Doves On Distant Oaks

Becoming Christ-like

Throughout the Bible, there are numerous verses that show our path to final salvation is a three-step process. These three words are used often: justification, sanctification, and glorification. The first and last are more single events, while the middle one is a bit harder to understand because it is both a condition and a process.

Justification means to be made righteous in the eyes of God. This occurs because Christ was obedient to God, suffered and died for our sin, and made available to us the choice to believe what God has done through Christ as saving grace. Failure to meet these conditions means we would not be justified. The first two involved Christ, the last one us. In order to be justified, we need to believe. At the time we do, we are justified—judged to be innocent of our sins.

Glorification is something that hasn't happened yet. It will occur at the time of Christ's return, when all those both alive and dead in Christ will rise to heaven to be with their Lord. They will be given a new, glorified body. So, how do we get from the event of justification to the event of glorification? We have to go through sanctification.

Sanctification means to be set apart, but it goes beyond that. It's the process of growth, whereby we become more Christ-like every day, so that when we do become glorified, we are as similar to Christ as is humanly possible.

I like to compare it to a woman becoming pregnant. First of all, there are no half measures in pregnancy. Either a woman is pregnant, or she is not. There is no "Eh, I'll think about it," or "I'll get around to it," or even "I think I am." Once it's been established she is, indeed, pregnant, she becomes set apart. She is different from some other woman, and different from all men. She is carrying life, and thus accorded special honor.

However, pregnancy doesn't end there. The child must develop to become a fully functioning human being. That child's cells will eventually specialize and become an individual like none other in existence. Until one day, the child is born, fully formed, into the world of mankind.

We do the same thing through sanctification. When we are first justified through grace, we are set apart from others and set on a course of growth in the Lord. Through Bible study, prayer, gaining more knowledge of Christ, and obeying God in all we do, we develop every day to become more like Christ, our adopted brother. It's the continuing work of the Holy Spirit within us. We may even die our first death, but on the day of Christ's return, our bodies will become glorified and we will burst forth into the new kingdom as fully-formed children of God.

The difference between pregnancy and sanctification is that pregnancy is denied all men and some women. Sanctification is available to every single person on the face of the Earth, in whatever age they lived or will live. However, we must choose it. If you have never done so, please make that choice now.

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

– 2 Corinthians 3:17-1818

Keywords: Justification, Sanctification, Glorification

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