The Doctrine of Sanctification as Portrayed in Spener\u27s Pia Desideria in Light of the Lutheran Confessions

The writer believes there is a need for a fresh study of the doctrine of sanctification. In the area of Christian ethics, a variety of views have found earnest adherents. Though various approaches have been advocated, three main categories are seen by the writer to be able to encompass the present spectrum: antinomianism, legalism, and truly biblical Christian living. The latter is given expression in the Lutheran Confessions. It is marked by pronounced emphasis upon the inseparability of justification and sanctification. Indeed, as A. T. Mollegen has expressed it, the whole of Protestantism in its historic confessions has derived its conception of ethics from its central and unique affirmation of justification by faith alone. According to justification-by-faith theology, both Christian moral character and Christian action flow out of the new relationship to God.