Called to Salvation (17th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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Click here for this Sunday’s Old Testament reflection (The Value of Wisdom)

In our epistle reading, St. Paul lays out the order of salvation. It begins with being predestined. Predestination is a great mystery which has been disputed by theologians over the centuries. Essentially, one may say that those who are saved were predestined to salvation from before the world began, irrespective of one’s foreseen merits. However, this is accomplished in such a way that our freedom of choice is neither compromised nor taken away (Sirach 15).

Those who are predestined are then called by God. This call can take many forms, whether fantastic (like St. Paul on the Damascus Road), or more mundane. But those who respond to this call by the enabling of the Holy Spirit (without Whom no one can confess Jesus as Lord, cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3) thereby receive the benefits of the death and resurrection of Christ. Since God desires the salvation of everyone (1 Tim.2:4), He does call everyone, and He does provide the enabling of the Holy Spirit to everyone, but not everyone uses their free will to accept the offer of salvation, or if they do, not all of them will persevere in the pursuit of heavenly glory.

Once someone responds to the call, they are justified. This word, which has legal connotations, refers to one’s being made right before God. It involves conversion of the heart, forgiveness of sins, and adoption into God’s family. In addition, those who are justified are also sanctified, or made holy. As the Council of Trent teaches, “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man” (CCC 1989). This renewal of the interior man does not fully perfect a man, and so, each person must strive for personal sanctification. This accords with the teaching in Hebrews 12:14, which teaches that we must strive for holiness because without it, no one may see the Lord.

Finally, at the end of the order of salvation, one is glorified. This being glorified is what happens to us in heaven. We do not merely participate in God’s glory, but we are glorified by God, the saints and angels of heaven for all the good choices we have made throughout our lives. When we are glorified we will have been completely cleansed and freed from sins and the flaws of fallen flesh, having become completely renewed according to God’s image (Colossians 3:10). A closely related concept to justification, sanctification, and glorification is Theosis, by which we become like God by becoming, in the words of Scripture, “participants of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4, 1 John 3:2).

For those who are justified, the final goal of salvation is to attain the glorified state. We should constantly strive towards that goal, and pray that nothing would divert us away from it.

J. Luis Dizon