"The key to living a holy life is union with Christ…
In order to keep the law of God, your soul must be empowered out of the fullness of Christ. The power to live a holy life is something that is produced in you by Christ, and treasured up for you in Him. Sanctification is similar to justification in this sense. In justification, you are justified by a righteousness earned by Christ and credited to you. In sanctification, Christ lived a completely holy life, and He imparts to you a holy disposition as you live in Him.
Think of it this way. The 1st Adam fell into sin, & because you were in union with him as the head of the human race, you inherited a sinful nature from him. Now that you are in union with Christ, He begins to impart His godly nature to you. In other words, you do not produce a godly nature by yourself, out of yourself. Rather, you take it to yourself by receiving it from Christ. Through fellowship with Him, you begin to receive that holy frame of mind which is in Christ Himself. This is such a great mystery, it is difficult to understand…
This is the key error Christians fall into in their lives: they think that even though they have been justified by a righteousness produced totally by Christ, they must be sanctified by a holiness produced totally by themselves."
- Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification
http://www.monergismbooks.com/The-Gospel-Mystery-of-Sanctification-Paperback-p-17152.html
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