Sanctiphobia is the justified fear that if pastors teach their people to live holy lives, they will begin to take credit for the work God has done in their lives. They commit the Galatian heresy; they fall from grace. (Gal. 3:16)
One of the best antidotes for this plagiarism is a document from the Council of Orange.
While the fear of believers falling into claiming God’s work as their own is a valid concern, this is no reason not to teach them to be holy.
Peter picks up on God’s command from Leviticus 11:44 to the nation of Israel in his reminder to the early church, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And he closes his second letter with the strongest encouragement for holiness, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pete 3:18 NKJV)
Failure to preach holy living results in malnourished believers who never learn the tools to abandon the works of the flesh: “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.” (Galatians 5: 19-21 NKJV)