The Origins of the Canon: Was the Idea of a New Testament a Late Ecclesiastical Development.

Those who are in Christ have been justified before God. But salvation means much more; it means that we are sanctified, that God actually leads us into holiness. As Michael Allen and company explain, our holiness is carried out in the present work of our sovereign, loving God. In Christ we are given life, not simply in name, but in fact. Praise the Lord, who delivers His children through every weakness. Though you struggle with sin, do not be discouraged; it is God who works in you, "both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).