The total Christian experience is often described in 3 distinct phases: Justification, Sanctification and Glorification.
Justification – being declared righteous before God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Sanctification – is our growth in Christlikeness. It is a progressive experience covering our entire Christian lives from salvation to glorification.
Glorification – occurs at the time we depart from this life to be with Christ.
For us to experience the total experience of justification, sanctification and glorification we have to understand the grace of God.
Most of us agree that we are justified by grace alone. When God saved us it was not because we are good but because God is good.
Glorification is also solely by God’s grace. We cannot have eternal life apart from Christ.
But when it comes to sanctification, most of us forget that we need to move in the grace of God. We tend to be moral people by using our will power. We get into the performance treadmill and try to do better. No wonder we end up getting tired and burnt out because we live our Christian life without God’s Grace.
Galatians 3:2-4
2-4Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!