And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
~ Romans 8: 28-30
You’ve probably heard of the “3 Rs of learning” (well, if you’re over 40, that is). “Reading, writing, and arithmetic”—or “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic”. (Yeah, I know, it seems a bit ironic, doesn’t it?) The concept of these education must-haves originated with St. Augustine in one of his writings from the fourth century. But the mispronunciation of this education triplet is thought to have been coined in a speech by Sir William Curtis about 1807.
- Payment. At the very moment we surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior, accepting what He did on our behalf, the payment we owe to God is paid in full. Our sin is nailed to the cross of Calvary, and we are made righteous in God’s sight, clothed with Christ’s righteousness (Galatians 3:27; 2 Corinthians 5:21). We are forgiven, made new, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and heaven bound. In an instant, you and I are justified…and because of Jesus, God looks upon us “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned. And it’s one and done.
- Process. This is sanctification. It’s a journey from that moment of salvation until we are in the presence of the Lord. And it’s not easy. Although we are brought from spiritual death to life at our moment of surrender, we’re still living in this fallen world, in this body of flesh. And the path onward is hard. It takes work, practice, and perseverance. Do not misunderstand, friend, we do not work, practice, and persevere to earn our salvation! We put in the effort to become more like Jesus day by day. We run toward the goal with steadfastness and joy. Sometimes we step off course, but we turn our eyes back to the cross and keep going. Switching analogies here to bring the point home…like a sculptor at work, the Holy Spirit and God’s Word chisel us to create the masterpiece we were meant to be (2 Peter 1:10; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
- Perfection. When are we fully transformed into that masterpiece? When we slough off this body of death and step into the presence of Jesus—this is glorification. And how do we know we will be perfected one day? Because it’s promised to us! The Apostle Paul says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Not only will we have a new physical body (praise the Lord), but the very presence of sin will be gone (Revelation 21:27)! Today, as we walk through the world, it’s like living under the bottom of a tapestry. There are messy knots and broken threads that seem useless. But once in heaven, our perspective shifts to the top of the tapestry. We will see how every stitch has been purposeful…how every seemingly chaotic color scheme below actually fits into a meticulous design. On that day, we will know fully and see the perfected beauty of it all (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Lord, thank You for salvation, for paying the debt I owe but could never pay on my own. Thank you for the Holy Spirit working in me to transform my life daily to be more like Jesus. And thank You that one day I will be in Your presence forever and completely free from the very presence of sin.
encouraged by grace 