A Closer Walk
There are three things which are done for each and every believer. Two are events, and one is a process. I like to think of them as “the fications,” and they are related. The first is justi, the second is sancti, and the third is glori. So the three fications are justification, sanctification, and glorification. (I apologize if this was too cute). The three are chronological and follow a specific order. Let's discuss the first one and the last one, and save the middle one for last.
Justification: an event that happens at the point of our salvation. "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies," Romans 8:33 NASB. God is the one who justifies. Could that be any more clear? God is the one who justifies. How does He do that?'' But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him," Romans 5:8-9 NASB. Having now been justified by the blood of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved. Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of God. Hallelujah! Why would the Lord act to save us from His wrath? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life," John 3:16 NASB. God loves the people of His creation so much that he was willing to offer His one and only Son as the perfect sacrificial payment for our sins (yours and mine). We are saved from the wrath of God. We are SAVED, SAVED, SAVED!
Glorification: an event that occurs after our death. "And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him," Romans 8:17 NASB.” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified," John 7:39 NASB. When was Jesus glorified? After He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. So it is our understanding as God's children that our glorification will only happen after our death, when we graduate to the Church Triumphant in heaven and take up residence in the mansions that Jesus has been preparing for us. There our glorified self will spend all eternity in the presence of Almighty God and our precious Savior.
Sanctification: the process by which our God makes us more like Christ; and prepares us for our graduation. This is the process that occurs between our justification here on earth, and our glorification in heaven. "But now, O Lord, thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand," Isaiah 64:8 NASB. Our Heavenly Father describes Himself as our potter. He works on us as a potter works on his clay. Our Lord molds us and shapes us into whatever object He desires us to be. Why? To form us into vessels of service for His Kingdom. Then like a pitcher or a vase we must pass through the fire. This makes the vessel strong and beautiful. One person said, "The hotter the fire, the stronger and more beautiful the vessel."
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. It was no accident that He was there. We also will be tempted. '' Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered," Hebrews 5:8 NASB. Jesus learned obedience from the sufferings He experienced. We will suffer as well so that we also may learn obedience. “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another,” Proverbs 27:17 NASB. The Lord will use our brothers and sisters in Christ to “sharpen” us. The more time we spend with them the “sharper” we will become.
Our sanctification is a process, rather than an event. It begins on the day of our salvation. It ends on the day our Father in Heaven calls us home. Meanwhile, our God is working on us daily to make us more like Christ and prepare us for our homegoing. Our Father uses our sufferings, and our temptations to help us become more like Christ. Further, He uses our brothers and sisters in Christ as part of the process; "As iron sharpens iron." Our Lord works in and through the daily events of our lives to mold us and shape us into the vessels He wishes us to be. So that when He does call us home, we are prepared and ready.
“Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture,” Psalm 100:3 NASB.