Justification, Sanctification, Glorification

Justification, sanctification and glorification are terms used to describe three basic workings of God in the lives of His children. But in today’s world of semantic apologetics, their meanings are often misunderstood and tend to melt together into incomprehensible babble (and we all know God doesn’t like babble… see Gen. 11:8-9).

The first two words are relatively easy to understand. Justification, in its religious context, is the simple act of accepting Christ’s gift of eternal life. One of God’s qualities is that he is a just God. His righteousness requires Him to be. Our sin offended God’s righteousness, and thus a price had to be paid to appease God’s wrath. That price was death (for the wage of sin is death). Because of sin in our lives, we are condemned to hell. God sent His son, Jesus Christ (who lived a sinless life), to pay the cost of our sin so that we would not have to. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was ample payment (because he led a sin-free life) to cover our sins or justify God granting us freedom from our debt. Thus, when you accept Christ’s payment for your sin, you are justified in the eyes of the Lord and given the gift of eternal life. Justification is an instantaneous action. It occurs in a mark-able spot in time and affects your spirit. Your spirit is the real you that lives on eternally after the death or your physical body and sanctification (I’ll get to that in a second) of your soul (which is your mind, will, and emotions).

After your spirit is justified, your soul is sanctified by the working of the Holy Spirit in your life. When you are “saved” (justified) you do not miraculously become a perfect human being with no struggles or weaknesses. You are still prone to sin. We are told to “die daily” to the flesh (the soul). When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the Lord teaches our souls to submit to the authority of our spirit, which has been given to God at justification. Sanctification is a process by which sin is weeded out of our lives day-by-day. It is a process that occurs until the day we die. It is this process that places us all at different points in our walk with the Lord. In God’s eyes we are all justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, but we are at different places along the process of sanctification. Sanctification can also be viewed as a way to measure spiritual maturity.

Okay, so that was the easy stuff. The concepts of justification and sanctification are pretty much commonly accepted within the Protestant Christian community. But what is our glorification? This is a bit more difficult to define and slightly controversial. People get really cautious when we start talking about the glorification of man. But I think it is something the Lord has promised us. I want to be careful in my explanation, however, and clear that all glory goes to God in all things. His glory can pass through us, however, and that is our glorification. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but it’s a bit vague. What does it mean? How does it work?

Recall a time in your life when the Lord has shared some bit of revelation to you, has shown you truth about who He is. It may have been in a quite time with the Lord, or during a conversation with a fellow brother or sister in Christ. When God shares with you truth about Himself, He is giving you a small glimpse of His glory, a little insight into who He is. This is usually a very humbling experience. A greater revelation of who God is only naturally reaffirms our meekness in His grand design. The comparison is unreal. Now, think about what it would be like if the Lord revealed all of Himself to you at one time. Imagine that He gave you all the answers to all the questions, explained all of His ways, and revealed all of His glory to you. Scary thought! The only person lucky enough to get a slight glimpse was Moses and remember how God had to stick him in a cave for his own protection!

Exodus 33:19-23
19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Even then Moses only saw the Lord’s lower back side. The fella barely lived to tell about it! Pay attention to how he had changed after his encounter with the Lord:

Exodus 34: 29-30
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

The reality is that in our incomplete process of sanctification, could not withstand full revelation of God. We would not survive, could not live, if God was to fully reveal Himself to us. So what does all this have to do with glorification? Well, glorification, like justification, can be marked at a specific point in time. It occurs upon our physical death. When our bodies die and our spirits ascend into heaven, our soul finally comes into complete and full alignment with our spirit. We “die to the flesh” once and for all. The Lord has “been faithful to complete the good work He started in us.” The sanctification process is made complete. Basically, you go to heaven to “be with the Lord.” When you get there, however, the Lord is not hidden from you. You will see the fullness of His glory. You will understand all the things of the Lord. That is our reward. We will spend eternity in the full revelation of the Lord. Not only will we be able to bare witness to the fullness of His greatness, because of the completion of His work in us, we will be a reflection of His glory. That is our glorification. The glorification of man is our being made in the image of God, and being a full reflection of all His glory. We can only be seen as truly and completely made in the image of God when we are fully stripped of all unrighteousness. Only then are we truly a mirror image of Christ and the honor of reflecting His righteousness is our glorification.

Skinny Dipping... Why You should Always Wear A Bathing Suit

I went running the other day. I put on some running clothes, which included boxer briefs as to avoid the imminent chafing that comes from running in boxers. I loaded some good running music into my CD player (ya, I’m old school like that) and off I went. I ran a long way, a long way for me anyway. It was really hot. I ran down a little used road until I almost reached the interstate a few miles behind my house. They are putting in this huge new subdivision back there, the Wooden Nickel Plantation. There are no houses yet, just empty lots patiently awaiting development. I decided to run down the lonely roads of the virgin development. The land was beautiful. There was wheat grass and clear skies. The slight breeze made the grass sway as if it were dancing. I almost felt guilty, like I had slipped unnoticed into a very intimate dwelling of nature, an uninvited stranger watching a very private affair. Maybe it was the music. I don’t know.

After a few aimless turns I pasted a tree line. I bet at one time that place was dense with cherished wood: oak, birch, maybe a few maples. Now it looked as if it had been strategically cleared to pave way to roads and houses, to modern suburbia.

That day seemed far off, however, and when I reached the crest of a hill I was revealed three shimmering lakes. They weren’t very big, more like ponds that had the glory that comes from being a lake. The first one called to me, “come closer.” The little lake was a good distance from the road on which I was running. I had to walk down a long slopping green hill before I reached it’s edge. It was a hundred yards at least. “Hi,” the lake seemed to say to me. It was very friendly. I stood there for a moment thinking. Man this place was beautiful. I was in the open now, out from under the veil of the trees and the sun beat down hard. “It sure is hot out here,” I thought. “I bet that water is nice and cool.” It had rained the previous day. I glanced around considering my options. I knew that if I got in the water I would have to walk all the way back home soaking wet. And wet boxer briefs don’t do as good of a job fighting against the evil chafing as dry boxer briefs do.

I resisted the urge to do it at first, but the inevitable is too strong an opponent to conquer. Before I knew it my clothes were off, folded in a nice pile sitting on top of my running shoes and I was waist deep in the refreshing water. After all, I was practically in the middle of nowhere. I hadn’t even seen a single vehicle on the road during my run to the future subdivision. Nobody would ever know. Even still, my guard was up. I surveyed the lake’s contours, marking areas that would make good hiding spots if the event arose.

After about fifteen minutes I gained a bit more confidence and ventured out further from the bank. I felt wonderful. I let the fresh water flow over me in one long gentle caress from nature. I swam around for a while, spooked a few of the local ducks and then just floated on my back, on my own personal sea of tranquility, in all my glory. I never thought I would find such endless freedom in such intense vulnerability.

My complicated life seemed to fade away as I was willingly seduced by my new found freedom. It was intoxicating. How could I have never done anything like this before? I could feel the stress of life’s difficulties leave through my finger tips. I’ve got to tell my friends about this, I though. They have got to try it, but not together of course. That would be awkward and defeat the purpose. As time stood still I just lay there, floating, naked.

Then it happened, like glass shattering in the dead of night. I heard the rumbling of impending doom and turned to see a white truck drive past the lake. I immediately, instinctively headed for the nearest cover the lake could provide, a hollowed edge over which a small tree, no more than a few feet high, grew. I couldn’t see the road. Had the driver seen me? What if he or she had? I was scared.

A moment later I heard the truck coming again, this time in the opposite direction. There were still ripples in the water from the excitement of my quick effort to hide. Even then, I was a hundred or so yards from the road, maybe they wouldn’t give me away.

Much to my dismay the sound slowed to a stop and the engine cut off. I heard the door slam shut. It had such finality to it, as if the driver meant to send me a message. I didn’t move. A few of the ducks I had taunted earlier oddly seemed to be moving toward me, even after the commotion I made a few seconds earlier. They were teasing me with their quacking, “haha, quack, haha.” The little beasts were going to give me away! They seemed to swim straight towards me in an arrow marking their target.

Time slowed down with a drudging halt. I don’t know how long it was in real time, but it felt like forever between the door slam and when the truck driver finally made his was down the grassy knoll to the waters edge. I might have even had time to escape had I acted quicker. “Boy!” It was a man’s voice, and not a happy man. I remained silent. He hadn’t seen me in my hiding place. Maybe he would just go away. He didn’t. “Come out here now.” He had a thick accent of stupidity in his voice. Something inside me clicked. This is ridiculous I thought. I’m an adult. I have nothing to be ashamed off. I haven’t done anything wrong. I swam out into the open, the dark water concealing the truth, or so I thought. Then I saw him: a beard, long sleeved plaid and overalls. Oh God, this is gonna be a scene from deliverance! I just looked at him, “can I help you, sir.”

“You know this is private property don’t you,” he said matter-of-factly.

“No sir, I didn’t see any signs.” I hadn’t really looked for them either.

“Its just understood.” He had no compassion.

“Oh.”

“Get out of that water,” he sternly commanded. I hesitated, trying to find an out. Then I noticed my clothes nicely piled on top of my shoes where I left them. He was standing a few inches from them. There was only one way out of this situation. Here goes nothing, I thought and in a final act of contrition I proceeded to emerge from the water in all my glory. His expression didn’t change in the slightest.

“You know I could get you for public indecency.”

“You just told me this was private property,” I retorted. He didn’t see the irony.

“Get out of here.”

And then, as if he had achieved his indented result, as if his mission was accomplished, he turned and walked up the long grassy hill, got into his white truck, and drove off into the distance. I stood there for a moment and listened to the sound fade away and wondered if there wasn’t some greater purpose or deeper meaning I was to gain from the whole experience. There wasn’t, so I walked home. I put my clothes back on first though.