March 2016 Theme – Justified To Be Glorified

March 2016 Theme – Justified To Be Glorified

Justify in religion means “To declare innocent; guiltless; absolve or acquit”. Glorified in the same vein means “To give glory; honour; or high praise to; exalt”.

Justified to be glorified would therefore mean “The declaration of innocency upon a life for the purpose of glorification; the proclamation of not guilty upon an individual for them to be exalted; or the acquittal of someone from charges levied against them in order to bring them into a position of honour”.

The Bible says that sin is a reproach to any people; however righteousness does exalt nations (Prov. 14:34). To be truly exalted or glorified in life therefore, one needs to have been justified before. Sad to say that some Christians remain in a state of dishonour by their own making, by living in ignorance, even though they have been justified to be glorified (Prov. 29:18).

God however wants His children to live a life of honour and glory as this in turn will bring glory and honour to Him in the eyes of men (Philippians 2:15-26; 3 John 2). That is why in Rom. 8:28-30, we have a supposed sequence of the life trail of a believer, which ours should indeed follow:

That whatever happens, all things must work together for good eventually to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. This is because God already foreknew both the person and their circumstances and had equally predestined how things should favour the believer. At a later stage in such person’s life, they are called by God to go through certain experiences, if they are faithful and became justified in their calling, then their glorification must definitely follow.

Abraham for example was foreknown by God. The land of Canaan was polluted with much idolatry, God saw the heart of Abraham and so handpicked him from idolatry somewhere else to raise a special generation replacing those already in Canaan. Having conformed to the image of Christ through obedience and humility when he was called, Abraham received justification and therefore was glorified. Everything worked together for his good eventually; he didn’t only become father of many nations in physical terms, but also of all nations spiritually.

In this month of March and beyond, God wants us to take our calling and justification very seriously, in doing so; our glorification will be definite and huge.