Destined For Glory The Glorification Of God’s People By Maurice Bassali Publisher: Xulon Press, ©2006 380 Crown Oak Center Drive Longwood, Florida 32750 USA www.xulonpress.com Cost: $12.99

• The glorification of believers stretches from eternity past, through this present life, and throughout all eternity future.
• In this present life, believers share in the moral and acquired glories of Christ.
• In eternity future, believers shall possess their ultimate and absolute glorification when they are physically, mentally and spiritually glorified.
• This glorification is eternal, with nothing transitory about it.

The Word of God sets forth the way by which creatures, originally made of dust and completely ruined by the fall, can be elevated from the abyss of sin to such a height that they become sharers of God’s own eternal glory. The fact that God gives His own eternal glory to sinners should amaze us and fill us with thanksgiving.

Dr. Bassali points out that from the beginning, our glorification was God’s ultimate goal: “God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Th. 2:13-14). The word “beginning” in this passage is not a reference to the beginning of Genesis 1:1, which is the beginning of creation and time, but to the beginning of John’s gospel, which takes us far back to eternity past: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1-2).

The several references to the eternal “purpose” of God in Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, 3:11 and 2 Timothy 1:9 indicate that our glorification was not an afterthought with God, but was fully in view in His mind when He decreed all things in eternity past. The certainty of our glorification is openly and firmly stated in the Scriptures. For example the word “glorified” at the end of Romans 8:30 is in the past tense, intimating that this final step in the divine eternal purpose is so certain that it is already accomplished; it is as good as done.

Maurice Bassali, a retired physician, lives with his wife Margaret in Florida. He invests much time searching the Scriptures and writing Christian books, as well as articles for this magazine. His article entitled “Christ In The Book Of The Revelation” appears on pages 8-14 of this issue.

Reviewed By Larry Ondrejack