0631. We Have Been Saved, We Are Being Saved, and We Will Be Saved
We Have Been Saved, We Are Being Saved, and We Will Be Saved
"The gift of God is eternal life" (Rom_6:23).
Unto Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling" (Jdg_1:24).
Kept * * unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1Pe_1:5).
Salvation in its full sweep is threefold. First of all, we are saved from the penalty of sin; secondly, from its power; and thirdly, from its presence.
1. We have been saved. Nobody needs to doubt that if they have positively received the Lord Jesus Christ, their salvation is a finished work. If they are saved, they cannot be more saved. But this salvation, refers to our justification. We are saved from sin and death; we are saved from hell; and, if saved, we are safe.
Salvation was wrought out for us upon the Cross. It was there that we saw the light. It was there that the burden of our sins rolled away.
2. We are being saved every day. This salvation has nothing to do with the salvation wrought out on the Cross. It is a salvation from the power and from the dominion of sin in our daily walk.
A "day by day" salvation; that is, a daily walk of victory, over known sins, made possible through the risen Christ.
How many believers there are who stumble and fall, and dishonor their Lord, because they have never been taught the power of the resurrection and the blessedness of walking in daily fellowship with a Living Lord.
3. We will be saved. This expression is Scriptural. "Now is your salvation nearer than when you believed." There is a salvation which Christ brings with Him when He comes again. This salvation has nothing to do with the work of the Cross, and our salvation from sin; this salvation has nothing to do with the work of the risen Christ and our life of victory. It is distinct from both.
The salvation which is yet to come, is our salvation from the presence of sin, but it is more than that. It includes the redemption of our bodies. It is not until Christ comes again that the "body of this humiliation," will be changed into the likeness of the "body of His glory;" it is not until Christ comes again that the finished work of Christ will be consummated.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR