possible by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all the credit goes to God.

Is sanctification our responsibility or God's?

God did not have to do anything, but because of his love for us, he wanted to and made it possible (John 3:16). It is our responsibility to take advantage of this and live it out, which again is only possible because of God. It is our responsibility, but God gives us the ability so he gets the credit.