The last link in the golden chain of salvation is glorification. It is the logical and inevitable conclusion to that which has its origin in God’s eternal decree of election. Because the perseverance of the saints teaches us that what God begins, he finishes (cf. Phil 1:6), the glorification of those whom God chose in Christ before the foundation of the world is fitting and necessary as the punctuation mark on the completion, the perfection, of the good work that God begins in his people. A question may arise, however, with respect to when, in time, glorification takes effect. Revelation 14:13 (ESV) clearly points to a state of blessedness at death, as John records, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’” These words, along with v12, serve as an interlude between the angelic gospel proclamation in vv6-11 and the second coming of the Son of Man in vv14-20.[1] As such, they also serve as a present exhortation to faithfulness and perseverance in the face of persecution by presenting the promise of rest that awaits those who remain steadfast in their faith to the end.
However, it would be a mistake to assume that the blessedness promised in Rev 14:13 is the fullness of glorification, for this promise does not account for the important point that the violent separation of body and soul at death defers the completion of glorification to a time beyond death, namely the general resurrection at the second coming of Christ. The fullness of this last link in the golden chain of salvation is not realized until the souls of the faithful departed are united with their resurrection bodies to reign with Christ forever (cf. Rev 22:5). What, then, can be said for the state of blessedness at death? In what way and to what degree is glorification realized for those who die before Christ comes again? As Bavinck asks, “When do believers cease to be pilgrims and arrive in their homeland?” To these questions, he answers: at death.[2] He goes to say, “The godly always express as their certain expectation that at death they will have reached the end of their pilgrimage and entrance into the eternal blessed life in heaven (Ps 73:24-25; Luke 23:43; Acts 7:59; 2 Cor 5:1; Phil 1:23; 2 Tim 4:7).” Furthermore, the testimony of Scripture is that at death “a state of sanctity begins in which the spirits of the righteous [are] made perfect (Heb 12:23).”[3] This means that, though we do not want to say that the fullness of glorification can be realized by the saints prior to the resurrection, there is a real, meaningful, powerful, and hopeful way in which glorification begins at death. Bavinck goes on to describe this glorification in the following way:
Of course, the manner in which the state of holiness commences immediately at the death of believers cannot be understood or clearly described. … But there is no doubt that death serves as a means … according to Scripture, which portrays it for the believer as a dying to sin. … Death is an enormous change, a breaking of all ties with this earthly life and an entering into a new world with totally different conditions and relations. It is not at all strange that, as he does with all suffering, God should employ death as a means of sanctifying the soul of the believer and cleansing it from all the stains of sin. Against this we cannot raise the objection that such a sanctification is mechanical and occurs in one leap, for death is the biggest leap a person can take, a sudden relocation of the believer into the presence of Christ and consequently a total destruction of the outer “human” and a total renewal of the inner “human.”[4]
Note in this description that this “sudden relocation” positively places the believer in “the presence of Christ.” Glorification is principally about being made fit to dwell forever in the presence of our God. Because there is no intermediate state between our earthly pilgrimage and our sudden relocation into the presence of Christ, glorification begins at death. Thus, Rev 14:13 provides tremendous motivation for the believer in the present to continue fighting the good fight of faith because when the bell rings for the end of the last round, we will be with Christ.
[1] Vern S. Poythress, The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2000), 134.
[2] Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 4:636.
[3] Bavinck, 4:636.
[4] Bavinck, 4:636.
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