Can a Christian be made fully holy in this life, and when is sanctification made complete?
Earliest statement of each found so far: Completed by purification after death if not in this life, Origen of Alexandria, c. 254; Progressive, made complete at death, Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444.
What the early Church said, in their own words →
- Pentecostal: Placed for the Holiness churches (Church of God, Cleveland; IPHC). The Assemblies of God and Foursquare do not hold a second work of grace and are not placed.
a passage teaches it a passage rejects it authorship uncertain defined after this timeline ends
Entire sanctification in this lifeMethodistPentecostal2 reject it · Confession 1939 →
Progressive, made complete at deathLutheranReformedAnglicanBaptist1 teaches it · 1 rejects it · Confession 1530 →
Completed by purification after death if not in this lifeCatholic1 teaches it · 1 rejects it · Confession 1439 →
The positions
Entire sanctification in this life MethodistPentecostal
What it holds: After regeneration God can, by a further work received through faith, free the believer from the power of sin and make him perfect in love in this life; growth in grace continues afterwards.
Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being delivered from the power of sinConfession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (UMC Book of Discipline, para. 104)
Through faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both gradually and instantaneouslyConfession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (UMC Book of Discipline, para. 104)
We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravityChurch of the Nazarene, Articles of Faith (Manual 2023)
we believe it includes a definite, instantaneous work of grace achieved by faith subsequent to regenerationInternational Pentecostal Holiness Church, Articles of Faith
In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.Church of God (Cleveland, TN), Declaration of Faith
Formally defined: Methodist Protestant article on sanctification, placed in the Methodist Discipline (1939); John Wesley's teaching on Christian perfection (18th century, not itself a church confession); EUB Confession XI; Nazarene Articles of Faith
No early passage in the works searched so far states it yet.
Progressive, made complete at death LutheranReformedAnglicanBaptist
What it holds: Sanctification begins at regeneration and grows through life but stays incomplete; remaining sin is removed only at death, when the soul is made perfect in holiness.
This sanctification is throughout, in the whole man; yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every partWestminster Confession of Faith (1646)
the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavensWestminster Confession of Faith (1646)
This sanctification is throughout the whole man, yet imperfect in this lifeSecond London Baptist Confession (1689), ch. 13
Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.Baptist Faith and Message (2000)
But all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.Thirty-Nine Articles (1571)
notwithstanding the fact that many weaknesses and defects cling to the true believers and truly regenerate, even to the graveFormula of Concord, Epitome (1577)
Formally defined: Augsburg Confession (1530) and Formula of Concord (1577); Thirty-Nine Articles XV (1563/1571); Westminster Confession 13 and 32 (1646)
Earliest statement: Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
Completed by purification after death if not in this life Catholic
What it holds: All are called to perfect charity in this life; those who die in grace but not yet fully purified are cleansed after death before entering heaven.
All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030-1031
All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.Catechism of the Catholic Church 2013-2015
Formally defined: Councils of Florence (1439) and Trent (1563), as cited in Catechism 1031
Earliest statement: Origen of Alexandria, c. 254
Common ground
These are affirmed by more than one position, so a passage saying only this counts for none of them.
- Believers are called to holiness ('be holy, for I am holy')
- Sanctification is God's work by the Spirit
- Growth in grace through life
- Exhortations to be perfect (Matthew 5:48) without saying perfection is reached
- The souls of the righteous are made perfect at death (shared by both positions that deny purification after death)
Every deciding passage, earliest first
Origen of Alexandria, c. 254
And blessed is the one who has a part in the first resurrection, who has kept the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Who is the one saved in another resurrection? The one who needs the baptism from fire, when he comes to that fire, and the fire tests him, and that fire finds wood, hay, and stubble, so as to burn them. Therefore, these things being said, gathering as far as we can the words of the Scriptures, let us store them in the heart and try to live according to them, if perhaps we may be able to become clean before the departure, and, having prepared our works for the departure, going out may b…
- Rejects: Progressive, made complete at death
- Teaches: Completed by purification after death if not in this life
Translation in progress
Origen of Alexandria, c. 254
Only our Lord, who did no sin and was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin, can say “Which of you convicts me concerning sin?”
- Rejects: Entire sanctification in this life
Translation in progress
Julian of Eclanum, c. 418
We say that the saints of the Old Testament passed from this life to eternal life with their righteousness perfected. That is, through devotion to virtue they had turned away from all sins. For even those whom we read of as having committed some sin, we know to have corrected themselves afterward.
- Rejects: Completed by purification after death if not in this life
Translation in progress
Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
the mystery, interpreting the precise aim of the law. For he has ordered that as many things as among the vessels were able to pass the fire’s edge be brought through fire; and as many as do not have natural strength, but are somehow rotten and readier unto being able to suffer disappearance altogether—saying clothing, and what is from skins and woods—be carried through water, as enigmatically showing us in golden and silver vessels and in the others, for whom the cleansing through Christ has come to be as in fire and water. For we have been baptized in Holy Spirit and fire. Therefore the bein…
- Rejects: Entire sanctification in this life
- Teaches: Progressive, made complete at death
Translation in progress
Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
Catena fragment, author uncertain: A catena fragment: the ascription rests on the catena heading and is not secure.
No one would have a soul free of passions in every respect, even if he were among the most industrious. For “who is clean from filth,” according to what is written, or “who will boast of having a pure heart?” And if “the one who stumbles in one thing has become liable for all,” as far as the word of condemnation goes, who would not then be held for the remaining single transgression, not even having escaped? For even the very sober would not escape sinning in the mind. So as far as human weakness goes, no one is saved; but as far as the Savior’s gentleness goes, salvation is not to be despaire…
- Rejects: Entire sanctification in this life
- Teaches: Progressive, made complete at death
Translation in progress
Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
beyond the chosen, those not according to them, not as more reverent and living more decently, but as held in much more stumbles, and needing a many-times more necessary cleansing. For as the Savior has said: ‘The one washed has no need, except to wash the feet, but is clean whole.’ (Numbers 31:48–54) And the saints need a most small cleansing altogether; for nature is sick with not being able to be altogether without share of sin.
- Rejects: Entire sanctification in this life
- Teaches: Progressive, made complete at death
Translation in progress
How this was made
Every whole work in the library on 21 October 2026 was searched for this question. Works added since then are not searched yet. The short excerpts on the topic pages (many from Tertullian, Justin, Irenaeus and Ignatius) join the search once their English has been checked against the Greek or Latin original: 94% of them (1,814 of 1,925) have passed that check, and the rest are still held out, so an early witness may occasionally be missing from these lanes. Two AI models from different labs judged each passage against all the positions at once, seeing them only as letters, without names or churches. A third model settled disagreements, and Claude reviewers then checked every deciding verdict against the passage and, for the earliest dates, against the Greek or Latin. A writer's silence is never counted.
The evidence is only as deep as the works searched: 1st century: 5 writers, 2nd century: 23 writers, 3rd century: 22 writers, 4th century: 18 writers, 5th century: 11 writers, 6th century: 5 writers, 8th century: 1 writer. The lanes are redrawn when the search is run again.