Glorification takes that which we have seen regarding justification — being declared righteous. Sanctification is that the judge has brought us unto Himself and sanctified us, and the nature of that relationship is familial — He is our Father, and we are His sons and daughters. He ushers us into His courts of glory and gives us wonderful blessings and provisions, presently and in promised form, of the glory that is to come.
We often think about glory only as something future. But we can think about being glorified in Christ as not only future, but present.
But God: The Turn From Dead to Seated
In Ephesians 2, verses 1 through 3, we see the contrast. What we once were: dead, walking according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, by nature children of wrath.
The only thing that changed that is the first two words of verse 4: “But God.” God was the change. He was the alteration. He was the operation that delivered us from that deadness and that walk and that identity, and put us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 5: “When we were dead, he quickened us together with Christ.” And then two more advancements of identity in verse 6: “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” That is present. That is the reality. That’s how God views it. It is as sure as done, even though we are not physically with Him. Our identity is with Him. God calls those things that be not as though they were.
If Christ is far above all authority, all principality and power and might, throne and dominion, and we are identified with Him and in Him, we have an inheritance in Christ above it all.
Romans 8:30 says it plainly: “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Glorify, in the old sense, means to praise, to magnify, to honor. He has given us a place. He has given us a name. He has given us an inheritance in which now is ours, in which we once did not have. Although we’re not necessarily receiving the praise, it’s to the praise of the glory of His grace — we are the ones in whom He’s done something that highlights His glory. And in that sense, we are glorified.
The Spirit of Adoption: Firstfruits of What’s Coming
As Paul gets into Romans 8, he emphasizes this issue of being children of God. Being declared righteous and set apart has brought us into the family of God, and by virtue of that, He has given us His Spirit — the Spirit of adoption.
Verse 14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Verse 15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” If the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience led us to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind, the Spirit of adoption leads us to fulfill some other things, contrary to all of that.
Then look at verse 23: “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” You look at both of those and think — well, which is it? Have we received the adoption, or are we waiting for it? It’s both, because he’s not talking about the same exact thing. The Spirit we possess is the Spirit of adoption. What we’re waiting for is the adoption itself.
The adoption we wait for is connected with glory — the redemption of our body, our new glorified body, glorious liberty, the glory which shall be revealed in us. There’s some kind of residue, some kind of firstfruits of that glory, by virtue that you have received the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God that leads you is the Spirit of adoption. Simply put: when you became a believer and the Spirit began to dwell in you, never to leave you, that self-same Spirit is the Spirit of adoption. He is the firstfruits of what is coming.
He has glorified us, and He is yet to glorify us.
If It’s Already True, Why Do We Still Groan?
We have been quickened, raised, and seated in the heavenly places. We have access to this kingdom, this light, His purpose, His destination. We have an inheritance in it all. It’s living above the fray. It’s having your head in the clouds, if you will — setting your affection on things above.
We know there’s a future glory, but the fact that future glory is tied to the issue of adoption, and we have already received the Spirit of adoption, means we have access and privilege and rights to it now. He has glorified us. He doesn’t wait. He could have said, I saved you, you’re justified, I’ve sanctified you, and now let’s just bring you to glory. But He doesn’t. He still has glorified us. He still has honored us.
Translated Into Light: A Kingdom You Already Belong To
Colossians 1:12-14: “Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Do you know what that kingdom is like? Do you know the dominion you’re under, the King you’re under? It’s one of light. That’s your dwelling place. You are not a citizen of this earth anymore — this is your temporary dwelling place. You’re a stranger. You’re a pilgrim.
Ephesians 5:8: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.” We were so identified with darkness that we weren’t just in it — we were it. And now we are light, because He is light. We’re exhorted to walk as children of light, to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to reprove them.
What does this mean practically? We don’t need to hide our sin anymore. We should be able to understand that our brothers and sisters in Christ are still going to sin — and where do you go to deal with that, if not the church? It’s often the place that hides it instead. But it’s what the church should be involved in, because we’ve received the Spirit of adoption — to come along and call sin what it is. It’s wrong. It impacts your life, your marriages, your family, your children. But in love — there’s forgiveness, there’s restoration, there’s reconciliation, a power that isn’t in psychology, isn’t in philosophy. It’s only in the church.
This is why Paul could say, of the man who committed fornication with his father’s wife in 1 Corinthians 5, “I’ve judged already” — not that he stays out, but that he comes back in. And by 2 Corinthians, the man has a godly repentance, and Paul says, church, bring him back in, lest Satan gets advantage of you. All of that terminology — he’s living in line with the Spirit of adoption that’s leading him: holy, without blame, before Him, in love. Not that the act wasn’t wrong, but that there’s forgiveness in Christ.
Setting Your Affection Where You Already Belong
This isn’t just doctrine you attain to in an academic sense. This is real stuff — more real than anything you think is real in this life, besides the soul of people.
It’s in the change of tone when you speak to your spouse. It’s in the leading and nurturing and admonishing of your children. It’s in the obedience and honor of your parents. It’s when you live by the principles of grace and integrity and honesty and righteousness and holiness at work. It’s when you abound in grace toward someone, when you up the ante of your love, which means you up the ante of your sacrifice. That’s where it is. That’s the Spirit we have, and what He leads us in and teaches us.
We wait for the redemption of our body, and He will bring to pass what He purposed in Christ before the world began. We are glorified in Christ, and yet we wait for a glory. We wait for that adoption, and yet He’s given us the Spirit of adoption now — to lead us in the ways and the conversation and the life of the kingdom in the heavenly places we belong to.
Set your affection on things above. Not on this earth. Do that while you live on this earth, because that is where our life is — hidden with God in Christ Jesus.
Look Up,
—Josh Strelecki, Pastor-Teacher
This is the eighth article from Glorification in Christ Lesson 8 in a ten-part study on Union in Christ at Twin Cities Grace Fellowship. Next up: “Uses of Identity Inwardly”.