Glorification

Definition and Meaning

Glorification means "being made glorious." It refers to God's work of completely freeing believers from sin and death and conforming them to the glorious likeness of Christ, and it is described as the final stage of salvation. Justification is the declaration that a sinner is righteous, and sanctification is the lifelong process of growing in holiness. Glorification is the completion of that process. Most denominations hold that glorification takes place together with the bodily resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ. The term should be distinguished from the everyday expression "to glorify God," which means to give glory to God.

Biblical and Historical Background

The principal proof text is Romans 8:30: "whom he justified, them he also glorified." Other passages, including Romans 8:17–23, 1 Corinthians 15:42–53, Philippians 3:21, and 1 John 3:2, speak of the coming transformation of the believer's body and being.

After the Reformation, Protestant theology, especially the Reformed tradition, systematized the sequence in which salvation is accomplished as the ordo salutis (order of salvation) and placed glorification at its end. Questions 37 and 38 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism teach that the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness and pass into glory, and that their bodies are raised up in glory at the resurrection. The Eastern Orthodox Church, for its part, has approached the subject from the perspective of theosis (deification), in which human beings are transformed by participating in the life of God.

In Korean Churches

The term "glorification" is used mainly in seminary courses in systematic theology and in doctrinal instruction. In preaching and everyday devotional language, expressions such as "resurrection," "heaven," and "entering into glory" are more common. The concept is frequently invoked at funeral services and graveside committal services when speaking of the hope of the deceased and the bereaved family.

Denominations differ chiefly in how they understand the certainty of glorification.

• Presbyterian: Presbyterian denominations that follow Calvinism read Romans 8:30 as an unbroken chain of salvation. They hold that all who are justified will certainly be glorified, and they connect this with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
• Methodist and Holiness: These denominations, which carry on Wesleyan theology, together with the Arminian tradition, regard glorification as the consummation promised to those who keep the faith to the end. They also place strong emphasis on sanctification (holiness) in this life. Of the four themes of the Fourfold Gospel proclaimed by the Holiness Church, the "Second Coming" is closely tied to the hope of this consummation.