God’s salvific plan in summary. Part 10

“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Romans 8:30.

Romans 8:30, which we discussed for many days now, ends marvelously with the assurance of the glorification of all whom God predestined (chosen before the creation of the world), called in time and justified. God’s plan of salvation beautifully concludes with future glorification. The covenant established in the eternity past ends in the eternity future. You do not want to miss the one important point is this – the terms ‘glorified’ along with others in our verse –‘predestined’ ‘called’ and ‘justified ’-is used in aorist past tense. It is a completed task and nothing more to do with it.

As we discussed, God, who is not limited by time, already finished His Salvific work and guaranteed it.

Another Bible passage where all of the above concepts are revealed is 2nd Thessalonians 2:13-14, “Brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation (pre-destination) through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth (justification).  It was for this He called you through our gospel (calling) ]that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (glorification). In Ephesian 3:11, Paul wrote, “this was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He (God) carried our in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” In essence, it means God’s salvation plan aroused from His manifold wisdom (vs.10) and eternal purpose in the eternity past is carried out in time in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Hebrews 13:20 says, the God of peace brought our Lord Jesus from the dead, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and thereby ratified an eternal covenant with his blood. It means God ratified the eternal covenant of our redemption by raising Jesus from death after the crucifixion. Ratified means signed, sealed, made the contract/agreement formal, and made it official, not prone to change. No wonder Romans 3:25 says, “God displayed Jesus publicly as a propitiation/satisfaction in his blood through our faith in him.” 

When it comes to glorification, there are numerous passages in the Bible that talks about it. Colossians 3:1-4 says this about believers in Christ. It says, since you have been raised up with Christ, you keep seeking the things above where now Christ is seated at the right hand of God. It again exhorts to set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. It says why we should seek things above. One reason is this – as Ephesians 2:6 informs us, God raised believers when they were dead in their trespasses and sins, made us alive with Christ, and already seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It is a confirmed and assured action God had already done for a believer in Christ. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” At the time of the rapture, believers’ bodies that are buried in the ground –the body of our humble state due to its lowly nature-will be transformed into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has even subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:21. In short, Jesus will change our lowly and humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body. (NCV). 

An important aspect of our future glory is the transformation of our bodies to look like his glorious resurrected body. Verse 20 of Philippians says Christ believer’s citizenship is in heaven. All the citizenship papers are approved/signed/ratified by the shed blood of Christ on the cross for those who would call upon his name for salvation and eternal life. Heavenly citizenship is awarded to all Christ believers. 

We will discuss other aspects of future glory in the next session.

Beloved, may I ask you this question? Are you sure you have received the citizenship of heaven? Are you sure you will be in heaven with Him when you close your eyes here on this earth? God made salvation so easy for anybody to gain. You can be assured of His salvation and eternal life in heaven by accepting the fact that you are a sinner and inviting Jesus into your life today with a small prayer with me. 

Would you pray? “Father in heaven, I need your forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. I believe, as the Bible says, salvation and eternal life are in your Son, Jesus Christ, and those who have Jesus have eternal life. I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died, buried, and rose again for my sins. Please save me now. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”