I am saved, I am being saved and I will be saved. When I first heard that, I thought it was borderline Blasphemy. My first thought was "once saved, always saved". So what is this "being saved" and "will be saved" business? Well, I did not fully understand the totality of our salvation. Our salvation comes in all three tenses; past, present and future. It also includes all of the redemptive acts and processes. The word for Salvation is Soteria which simply means deliverance, preservation and safety. This is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill fire insurance or a once and done fix all either. There is so much more to our salvation than most people know or even think about.
In the past tense, salvation involves the bulk of Christ Jesus's redemptive acts. When you were "Saved", Christ performed mercy by not condemning you to suffer God's wrath for your rebellion against God and gave you grace instead. How did He do it? He fully redeemed us when He offered His sinless life as propitiation by His spilt blood (Rom 3:25). Since God’s wrath was appeased in Christ, God forgave our iniquity and remembered our sin no more (Jer 31:34). How can God forget my sin? Well, since Christ satisfied the wrath due us, He then took His righteousness and imputed (to pass to one’s account) His righteousness to us (Psalm 32:1-2). He took our sin out of our account and placed it in His account. Then He took His righteousness out of His account and placed it in our account. This is justification; which simply means to show as just or right. Because of Christ’s incredible steadfast love, He saved us (Rom 5:9-10). Now that is what it means to “be saved”. I am saved.
I am being saved. This is also part of our salvation. Once we are saved, the process of sanctification begins. This is the preservation aspect of salvation. The word Sanctified means to set apart. In the scriptural since, it means to be set apart from your sin and set apart unto Holiness. Once we are set apart by the Holy Spirit, we are to grow; the New Testament makes this very clear. It is a process in preserving us until Christ’s return. This is not a license to sin; a true Christian would never think that (Rom 6:1-2). However, we also understand that it is a struggle. Even the Apostle Paul reveals his anguish in a personal testimony when he wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Romans 7:15-20 ESV). Simply put, “I struggle”. Since there are two natures confined in one body, it is a constant battle. The weapons of this warfare are confession (to say the same thing) and repentance (to stop doing and thinking wrongly and start doing and thinking rightly). We will fight this battle until the third and final phase of salvation comes. I am being saved.
I will be saved. This last and final phase of our salvation is what the Bible calls glorification. Consider what Paul wrote about this truth, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”(Philippians 3:20-21 ESV). In order for our glorification to occur, our sin nature must be taken away. This flesh must put on incorruptible flesh. Glorification simply means to clothe with splendor and honor. We need Christ’s creative power to glorify us to this state of honor. This is a state in which we will be in the presence of God and He will be fully satisfied with us for we will be clothed in the splendor and honor of our Lord and Savior. I eagerly wait for this glorious day when the battle will be over. I will be saved.
In the past tense, salvation involves the bulk of Christ Jesus's redemptive acts. When you were "Saved", Christ performed mercy by not condemning you to suffer God's wrath for your rebellion against God and gave you grace instead. How did He do it? He fully redeemed us when He offered His sinless life as propitiation by His spilt blood (Rom 3:25). Since God’s wrath was appeased in Christ, God forgave our iniquity and remembered our sin no more (Jer 31:34). How can God forget my sin? Well, since Christ satisfied the wrath due us, He then took His righteousness and imputed (to pass to one’s account) His righteousness to us (Psalm 32:1-2). He took our sin out of our account and placed it in His account. Then He took His righteousness out of His account and placed it in our account. This is justification; which simply means to show as just or right. Because of Christ’s incredible steadfast love, He saved us (Rom 5:9-10). Now that is what it means to “be saved”. I am saved.
I am being saved. This is also part of our salvation. Once we are saved, the process of sanctification begins. This is the preservation aspect of salvation. The word Sanctified means to set apart. In the scriptural since, it means to be set apart from your sin and set apart unto Holiness. Once we are set apart by the Holy Spirit, we are to grow; the New Testament makes this very clear. It is a process in preserving us until Christ’s return. This is not a license to sin; a true Christian would never think that (Rom 6:1-2). However, we also understand that it is a struggle. Even the Apostle Paul reveals his anguish in a personal testimony when he wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Romans 7:15-20 ESV). Simply put, “I struggle”. Since there are two natures confined in one body, it is a constant battle. The weapons of this warfare are confession (to say the same thing) and repentance (to stop doing and thinking wrongly and start doing and thinking rightly). We will fight this battle until the third and final phase of salvation comes. I am being saved.
I will be saved. This last and final phase of our salvation is what the Bible calls glorification. Consider what Paul wrote about this truth, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”(Philippians 3:20-21 ESV). In order for our glorification to occur, our sin nature must be taken away. This flesh must put on incorruptible flesh. Glorification simply means to clothe with splendor and honor. We need Christ’s creative power to glorify us to this state of honor. This is a state in which we will be in the presence of God and He will be fully satisfied with us for we will be clothed in the splendor and honor of our Lord and Savior. I eagerly wait for this glorious day when the battle will be over. I will be saved.
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