Hebrews Chapter Two, Justified, Sanctified, Glorified

 

Hebrews 2:5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.

 

God has put, “the world to come” in subjection to mankind, not angels, we are told. As Adam was steward to God’s kingship on Earth, so too does a glorious future and destiny await the sons of the King. Jumping back to verse 2, we read again, “so great a salvation.” Sometimes, or perhaps especially, mundane words need to be expounded upon to dig out their value. The word “great” is defined as, “of ability, quality, or eminence considerably above the normal or average.” We have forms of salvation involved in the amazing work Jesus accomplished on our behalf.

#1: Justification. Christ’s death on the cross was the payment God demanded for sin. Sin, which causes separation from God’s presence, needed to be justly paid for. That is why the payment for sin is death in Scripture. For a human being to pay for our own sin would require eternal separation from God’s presence. Sin, like the Law, is a single unit. We cannot mistake our sin nature for the sins we commit, which are manifestations or symptoms of sin’s presence in us. Jesus paid for SIN (not just sins) when He died on the cross, the Just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God. Like the Law, if you sinned once, you were a sinner. If Jesus was going to pay for sin, He needed to pay for all sin, not just so much, so many, or up to a certain point. Sin (not just sins) was atoned for on the cross. As the lamb of the Old Testament was slain on behalf of another and its blood shed to atone (or cover) their sin, so too was Jesus’ blood shed, for the Bible states that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. This is one reason why good works won’t atone for sin. Being a nice person won’t atone for sin. Suffering in the imaginary flames of Purgatory won’t atone for sin. Shedding of blood, aka death alone, atones for sin. When we are separated from God’s presence, His justice is satisfied. In this instance, Christ became our proxy, our substitute, to stand in the gap and suffer sin’s punishment on our behalf. Being human, He could represent mankind. Being sinless and perfect, He could die on behalf of another; a feat no other person could accomplish because we, unlike Him, possess a sin nature. Justification is a legal transaction, and it was one that was transacted between Father and Son on our behalf.

 

#2: Sanctification. This perhaps ambiguous term means to set apart or to cleanse. Perhaps in more modern nomenclature, it would mean to ceremonially or religiously cleanse. I hesitate to use either word, but I wanted to paint a picture of the purpose of sanctification. The Holy Spirit, when He indwells us upon receiving the implanted word capable of saving our souls, begins this work in us. It is meant to mature us, to purge us of the old nature, now at war with the newly birthed nature Christ imputed to us when we believed on Him for salvation. We should, through Bible reading, prayer, and fellowship with other believers, seek to please our God in our daily lives, and not only ourselves. Moreover, we ought to find ourselves naturally beginning to put away offensive or questionable (and especially sinful) habits. We may of course grieve God the Holy Spirit and stifle His activity in our lives. Instead of fruitfulness we will be spiritually barren. We may do works in His name, but they are done in the flesh, for the wrong reasons. Vainglory, ambition, pride, ego, jealousy, etc. there are so many ways to walk in the flesh. When the apostle commands us to walk in the Spirit as to not obey the lusts of the flesh, he is referring to the process of sanctification. Simply put, sanctification is salvation from sin’s daily power in our lives as saints.

 

#3: Glorification. Here is where I will reinsert the phrases “so great a salvation” and “the world to come.” Justification revealed God’s plan of what He was saving mankind from: to wit, sin and consequent death. Sanctification revealed God’s intentions for a believer’s life on this sin-cursed earth. We are to be conformed to the image of Him who created us. This conformity, which is the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, will create in us a desire to serve God by exercising our spiritual gifts for His fellow children and the unsaved. Glorification is the jewel of “so great a salvation.” If Justification defines what we as a people are saved from, glorification demonstrates what we are saved for. In the world to come, in the recreation when Christ our Lord makes all things new, we will reign with Him for eternity and be kings and priests to God. We have been saved from sin’s penalty, set apart or consecrated for God’s service, and finally elected by foreknowledge to partake in the glory the Father bestowed upon Jesus as the glorified Son of man. Paul told Christians of his day that we have not seen nor heard, nor even imagined the things God has prepared for those that love Him. The angels will walk with us. We shall dwell with and serve our triune God for eternity, purified and set free of sin’s presence forever. Sanctification’s inevitable outcome is glorification: in short, the process of our spiritual cleansing will find fulfillment in the moment we enter eternity to be in our Savior’s presence. Because, it is written, we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is, 1 John 3:2.