In this process of resurrection there are four aspects: sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. In 6:22 Paul says, “But now, having been freed from sin and having been enslaved to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.” Sanctification, the process of being made holy, brings us into the enjoyment of eternal life. Thus, the end, the issue, of sanctification is eternal life.
In 12:2 Paul speaks of transformation, saying that we should not be conformed to this age, but that we should be transformed by the renewing of the mind. In 8:29 Paul speaks of conformation, and in the next verse, of glorification. Our future glorification will be the ultimate step of resurrection; it is resurrection as applied to the body. Because our bodies are still subject to death, we are sometimes weak and even physically ill. Thus, we need the redemption of our bodies; we need resurrection applied to our bodies. As those who are in the process of resurrection, we have as the last step of resurrection the transfiguration, the glorification, of our bodies.
We have seen that sanctification is a part of resurrection. The more we are sanctified, the more we are resurrected. When we speak of sanctification, we do not mean sinless perfection, nor even the mere change of position. Arguing against the concept of sanctification as sinless perfection, some have pointed out from Matthew 23 that the gold is sanctified by being placed in the temple and that an offering is sanctified by being laid upon the altar. Therefore, these ones teach that sanctification has nothing to do with sin, but that it is related to the change of position. For example, when the gold was in the market, it was common, secular; but when it was put into the temple, it was sanctified. Sanctification, however, means much more than this. It includes not only a change of position, but also a change in disposition. The sanctification spoken of in Romans is dispositional sanctification. We need to be sanctified in both our position and our disposition.
Making tea is a good illustration of dispositional sanctification. When a tea bag is placed in a cup of water, the tea “tea-ifies” the water. This causes the water to change in color, appearance, and taste. We may say that the water undergoes a dispositional change. The more tea that is put in the water, the more the water is “tea-ified.” This “tea-ification” is a picture of our subjective experience of sanctification. Christ is the heavenly “tea,” and we are the “water.” The more of Christ that is added to us, the more we are sanctified dispositionally.
Not only are we sanctified, but we are also transformed. Sanctification involves substance, whereas transformation involves form, a change from one form into another. To be sanctified is to have more of Christ added to us. To be transformed is to be shaped into a certain form through the addition of the divine substance. Transformation is the second aspect of resurrection. The more we are transformed, the more we are resurrected.
The third aspect of the process of resurrection is conformation, which is closely related to transformation. In this process we are conformed to the image of Christ. As 8:29 says, “Because whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He should be the firstborn among many brothers.”
We have pointed out that the ultimate step of the process of resurrection is glorification, the transfiguration of our body. The divine life within us will eventually be expressed through our physical body in a full way, transfiguring it into a glorious body. In this way, mortality will be swallowed up by the divine life within us. At that time, we shall be fully sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified. This means that we shall be altogether in resurrection, with the divine life and nature permeating our whole being. That will be full sonship (8:23).
We all have the sense within that today our sonship is not yet full. However, it will get fuller and fuller until it reaches the peak at the time of our glorification, when we shall be fully resurrected and designated the sons of God in nature and in appearance. Both in name and in reality we shall be the sons of God in spirit, in soul, and in body. Just as a carnation seed grows from a seed into a full-grown blossoming plant, so we shall be processed through resurrection until we are fully glorified and designated as the many sons of God. We are now in the process of resurrection so that we may be sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified. This process will go on until we are sons of God in full. This is the central aim of the gospel.