Alligood is at pains to stress that glorification is not the result of our own efforts any more than sanctification or justification.
Raised in Splendor: The Hope of Glorification for a Secular Age. By Jason B. Alligood. B&H Publishing. Paperback. 173 pages. List price: $17.99.
Many of us have heard the phrase, "You're so heavenly-minded, you're no earthly good!" Yet a new book by Jason B. Alligood argues the reverse is often the case. Christians can become so focused on our earthly existence that we forget the ultimate purpose toward which our lives are directed, and that has consequences for how we understand the Christian life, including our salvation.
Christians across the centuries and in different confessional traditions have all tended to speak of our salvation in Christ in terms of justification, sanctification, and glorification. However, there has often been disagreement over how those categories should be defined and how they interact with one another.
For Alligood, as for the Protestant reformers, justification is a one-time occurrence that begins our Christian life when God declares us righteous based on Christ's work. Sanctification is an ongoing process of becoming more Christlike that extends through our remaining earthly existence. Glorification is the ultimate end to which our salvation is directed when we will be completely freed of our sinful nature and dwell with God forever in resurrection life.
It is this last aspect of salvation that tends to receive less attention, perhaps because it is not yet visible. Alligood hopes to place the focus back on this crucial doctrine, writing that "Glorification is the final stage of the triune God's overarching work of salvation in believers in which He fully conforms them to the image of the glorified human nature of the Son and by which they will be totally free from sin and its effects" (pg. 12).
Alligood is at pains to stress that glorification is not the result of our own efforts any more than sanctification or justification. Rather, all flow one into another, with their origin in the person and work of Jesus Christ. "In the same way [as sanctification is dependent on Christ's righteousness], we cannot think of our glorification as dependent on our sanctification, because it is our right standing with God because of Christ that ensures that we will be glorified (Rom. 8:28-30)" (pg. 14).
The future glory that awaits those in Christ includes the resurrection of the body, in which we will be physically restored and awakened from death. But it also includes the complete removal of sinful deeds and the sinful nature with which we still struggle in this earthly life, as Luther so famously expressed in the doctrine, simul iustus et peccator (simultaneously just and sinner). This goes beyond the sanctification we experience now and enables us to dwell in the presence of God, upon whose face no sinner can gaze.
Alligood notes, "Most believers recognize that at our glorification we will no longer have to deal with the aches and pains brought about because of sin, but how often are we thinking about the active sin in our hearts and minds that will be eliminated at our glorification. This is what drives Paul's exuberance" (pg. 27).
However, Alligood also writes that the greatest aspect of glorification is not what we will experience individually but the perfect communion we will have with God. Alligood argues that "the goal of the resurrection and glorification is not our sinless, painless existence, but rather the triune God and communion with Him for which we will be fitted for existence. The true treasure of our eternal existence is God Himself, but we still must be made ready for this existence through glorification" (pg. 113).
Alligood also reminds us that the Christian life is one of conformity to the image of Christ, as Paul states in Romans 8:29: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…"
This is not coded language for progressive justification but a certain promise of the glory that awaits us. "It is not with anticipation of earning anything, since Christ has already earned it for us, but rather with anticipation of our final transformation in being conformed to the resurrected image of the eternal Son" (pg. 141).
The "good" in the good news is not only that we have freedom in this life and will be spared punishment in the next, but that a glorious future lies before us in which our satisfaction in God will never end.
Alligood is a Baptist who draws primarily on sources from the Reformed and Baptist traditions, in addition to his extensive reliance on the biblical text itself. However, the area of doctrine he covers is one on which there is broad agreement among Protestants, and thus, there are only a few places in the book that are uniquely confessional. Perhaps the primary one is Alligood's discussion of the Covenant of Works in relation to Adam's pre-Fall situation, terminology that is not used in the Lutheran tradition. But this does not take away from the overall argument Alligood makes.
Raised in Splendor is a quick and accessible read for the average layperson. While it does engage with the theological tradition, this is not a heavy academic work, but one of great practicality for the Christian life. I would therefore recommend it as a reminder of our ultimate purpose: not to remain forever in a world cursed by sin, but to be resurrected in glory and live in the New Heavens and Earth.
Our justification by grace alone through faith alone allows us to dwell forever with the very Savior in whose righteousness we are clothed. The "good" in the good news is not only that we have freedom in this life and will be spared punishment in the next, but that a glorious future lies before us in which our satisfaction in God will never end. I am grateful to Alligood for reminding us of this important truth.
