Penyucian
Kesucian adalah konsep kuno yang diterima luas di kalangan agama, suatu sifat benda atau manusia yang dikhususkan dalam hal keagamaan. Penyucian adalah tindakan atau proses untuk memperoleh kesucian, dari yang dibuat atau menjadi suci. Untuk memperoleh penyucian dalam arti harfiah adalah "memisahkan untuk penggunaan atau tujuan khusus,"
dalam arti kiasan adalah "untuk membuat suci atau kudus," dan secara etimologi berasal dari kata kerja Latin "sanctificare" yang merupakan gabungan dari "sanctus" yang bebarti "suci", dan "facere" yang berarti "untuk membuat."
Anglicans teach that sanctification is a process of changing to become holy. Richard Hooker, one of the founders of Anglican thought, argued that sanctification is based on works while justification is only by faith.
Calvinist and Evangelical theologians interpret sanctification as the process of being made holy only through the merits and justification of Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification cannot be attained by any works based process, but only through the works and power of the divine. Sanctification is seen as a process in Calvinism and not instantaneous. As the process of sanctification flows, the person becomes, in their essence, a different person/man. When a man is unregenerate, it is their essence that sins and does evil. But when a man is justified through Christ, it is no longer the man (in his essence) that sins, but the man is acting outside of his character. In other words, the man is not being himself, he is not being true to who he is.
Orthodox Christianity teaches the doctrine of theosis, whereby humans take on divine properties. A key scripture supporting this is. In the 4th century, Athanasius taught that God became Man that Man might become God.
One such theme is release from mortality caused by desires of the world. Martin Luther, the founder of Lutheranism, taught in his Large Catechism that Sanctification is only caused by the Holy Spirit through the powerful Word of God. The Holy Spirit uses churches to gather Christians together for the teaching and preaching of the Word of God.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, taught what is known as entire sanctification in the Holiness movement churches, such as the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, etc., or Christian Perfection in "mainstream" Methodist denominations, such as the United Methodist Church, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, etc. This is the doctrine that by the power of God's sanctifying grace and attention upon the means of grace may cleanse a Christian of the corrupting influence of original sin in this life, though not every Christian may experience this. It is explained in depth in the Articles of Religion in the "Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church".
According to the Catholic encyclopedia "sanctity" differs for God, individual, and corporate body. For God, it is God's unique absolute moral perfection. For the individual, it is a close union with God and the resulting moral perfection. It is essentially of God, by a divine gift. For a society, it is the ability to produce and secure holiness in its members, who display a real, not merely nominal, holiness. The Church's holiness is beyond human power, beyond natural power.
Sanctity is regulated by standards. For example, according to the doctrine of the love of suffering, holiness must include this quality. It is not that pleasure were evil in itself, but that suffering purifies one's love of God. Those who attain holiness learn to rejoice in suffering. By it their love of God is freed from self-seeking. Their lives conform to their master.