In his epistle to the church as Ephesus, Paul refers to us this way: “by grace you have been saved.” Good. Got it. Past tense. (See also Rom 8:24; Eph 2:8; Titus 3:5.) But in his letter to the church at Corinth, he refers to two categories of people: “those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor 2:15). The verb is present progressive passive. In this view, you are not “saved” or “unsaved.” You are being saved, or you are perishing. Paul’s language emphasizes process … “being saved” or “perishing” … but the underlying reality is still binary: in Christ or in Adam. Interesting.
It echoes the words in Philippians where Paul tells them to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Php 2:12-13). That is, if we are already saved (past tense), there is nothing to work out, is there? Instead, we are being saved. That is, we have this salvation that we need to work out, to cultivate, to develop further. We need to live out the salvation we have. And just to confuse matters more, Paul elsewhere says that “we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Rom 5:9-10). (See also Rom 13:11.) Great … future tense. How does all this work?
Scripture affirms that those who are in Christ are already saved. We are declared righteous. If we confess our sin, He forgives all sin (1 John 1:9). So how are we being saved in some ongoing manner? Jude says God is “able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 1:24). Paul says we are being conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29). Paul tells us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). The theological term is “sanctification,” and it is the process of making changes to our nature to align with our justification.
So, in John 3, Jesus refers to those who believe versus those who don’t. Those who believe are not judged; those who do not believe are judged already (John 3:18-19). Black and white. Justified. Still, we are called to change, to mature, to become reflections of the Son. We are “being saved.” Sanctified. Ongoing. And, finally, we will arrive. We will be in His presence completed. Future tense. “Glorification” (Rom 8:30). We are all people in progress in this life. God isn’t finished with us yet. Scripture speaks of salvation in three tenses: past (justification), present (sanctification), and future (glorification).” The outcome is a given, but for now it’s a process.
3 comments:
Because of this lack of distinction some Christians have when the Bible speaks of salvation in three tenses, we end up with so much bad theology, causing people to either quite Christianity completely, or live in fear of losing their salvation for not measuring up. Praise God for His method of salvation and the many minds He has provided us to clarify our mistakes.
I well remember when Christians were sporting buttons with “PBPGINFWMY” printed on them, which stood for "Please be patient; God is not finished with me yet.” It was almost like seeing a “STUDENT DRIVER” bumper sticker on the back of a driving instructor’s car or a “TRAINEE” name tag on a store clerk. Perhaps “SAINT IN TRAINING” is apropos (thinking of “saint” in the biblical way, of course).
I am mindful that the entire contents of the New Testament are devoted to the three-stage process of Christian salvation that you describe, whether it be initial justification, ongoing sanctification, or eventual glorification; that is why Bible study is not once-and-done for the believer, since we can spend a long time in the middle stage of growing in Christlikeness and need that regular instruction and correction (Graduation Day from that “school” is a long way away!). I am also mindful that God through the Holy Spirit is the active One at work in this entire process, from beginning to end; I do not save myself or make myself holy. (I saw this recently regarding our growth in holiness: we are not sinless but should sin less.) All of this echoes Phil. 1:6: "… being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
I remember those pins. I had one myself. Basic Youth Conflicts. I've always tried to keep in mind I'm a work in progress.
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