The Symphony of Salvation: Exploring the Triad of Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification
A 17th Century puritan named John Bunyan penned this in his famous allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, “My name is now Christian, but my name used to be Graceless.”[1] In one short and simple sentence, Bunyan embedded a profound truth that one is without grace until Christ comes and changes them. Salvation is a concrete history, a lived reality, and a future promise. Christian is the new identity, there is an old identity, and there was a change in between. Each of these tenses are valid in the life of the believer because life with Christ is not either a dusty past, a trying present, or a blurry future; it necessarily contains all three. Like a musical chord, there are several unique notes that are being played. When an individual note is played, it may sound nice on its own, but when a handful of complimentary notes are strummed, something beautiful resounds. The same is true in theology. There are dozens of doctrines that are wonderful on their own because they amplify the glory and wonder of God. However, like an orchestra, when it is all played together, it is breathtaking. Through an examination of Romans 1-8, it is evident that justification, sanctification, and glorification are indispensable marks of the Christian life because Christians are saved, being saved, and will be saved.
Mankind is in desperate need to be saved. The first component to the Christian life is justification. Paul’s letter to the Romans makes this point clear. The emphasis in Romans 1 is the Gentile’s unrighteousness, in Romans 2 is the Jew’s unrighteousness, and in Romans 3 is everyone’s unrighteousness. Andrew Naselli explains, “All humans are unrighteous, both Gentiles and Jews–everyone. Consequently, all humans deserve God’s wrath. We need his saving righteousness because we are unrighteous and deserve his judging righteousness.”[2] Righteousness means to be morally pure or to be free from guilt or sin. Humanity, by nature, is unrighteous. There is a universal condemnation for every human being, irrespective of merit or wealth or family. Naselli does a wonderful job at summarizing the truth of Romans 1-3 which teaches about the plight of man and hope in Christ. Romans 3:10 testifies, “None is righteous, no, not one.” Naselli makes another important point, “Our fundamental problem is our sins.”[3] This is a problem, indeed. Sin is not just a bad hair day; it is a necrotic disease that infests every bit of crack and sliver it can. Romans 3:20 declares a lethal blow: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Man is not righteous, nor can they become righteous by their own merit. In fact, it is much worse, Paul takes it a step further. “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due” (Romans 4:4). When a teacher clocks in on time every day, goes through the assigned curriculum, and fulfills their job requirements, by the end of the week, their boss will provide them with a paycheck. That is not a bonus or a present, it is what they worked for. The same is true for the sinner who spends their life in disobedience to God. At the end of their life, God will present them with a paycheck–eternal condemnation. That is the penalty for their sins. Paul seems to universally condemn humanity to a hopeless life of meaningless work; or worse, a life of work that will result in an eternity of condemnation.
However, to sustain the music illustration, sin and suffering are just a minor chord. They are present and powerful, but once the rest of the music comes in, the song will sound glorious. Paul continues, “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). There is another way. Jesus is the one who justifies the ungodly. To be justified is to be made right with God, or to be made holy. Christ alone can make us righteous because he alone is righteous. One must possess something first to gift it. Justification happens when Christ extends grace and mercy on an undeserving sinner. This is when Graceless becomes Christian. Robert Yarbrough comments on this theme from Romans 4: “The gospel message is that the grace of justification precedes human acts of obedience and loyalty that God deems pleasing. Abraham did not perform meritorious acts to earn God’s favor. It was his believing that God counted as righteousness.”[4] The Christian life begins with justification. Without it, the Christian is not a Christian and the life is no life at all. Consider what Wayne Grudem writes, “A right understanding of justification is absolutely crucial to the whole Christian faith.”[5] Or Paul David Tripp enforces this by saying, “There simply is no such thing as Christian theology that doesn’t have a clear understanding of the doctrine of justification at its core,” Tripp continues, “The reason the doctrine of justification is so precious is that every human being desperately needs forgiveness. You don’t enter into the glorious rest of justification by hoping in yourself, your efforts, your intentions, or your ability to somehow, someway, measure up to God’s requirements.”[6] Justification is totally and entirely the work of Christ.
The second component to the Christian life is sanctification, which is consistent with what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:8-9, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Not only were Christians saved through justification–past tense, finished, period–they are being saved through sanctification. In theology, this distinction is the concept of initial and progressive sanctification. Initial sanctification is essentially justification. It is the moment when a person becomes sanctified or is made holy. There is another kind of sanctification which is progressive sanctification. This is the incremental processes of becoming holy. Another way of saying it is becoming more like Christ. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Buried is past tense. It was completed. The burial already happened, while the walking is happening. The newness of life is a present reality. Paul then warns, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Romans 6:12). One could disobey this urgent call by letting sin reign, or they could resist sin. The Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts, gifting them with self-control, which would allow them to no longer obey their former master (6:16) but obey their new one, Christ. This frustration at self is the tension of the already-but-not-yet kind of position with God. Christians are already holy in Christ, but are being made holy, and will one day become holy. The 19th Century English Anglican bishop, J.C. Ryle wrote, “In justification the word to be addressed to man is believe–only believe; in sanctification the word must be 'watch, pray, and fight’.”[7] There is a sense of enduring work for the believer in the sanctification process that is different, even absent, for the believer in the act of justification.
A helpful way of understanding this conundrum is through these three types of relationships with sin: Christians have been saved from the penalty of sin (justification), they have been saved from the power of sin, though it is a battle still (sanctification), and they will one day be saved from the very presence of sin (glorification). Tripp comments, “Although we have been forgiven, declared righteous, and adopted as God’s children, the muck and mess of sin still remain in us. The doctrine of sanctification requires you to admit that you are deeply in need of help.”[8] Paul writes about his own sanctification struggle: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19). Paul, like many justified believers, has the clarity and conviction of sin. He is able to identify the things he ought not do and has the appropriate negative feelings that he ought to feel toward the sin. Those who are not regenerate would be blind to the things that disobey God or would be callous toward them. He has been saved from the penalty and power of sin, though he remains in the battle until, by the grace of God, he will be saved from the presence of sin in glory. “The fact that no one makes it to the finish line in this lifetime does not mean we are supposed to stop running.”[9] The Christian can endure the highs and lows of the race set before them by the grace of God for the glory of God.
The past and present salvation are not the extent of the Christian life. They still are able to look ahead at the glorious future. Life does not end at death for the one who has eternal life. This may be confounding because it is often easier to understand what has been and is being experienced compared to what will be experienced in the future. There is stability in the known and felt. There is foundation in the past-tense. For instance, a person would have confidence in their bed holding their weight since it has always held their weight. Therefore, it would be appropriate to trust the bed when laying on it. In a similar way, there is a promised future that will be greater than the present reality. Trust the promised work of God because of the past work of God. Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). As terrible as it is to suffer now, it only speaks the grandeur of the glory that will be revealed. The third component to the Christian life is glorification. Sproul offers a helpful comment, “Yes, indeed, the battle with sin goes on for our whole lifetime. We do not believe in instantaneous sanctification. Justification is instantaneous. The second we believe, we are fully justified. We will never be any more justified than we are at the moment we believe, but sanctification is a process that begins at our justification and is completed in our glorification in heaven. If we are believers, we are in that process of sanctification.”[10] Because of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, the sinner is made a saint through justification. The saint is being made more saintly through sanctification. The sanctified saint will be made even more saintlier through glorification. Tripp writes, “We will finally, in every way, be made in the likeness of our Savior. There is glory coming that is beyond any glory we have ever experienced or imagined. There is an end to God’s saving work.”[11] Every note and chord will come together in a glorious crescendo. Paul introduces the Golden Chain of Salvation, which is so named due to its preciousness and unbreakable nature, is a list of events that take place in the Christian’s salvation. Romans 8:30 concludes the chain, “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” There is continuity between each of these moments. If God predestines someone, they will be called. Subsequently, if they are justified, they will be glorified. Glorification is a unique doctrine in soteriology because it is yet to happen. Foreknowledge, predestination, calling, and justification are all events that have already occurred in the life of the Christian, while glorification is something the Christian anticipates. John Piper writes, “The glorification of God’s predestined, called, and justified people is absolutely certain. None can be lost. The chain is unbroken, because the links have been forged in the furnace of God’s eternal purpose.”[12] Paul also writes, “Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). One of the hopes for the Christian is that they will be free from the presence of sin; the bondage and corruption which entangles all of mankind.
If the Apostle Paul were a composer, then Romans 1-8 would be his best symphony. The theological doctrines of justification, sanctification, and glorification are instruments that play unique roles in the music. They each contribute differently to the overall sound and are even pleasant to listen to on their own. However, when they blend in unity, the symphony of salvation will echo through the world with glory. This is the song of the life of the Christian because it is by the grace of God that sinners can be saved, are being saved, and will be saved for His glory.
Bibliography
[1] Leland Ryken, Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 61.
[2] Andrew David Naselli, Romans: A Concise Guide to the Greatest Letter Ever Written (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022), 39.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton, and Jay Sklar, ESV Expository Commentary, vol. 10 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 77.
[5] Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 598.
[6] Paul David Tripp, Do You Believe?: 12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 145-146.
[7] J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2014), ix.
[8] Tripp, Do You Believe?, 161.
[9] R. C. Sproul, Romans: An Expositional Commentary (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2019), 119.
[10] Sproul, Romans, 96.
[11] Tripp, Do You Believe?, 184.
[12] John Piper, Those Whom He Justified He Also Glorified, Desiring God, November 14, 2023, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/those-whom-he-justified-he-also-glorified.
