It's such a long word — sanctification. And it has such a churchy ring to it. No one uses this language outside the church.

So why not adopt a simpler term from the secular world and freight it afresh with Christian content?

While expositing Romans 6:23, John Piper went off script (it's in the audio, but not the manuscript) to tackle this question and also provide a short but substantive definition of what Christian theology means by the term "sanctification."

Now I know sanctification is a church word. I don't think I've ever seen the word sanctification in the Minneapolis StarTribune. It's a church word. 

So someone might say, "Why don't you choose a non-church word?" There a…

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Olympic glory is for the young. Gymnast Gabby Douglas is just 16 years old, swimmer Katie Ledecky is only 15, and Michael Phelps, age 27, says he's old enough to make these Olympic Games his last.

But the Christian "race" is for young and old. The fight of faith is for the healthiest and sickliest, for the seemingly strong and the weak.

So how is it that an aging Christian — barely able to walk, much less compete in Olympic track and field — can have the wherewithal to run?

John Piper tackles the question:

The answer is that we all must run, whether old or young and whether sick or healthy. And this is possible for the sick and senile because the race is a race against unbelief not a…

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It was five years ago today, on August 1, 2007, that the Interstate-35W bridge over the Mississippi River, near downtown Minneapolis, collapsed during rush hour.

Like no other tragedy in recent memory, the bridge collapse seized the collective attention of the Twin Cities metro, the state of Minnesota, and the surrounding five-state region of the Upper Midwest.

It seemed initially that dozens must be dead, but God was merciful. Amazingly, in the final tally, only 13 died — though 145 were injured.

Horror Close to Home

Great as our pain and angst were in those days, the 35W-bridge collapse is a relatively tiny tragedy compared to the 2011 tsunami in Japan, which killed 20,000. Or the…

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God's grace is catalytic. To truly experience it is to be changed for the better.

The Christian gospel floods our life with God's gracious provision, both outside of us and inside. Sins forgiven. Perfect righteousness provided for us in Jesus. Adopted into God's family. All wonderful. And the grace of God keeps going, freeing us from ongoing sin, making us holy in practice, and humble, and loving toward others.

The grace of God is not only a pardon we receive, but a power we experience. As Jonathan Edwards says, God's grace comes to us passively and makes us active.

In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest. But God does all, and we …

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The Bible has something to say about the Olympic games.

“Everyone who competes in the games,” writes the apostle Paul, “exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Comments John Piper,

When Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian Christians, he assumed that they all knew about the games. The Olympic Games took place in Greece every four years without interruption from 776 BC until they were suppressed by the Emperor Theodosius in AD 393. That's 1,169 years. Everyone knew about the games. So Paul didn't have to explain the games. Everybody was aware of the games then. And everybody is aware of the gam…

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How is Christian sanctification different than so-called growth, or personal advance, in any other system of belief?

Jared Wilson points us to the gospel's unique declaration, and how it changes everything for Christian sanctification.

Celebrate with us, and wrestle through, the simplicity and complexity of God's work and ours in the mystery of sanctification at our National Conference — September 28–30 in Minneapolis. Register today before 11:59 PM (CDT) for the early bird rate.

Read Jared's article "Get to Work Vs. It Is Finished"

I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. –2 Timothy 2:10

The doctrine of election is a sharp scalpel. 

It can be wielded with care and skill, and taken up to give life and heal. Or, in the hands of an untrained fanatic or detractor, it can be used to harm, to sever vital arteries and mutilate hurting people by spinning out untrue implications.

In this five-minute clip of his most recent sermon, John Piper encourages us to follow the apostle Paul's powerful example in 2 Timothy 2:10 and wield the dear doctrine of election with gospel care.

Stream or download this week's entire sermon.

Not only does God's work in us (sanctification) help his work through us (mission), but it works the other way too. Engaging in God's mission can jumpstart our sanctification as well.

In this brief video, pastor Darrin Patrick explains the importance of living the Christian life among the lost for our own sanctification. Sometimes we don't see how much we need Jesus, he says, until we're deeply involved with people who don't know him. There's something about being around broken people that helps you draw near to God.

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Sanctification is the theme of our National Conference this September. Visit the event page to learn more. Register by Friday, July 27 for the early bird rate.

It’s one of the stranger asides in all the Gospels.

In Mark’s first chapter, verses 12–13, after Jesus’s baptism, “The Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals . . . .”

Say what? Jesus with the wild animals? What significance does that carry in this grand opening chapter of Mark?

No Random Detail

Mark has such limited space to tell about the history-altering life of the Son of God come as man. Why bother mentioning that in his forty-day wilderness venture Jesus “was with the wild animals”?

I doubt we should assume it’s a random detail. Mark’s narrative is much too carefully c…

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Has it ever seemed like your sanctification is plateauing? Ever felt like you were spinning your spiritual tires?

In such times—relax, we’ve all had them—you may run through the typical means-of-grace checklist, whether in your own mind or with a friend’s help. Am I reading the Bible? Praying? Invested in community with fellow Christians? It’s not a bad thing to do (even the pros do it), but maybe we’ve been overlooking something.

The Sanctifying Power of Mission

Have you considered that your spiritual lethargy might be because you’re keeping too much distance from the missional frontlines? Perhaps your sanctification seems stalled because your faith has been quarantined and, evangelis…

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