_Phil. 3:21_--"_who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself_"; _Col. 3:4_--"_When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall we also with him be manifested in glory_"; _Heb. 12:14, 23_--"_Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord ... spirits of just men made perfect_"; _1 John 3:2_--"_Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is_"; _Jude 24_--"_able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy_"; _Rev. 14:5_--"_And in their mouth was found no lie: they are without blemish._"
A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 121, puts the completion of our sanctification, not at death, but at the appearing of the Lord "_a second time, apart from sin, ... unto salvation_" (_Heb. 9:28; 1 Thess. 3:13; 5:23_). When we shall see him as he is, instantaneous photographing of his image in our souls will take the place of the present slow progress from glory to glory (_2 Cor. 3:18; 1 John 3:2_). If by sanctification we mean, not a sloughing off of remaining depravity, but an ever increasing purity and perfection, then we may hold that the process of sanctification goes on forever. Our relation to Christ must always be that of the imperfect to the perfect, of the finite to the infinite; and for finite spirits, progress must always be possible. Clarke, Christian Theology, 373--"Not even at death can sanctification end.... The goal lies far beyond deliverance from sin.... There is no such thing as bringing the divine life to such completion that no further progress is possible to it.... Indeed, free and unhampered progress can scarcely begin until sin is left behind." "O snows so pure, O peaks so high! I shall not reach you till I die!"
As Jesus' resurrection was prepared by holiness of life, so the Christian's resurrection is prepared by sanctification. When our souls are freed from the last remains of sin, then it will not be possible for us to be holden by death (_cf._ _Acts 2:24_). See Gordon, The Twofold Life, or Christ's Work for us and in us; Brit. and For. Evang. Rev., April, 1884:205-229; Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics, 657-662.