The Justification, Sanctification and Glorification of Salvation

 

Are you who you were yesterday, last week, last year…?  Are you still the same person you always have been?  I hope not.  I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior over 20 years ago.  I can honestly say, I am not who I was before I surrendered my life to Christ.  I have changed and changed a lot especially those first couple years as a Christian.  Regretfully I share with you that most of the years that followed I changed very little.  That should not have been.

This morning our pastor preached on Romans 3:11-14.  I was about the sense of urgency we must have as Christians.  Especially as we see signs of the end times approaching.  During the sermon he was sharing about salvation and how it is not a one-time event from our past.  Salvation is a timeless process.  It has a beginning, a process and a future.  The beginning of salvation is when we make the decision accepting Jesus Christ’s offer to be Lord over our lives.  The beginning is when we are justified by Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  The process of salvation is the maturing of our faith as we grow and change to become more like Christ.  The process is called sanctification.  The future of our salvation, well that is when we enter into heaven.  It is the eternal time that will be saved from the trials, hardships, and downfalls of this world.  It is a time of glorification. 

So with salvation being an eternal process and not just some specific point in time, then shouldn’t our transformation be without end as well?  If I am still who I was, then maybe I was never saved to begin with.  The bible teaches that if I am in Christ, then I am no longer who I was; but now someone new.  Salvation requires sacrifice.  The sacrifice Christ made and the sacrifice of your old life so that Christ can make you new! 

I was not until recent years that I truly understood the justification, sanctification and glorification of salvation.  I can honestly say I am not who I was yesterday, last week or even last year.  There is no greater satisfaction than being right on the path of Christ’s sanctification in my life.  I have found no greater joy or pleasure than maturing in Christ. 

The picture is me baptizing one of our youth.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

May my life be the proof and evidence of Christ’s love!