Glorification: Perfected in Christ
God has set His heart on perfecting us in the likeness of His Son. Today, Sinclair Ferguson presents the glorious destiny that has been guaranteed for all the redeemed in Christ.
“Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” This week on Things Unseen, we’ve been reflecting on these words of Paul in Romans 8:30. The sheer power of them is amazing. I heard it said once that C.H. Spurgeon read them on one occasion when he was preaching and commented, “Brethren, there is no stopping this God.” It’s absolutely wonderful. And Paul has kept the best in a sense to the last: glorification.
There’s kind of a Russian doll effect in this verse, isn’t there? Open up predestination in Christ, and you find calling by Christ inside. Open up calling, and you find justification in Christ inside. Open up justification, and you find glorification and likeness to the Lord Jesus inside. I’ve sometimes said when I think the people who are listening may have watched the famous long-running BBC TV series Dr. Who that the gospel is like Dr. Who’s time machine. His time machine on the outside is an old, battered London police phone box. But the thing about it is, it’s larger on the inside than it is on the outside, and it’s full of marvels.
And when we think about the gospel, isn’t that true? And when we think about the gospel’s effect on us, it’s also true. On the outside, we are basically nobodies—specks of dust in a vast cosmos. But God has set His heart on glorifying us. Our lives are as big as that. He’s putting glory into us, making our humanity eventually glorious—and all because He loves us. Who could be more amazing, more moving, more thrilling, more wonderful, and more comforting to us than that?
There’s a whole new world then in this one word, “glorified.” And we’ve time today to reflect on only a couple of details. The first is this: What is glorification? Now, there’s a big answer to that question, but there’s also a wonderfully simple answer that we’ve already seen really.
If you were with us on Monday, you remember I pointed out that Romans 8:30 begins with an “and.” It’s connected to verse 29. It’s spelling out how verse 29 actually comes to pass. Verse 29 says that God “predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Verse 30 says that this happens when God who predestines us also glorifies us. You see the parallels? The parallelism is between the statements, “God conforms us to the image of his Son,” and, “God glorifies us.” Glorification is simply the final reality of our conformity to the likeness of Jesus. God is creating a new family, and all its members will need predestining, calling, justifying. But that’s all preliminary to us all bearing the family likeness.
Yes, each of us will retain our individuality. Remember that the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration could recognize Moses and Elijah beside Jesus? And I think that suggests to us that although we’re all members of the same family, and all are going to be made like our elder brother, Jesus Christ, at the same time it will obviously be us as individuals who have become like Him. And in that new world, we’ll be able to recognize one another. But then maybe when we see one another for the first time, we’ll say, “Wow, you really are like Jesus now.”
But there’s something else here I think that you’re bound to have noticed and, perhaps, even been a little puzzled by. Paul doesn’t say, “Those He called He also justified, and those He justified He will one day in the future glorify.” He says, “Those He justified He also glorified.” All these verbs are verbs of completion.
Now, Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 3:18 about us being transformed into Christ’s likeness “from one degree of glory to another.” So, there’s already a degree of glory in our lives, and it’s possible that in Romans 8, that’s what he means—that the glory to which we look forward has already begun. It’s not just a thing of the future; it’s already got a here-and-now dimension. And that’s part of our experience of living in the already accomplished work of God and looking forward to its finalization. And that may well be the right interpretation, and it may be that putting the whole sentence in the past helped Paul communicate the way that all these blessings we receive in Jesus Christ, they all belong together; you don’t receive one of them without receiving all of them. And maybe that’s why he didn’t put it in the present tense and say, “Those He justified, He’s also now beginning to glorify,” in case anyone made the mistake of thinking that it had started, but it might not actually be completed.
Most commentators on Romans, I think, tend to believe that Paul says “glorified”—completed tense—because he wants to underline that the work of God that has started is absolutely secure, so certain to be brought to completion that it’s as good as finished. It’s guaranteed for everyone who is in Christ. If you’ve been justified, then you will be glorified. Your justification can’t be repealed. It can’t be reversed. It can’t be added to. But one day it’s going to be crowned—that’s glorification. But that glorification is as certain as though you already had it now.
What amazing privileges are ours in Christ. So, let’s enjoy them. I hope if you’ve never memorized Romans 8:30, you now know it by heart. And I hope you’ll have a blessed weekend and join us again on Things Unseen this coming Monday.
