What is Justification, Sanctification and Glorification?

I once heard that those words were not meant to be understood and that all we need to know about our salvation is that Jesus loves us. True (in that Jesus does love us and that we may never fully understand the full extent of what each of those three words mean), but false, in a sense that in order to understand our 'salvation' it is crucial to know the elements of what salvation actually means. For the longest time ever I could not grasp the concept of how the three related to one another until I heard it mentioned this way. In a nutshell, we have been saved - Justification, we are being saved - Sanctification, and we will be saved - Glorification. 

Justification (We have been saved) - The finished work on the cross by Jesus (the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of our sins) meant that the price for our sins and guilt has been paid for. We are now justified before God the Father by faith in the redemptive work of His Son. (Rom 3:24-25, 5:1,9). This means we are now declared right before God (not because of our own righteousness but because of the righteousness of Jesus) and can now approach God in confidence, not in condemnation (Rom 8).

Sanctification (We are being saved) - The word sanctified in the New Testament means to separate or make holy for God. In a sense, we were sanctified the moment we were justified before God (we were made holy and set apart for God). However, it is clear that neither the word or the concept of sanctification are limited to the past tense. We find examples of believers 'being sanctified' (Heb 2:11, 10:14). Paul prayed that believers might be sanctified completely (1 Thess 5:23, Eph 5:26) and that our sanctification is found in 'abstaining from sexual immorality' (1 Thess 4:3). The reality is that we are living in a fallen and sinful world and must continue in the sanctification process to gain the imparted righteousness of Christ. When we sin, we must repent and put to death those deeds; we know that God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Glorification (We will be saved) - On the day that Jesus comes back to the earth, we are resurrected to meet Him in the air with our resurrected / glorified bodies and salvation is complete. Glorification is the completion of the salvation process and marks the completion of our sanctification. This is the blessed hope that Paul talks about in Titus 2:13; when Jesus appears in the sky and we finally get to be with Him where He is. 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 talk about the second coming of Christ and our consequent resurrection. This is our glorious hope and the reason we need to persevere until the end!! (Mat 24:13)

So Yes, all that does matter for starters is that Jesus loves you, but there's so much more to His love in His plan of salvation for us!

Japheth Chew