Salvation in Three Tenses or Let The Redeemed Of The Lord, Say So!
IN THE PAST WE WERE SAVED – by Christ’s death on the Cross:
2 Tim. 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Rom. 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Acts 16:31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Theologically this is referred to as Justification and is the divine act of declaring sinners to be perfectly righteous before a Holy God on account of their faith in the sacrificial and substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus paid for our sins completely and finally on the Cross, and through faith in Him our sins are forgiven – freeing us forever from the legal penalty of sin.
This past-tense aspect is the essential and unchanging fact of salvation. At the moment of believing, the saved one is completely delivered from his lost estate, cleansed, forgiven, justified, born of God, clothed in the merit of Christ, freed from all condemnation, and safe for evermore.
The way of salvation was planned by God from before the foundation of the world. The philosophical problem of evil is lessened when it is seen that God planned the remedy before He permitted the presence of sin. God promised eternal life before the world began (Titus 1:2). Calvary is not an afterthought, a way out of a predicament. It, and the eternal life that should ensue from it, were decreed by God from before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23; Rev 13:8; etc.).
Archer E. Anderson
John Calvin, A Prophet of God
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 91 (91:476)
Dallas Theological Seminary. (1934; 2002)
IN THE PRESENT WE ARE BEING SAVED –continuous by Christ’s life:
1 Cor. 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
2 Cor. 2:15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Heb. 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Phil. 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
2 Cor. 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Theologically this is referred to as Sanctification. At the moment of justification the Holy Spirit permanently indwells the believer. And thus begins the life-long process in which God develops the new life of the believer.
As part of this process, the believer is given the power to resist the still-present sin nature, thus potentially freeing him from the power of sin. Presently the believer is also being divinely preserved and set apart by God.
One of the hardest things for the Christian of our day is to recognize the presence of sin in his own life and all around him. We often try to minimize the presence of sin and to make light of its effects upon us. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman told of a distinguished Methodist minister of Australia who preached on sin. One of his church officers came afterward to talk with him in his study. He said to the minister: “Dr. Howard, we don’t want you to talk so plainly as you do about sin, because if our boys and girls hear you talking so much about sin, they will more easily become sinners. Call it a mistake if you will, but do not speak so plainly about sin.” The minister took down a small bottle of strychnine that was marked “Poison.” He said, “I see what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take off this label of ‘Poison’ and put on some mild label, such as ‘Essence of Peppermint.’ Do you not see what would happen? The milder you make the label, the more dangerous you make the poison.”
Spiros Zodhiates
Faith, Love, & Hope: An Exposition Of The Epistle Of James
Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers. (1999, c1994).
ULTIMATELY, IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL BE SAVED - at Christ’s coming!
Rom. 13:11 …knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Heb. 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Phil. 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Phil. 3:21 [Christ] will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
1 Cor. 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Heb. 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
1 Pet. 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Theologically this is referred to as Glorification and is the ultimate salvation of the whole person. For the Church Age believer, this will occur when we are face to face with our Savior at the Rapture. At that time, we will be completely molded into the image of Christ and we will be able to enjoy full and complete fellowship with God.
Our intelligent faith, standing on the facts of Calvary, gives the Holy Spirit freedom to bring that finished work into our daily lives. We stood on the fact of His dying for our sins, and this act of faith allowed the Holy Spirit to give us our freedom from the penalty of sin—justification. Now, once we come to see the fact of the further aspect, we are urged in the Word to stand on the liberating truth of our dying with Christ in His death to sin, which allows the Holy Spirit to bring into our lives freedom from the power, the enslavement, of sin—progressive sanctification. And of course when we stand with Him in glory, we will be forever free from the presence of sin—entirely sanctified and glorified.[1]
Miles J. Stanford
Complete Works of Miles J. Stanford
Galaxie Software, (2002; 2002)
PRAYER:
Thank you for our eternally secure past salvation. Thank you for our ongoing continual salvation. Thank you for our future salvation that which we are eagerly looking for, even “the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” who shall finally and ultimately complete our salvation. Father, help us today to live our lives as those who are truly saved and help us also, to remember to continue looking up and lifting up our heads, because we know that our redemption is closer now than it was when we arrived this morning.
CLOSING:
The more we consider the marvelous truth of salvation, the more enthusiastic we will be, thankful to God and eager to share with others the hope that is in us.
Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997)
The Nelson study Bible New King James Version. (Ro 1:17)
Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
The Psalmist must have had this in mind when he wrote:
Ps 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Ps 107:8; 15; 21; 31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
As we prepare to go out this morning, we you join me in a joyous shout to the Lord? Let’s really let the neighbors hear us!!!
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so!!!
----