God Spot

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God Spot
This Christian Resource Blog has been created by a group of friends from around the world. Our purpose is to provide links to useful resources, some commentary on topical or doctrinal issues, a place where anyone can come with questions and a means whereby we can share our faith. And above all, to grow and encourage each other. As Christians, we believe we bear God's image in this world, and seek to glorify God's name in this endeavour. Any Christian who wants to join with us is very welcome!

Friday, May 07, 2004

Salvation - Past, Present & Future

Doing a little bit of research (the lazy way, using Mr Google's wealth of knowledge) to answer a question on whether salvation is a once-off event in a Christian's life, or a process (I believe it's both!), came across this site which rang pretty true to me:

Salvation Past, Present, and Future by Chris Passerello. The two Notes at the end are interesting!?

Then there was another site which didn't ring quite as true (not sure about the evidence for justification having present and future aspects, for instance) - but still worthy to make us think:

Salvation Past, Present, and Future by James Akin.

This is how I understand (poorly, I imagine) this process - right now, in my case, having been saved (past event in my life, looking back to the day I yielded my will to Christ), I am in the present sense of salvation, where I need God's power daily to save me from the sinful lusts of my nature (a continual process of sanctification - the gracious work of God by which we are being made more like Christ. A process in which we are increasingly enabled to say "No" to sin and "Yes" to righteousness. Being "transformed by the renewing of our minds", being saved from the corruption and power of sin).

The future aspect of salvation, described by words like "shall be saved", generally refers to a final glorification (brought into complete conformity to Christ, in resurrected glorified sin-free bodies).

As scripture teaches all three aspects of salvation and its' accompanying elements (eg sanctification), thus we should understand and balance them in the way that scripture teaches.

As Passerello points out:

It is common for individuals and organisations to stress one of the tenses of salvation to the exclusion of the other tenses. Some people will stress the past tense to the point of making Christianity irrelevant to daily living. They speak only about what God did for them when they "got saved" (in the past). There is little or no concept of what God is doing in their lives today, or of what God continually requires of them.

Others will stress the present tense of salvation to the point of saying it is sin to claim "I have been saved". They begin to emphasise good works and ignore the fact that salvation comes through faith. There is little or no concept that salvation is free and that it flows from the grace of a merciful God.

Others stress the future tense of salvation so much that they again make Christianity seem irrelevant. They are sometimes found teaching "pie in the sky when you die" Christianity. As is true with the first group, they often fall into the trap of ignoring what God is doing in their lives today.

I particularly liked his Applications at the end - for example:

1) If we have a basic understanding of the three tenses of salvation we will find that many Bible passages begin to provide promises and encouragement we had never seen before.

2) Since our salvation happened in the past, let us rejoice and be thankful that our God has freely declared us righteous. Let us rejoice that we have been adopted into the family of God. May we always treasure these remarkable gifts.

3) Since our salvation continues in the present, let us strive after holiness and let us persevere in faith and good works. Let us go to God in prayer and in His word, seeking strength and power to overcome sin and corruption.

4)Since our salvation is to be completed in the future, let us look forward to that day with joy and expectation. Let us fix our minds on heavenly and eternal things. May we hold the temporary things of this world with a weak hand, eagerly awaiting the glory that is to be revealed to us in the last day.

# posted by geoff @ 3:22 pm

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