God Will Complete His Work in Us (3)

To encourage us here, grace begun has the same name as grace perfected. Both are glory. Why does God call them by one name? To encourage Christians. He tells them that if it is begun, it is glory; not that it is already so, but if it is begun it will never end till it comes to heaven. God looks on Christians not as they are in their imperfections and beginnings, but as that which in time he means them to be. He intends to bring them to glory. When God looks upon his children, he looks on them not as children, but as they will be, having come to the perfect stature of Christ. It is all presented to him at once. He gives one name to the whole state of grace; grace and glory; all is glory. If there is any goodness, then, any blessed change in us, let us be comforted, for he who has brought us to the beginnings of glory will never fail until he has brought us to perfect glory in heaven, and there our change shall rest. There is no further change there when we are in our element.
Until that time, there is no creature in the world so changeable as a Christian. For, first, you see he was made in God's image and likeness in his state of standing. After he fell, there was a change to his second state, that of sin. After the fall, there is a change to the state of grace; and after that from one degree of grace to another in this world until he dies. Then the soul is more perfect and glorious. But at the last, when body and soul will be united, there will be an end of all alteration.
So, we see that God intends by his Spirit to bring us, though little by little, to perfection of glory as far as our nature is capable, and this will be at the latter day. Is this not a sweet comfort? Let us comfort ourselves with these things.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
Glorious Freedom, pp. 153-55 [166-67]
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