What else does sanctifying grace do for us?
It enables us to strive for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 69
33But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
1I therefore plead with you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual ministry.
18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
1Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
22to put off, with regard to your former way of life, the old self that is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and to put on the new self, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
21and you, who were once alienated and enemies in mind by evil works 22but now you have been reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him
23May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
13We then ought always to give thanks to God concerning you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits for salvation in holiness of the Spirit and in faith of the truth.
1Therefore, leaving the word of the beginning about the Christ, let us be carried on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God. 2Of instruction about baptisms, and of the laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3And this we will do, if indeed God permits.
14Pursue peace with all and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
13Therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being completely sober, set your hope upon the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As children of obedience, do not be conformed to the desires that once governed you in your ignorance, 15but, as the one who called you is holy, become holy yourselves in all your conduct. 16For it is written, "You shall be holy, because I am holy."
2Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as that one is pure.
3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not burdensome.
Sanctifying grace has an aim, and the aim is holiness. Article XI of the Confession of Faith teaches that those who are born again are enabled "to strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord." The Confession is quoting Hebrews 12:14, so the church's answer and the scripture behind it are the same sentence.
The striving is real and it is ours, and the power for it is given by God. Paul pleads with the Romans "to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God" (Romans 12:1), and in the same letter he says God "predestined" believers "to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). The God who commands conformity also supplies it. Believers are "being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18), and Paul prays for Thessalonica that "the God of peace himself sanctify you completely" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Jesus prays for the same: "Sanctify them in the truth" (John 17:17).
The human side is effort. The Christian is told to "cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1), "to put off... the old self" and "to put on the new self, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Ephesians 4:22-24), and to "be carried on to maturity" (Hebrews 6:1). The command rests on God's own character: "as the one who called you is holy, become holy yourselves in all your conduct" (1 Peter 1:15). Hope works the same way: "everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as that one is pure" (1 John 3:3).
Holiness is required of every Christian, and Hebrews 12:14 gives the reason: without it no one will see the Lord. It is no optional extra for the especially devout. Wesley taught that holiness is the end for which justification is given, and that the two are never separated in God's design. For a Methodist the pursuit of holiness belongs to every believer, and it is pursued with confidence, since the same grace that pardoned now cleanses. The commandments of God "are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).