In the previous post we looked at a summary theme of the word of God: from glory to glory.  Specifically, our concern was this theme as a summation of the Christian life.  In Christ we move from the beginning with the glory of regeneration to our final hope in the glory of our glorification.  And we left off answering the question of its relevance  to us here and now, in the already but not yet, concluding that we have been redeemed that we would be sanctified - that this sojourn from glory to glory is about our being transformed into the image of God's Son. 

So, how are we to pursue sanctification?  What has God provided that we might be sanctified?  Look back to 2 Corinthians 3:18:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This one verse contains so much truth concerning the Christian life.  Particularly, it reveals three aspects of our sanctification.

- 3 Aspects of Our Sanctification:

1. The Procedure of Sanctification - Beholding a Better Vision

How are we to pursue sanctification?  2 Corinthians 3:18 declares, “And we all, with unveiled face,beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image.”  As mentioned earlier, at regeneration God does a gracious work of unveiling our eyes by His illuminating Spirit through the gospel (2 Cor. 4:3-6).  Now that the veil has been lifted we may behold the glory of the Lord and by that vision we are transformed.  There is a direct connection between beholding the glory of God and being sanctified.  We mentioned the glory of God above but it is referring to something specific here.  2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us that “the glory of God” is “in the face of Jesus Christ.”  What this is saying is that we are to behold Christ that we may be transformed.

Thomas Chalmers, in his sermon The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, said that it is insufficient to say to someone or to yourself, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15), and think that is the end of sin.  Rather, that affectionate vision of the world must be replaced with a better vision.  He writes:

The love of the world cannot be expunged by a mere demonstration of the world's worthlessness. But may it not be supplanted by the love of that which is more worthy than itself? The heart cannot be prevailed upon to part with the world, by a simple act of resignation. But may not the heart be prevailed upon to admit into its preference another, who shall subordinate the world, and bring it down from its wonted ascendancy?

Chalmers gives the solution to the problem:

But the same revelation which dictates so mighty an obedience, places within our reach as mighty an instrument of obedience. It brings for admittance to the very door of our heart, an affection which once seated upon its throne, will either subordinate every previous inmate, or bid it away. Beside the world, it places before the eye of the mind Him who made the world and with this peculiarity, which is all its own – that in the Gospel do we so behold God, as that we may love God.... It is God apprehended by the believer as God in Christ, who alone can dispost it from this ascendancy.

How are we to pursue sanctification?  How do we put off sin and put on holiness?  How do we become more like Christ?  We must behold a better vision - Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  We behold Christ in His works in the world (creation), in His work of redemption on behalf of sinners, in His work in the world through the church, and in His word as we read it, obey it, and share it with others.  Struggling with sin? Look to Jesus.  Desire the world?  Fix your eyes upon Christ, “the founder and perfecter of our faith.”  Want to change?  It is a battle but eternal worth the fight (2 Cor. 4:16-18).  Behold a better vision and become like Christ.

The whole of Scripture could rightly be summed up by one word: glory.  Or, if we were to use a phrase: from glory to glory.  The glory of God is, most assuredly, the preeminent purpose for all creation  (Rom. 11:33-36).  When we speak of the glory of God we are not referring to a distinct attribute like omnipotence or independence.  Rather, God’s glory “is the outward radiance of the intrinsic beauty and greatness of his manifold perfections.”  It is the splendor of His attributes on display for all creation to behold.  The Bible speaks of God’s “glorious grace” (Eph. 1:6), the “glory of His might” (1 Thess. 1:9), as well as the whole earth being “full of His glory” (Is. 6:3).  Creation reveals God to be glorious (Ps. 19:1) but as revelation progresses, God unveils a fuller presentation of His glory in redemption (Rev. 7:9-12): from glory to glory.

Another way this theme can be seen is in creation itself.  When God created, it was glorious.  He declared it to be “good” as a reflection of His glory.  But as we know that is not the end of the story.  Sin entered into creation through man, resulting in God’s subjection of it to futility and it is now “groaning,” awaiting to “be set free from its bondage to corruption.”  Yet, that still is not the end.  There is still to come a time, after the judgment, that God will renew creation to a greater degree of glory that was there in the beginning.  While the original creation was and remains a glorious work of God, the new heaven and new earth to come will be glorious beyond comprehension as the very glory of God will dwell amongst His people: from glory to glory.

I recently had the privilege of experiencing the removal of training wheels from the bicycles of two dear friends of mine—actually from the bicycles of the children of two dear friends of mine.  What a rite of passage for a young boy or girl!  I remember trying to ride a bicycle without those cumbersome attachments when I was young, but I had forgotten what a struggle the transition is, like a butterfly leaving the cocoon: the end result is glorious to the rider, but the fight is life-altering. Do you remember that time in your life or another's?