Of course, we are called to glorify God in everything that we think and say and do. But the Bible also says that God will glorify us, his children. So what in the world does that mean? It's a question that comes to us from a listener named Nicholas. Pastor John, I'm very grateful for your love for the Lord and for your ministry.

In John chapter 5 verse 44, Jesus challenges the Pharisees in where they seek their glory. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? It seems that Jesus is indirectly telling us to seek glory from God.

How do we balance this with desiring to glorify him? What is the difference in the link between me glorifying God and God glorifying me? The difference between glorifying God and seeking glory from God is the difference between our making God look like what he really is and God making us into what we are definitely not—namely, beautiful and glorious in his image.

We are created to glorify God, that is, by treasuring him and valuing him above all else to show him to be infinitely valuable above all else in our lives and in the world—Isaiah 43:7. But we're also created to be glorious or to be glorified, since we're not yet glorious.

Not in the sense—glorified not in the sense of being shown to be supremely valuable like God, but in the sense of being conformed to the image of Christ. So the key passage is Romans 8, 29, and 30. "Those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Look-alikes.

"And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he justified; and those whom he justified, he glorified." And that glorified refers back to that conforming to the image of his Son. God does not intend for his Son to have an ugly bride. Jonathan Edwards makes a very big deal out of the point of the universe being the creation and preparation of a bride for his Son.

Ephesians 5, 27, "So that he might present the church to himself in splendor." Present the church—Christ died for the church so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish. Now, the way this fits together with our glorifying Christ is, first, that we are his workmanship.

We don't make ourselves beautiful. We aren't intrinsically beautiful. We are intrinsically abhorrent in our rebellion against God. He makes us beautiful, and therefore our beauty reflects his primary power and grace and beauty as the creator of our beauty. The second way our glorification relates to the glory of Christ is that his glory is the template from which our glory is designed, shaped, and brought about.

Therefore, if anyone looks upon us and thinks we are glorious, it will be because they've already looked at Christ, found him to be glorious, and then looked at us and say, "Oh, you're like that, and I love that." So there's no conflict in pursuing the glory of Christ and pursuing being glorified by Christ, which means that we shouldn't be shocked to read Romans 2.6.

I think a lot of Christians are shocked to read it when Paul says in Romans 2.6, "God will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, they will receive wrath and fury.

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also to the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek, for God shows no partiality." There's a deep flaw in our thinking and our souls if we are not seeking this glory and honor.

No one can love God and not want to be conformed to the image of God, but we will always want our glory to be derivative. We'll always want our glory to be reflective, not original, reflective of the original, and we will always love the way the two are put together in 2 Thessalonians 1.11.

To this we always pray for you. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him.

Amazing, beautiful, bringing together the Lord Jesus glorified in you and you glorified in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So when Jesus says, and this is the text that Nicholas asked about, when Jesus says in John 5:44, "How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek, do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" I think he means if you find the praise of other people and the honor of other people and the greatness of other people more satisfying than the greatness of God and the praise of God and the honor that comes from God and the beautification that comes from God, you will be so man-centered that you will not be able to believe on Jesus.

Yeah, that is a sobering warning. Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you, Nicholas, for the question. Really good question. If you are perplexed over a theology question that you can't seem to wrap your mind around or a Bible passage that seems to contradict other Bible passages that you've read, send those questions into us.

Drop us an email at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. You've been listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast with longtime author and pastor John Piper. As always, you can find our audio feeds and you can find our episode archive all at our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn. And at that site, there's also a button you can click if you want to send us your question via the web.

We are back on Wednesday. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you then.