Are Being Saved?

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.

1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV

Salvation is like a car

The doctrine of salvation is like a car. Describing an automobile is very simple. It is a type of vehicle designed to move over the ground on wheels under its own stored power (engine and transmission) and intended to carry a driver, a small number of additional passengers, and a very limited amount of other load from point A to point B. Nevertheless, it is also complex because it takes many moving parts and design behind that in order to make that happen. The wheels that it rides on, the steering system that makes it turn, the engine that provides power, transmission that makes it go, among so much more. It takes chemists, engineers, mechanics, technicians, materials, and even those who mine and drill for metal and ore even go into this process. When you think about all the work, man hours, and people that go behind creating one, it is truly an amazing and glorious thing. The same goes for salvation.

Salvation is simple. According to the Christian Defense Manual, “Salvation is the ‘saving’ of a sinner from the righteous judgment of God. When someone appeals to God and seeks forgiveness in Jesus, his sins are forgiven. He is cleansed. His relationship with God is restored, and he is made a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). All of this is the work of God, not man. Salvation is a free gift (Rom. 6:23).”¹ It is by which people can go from this life to eternal life to be with God the Father for all eternity. Without salvation, man is destined to go to hell and be separated from Him forever. Even though salvation is simple, it is equally complex because there are many moving parts in the form of Soteriology: the doctrine of salvation. Its moving parts are substitution, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, forgiveness, and justification. Leave it to humans to further complicate it with limited and unlimited atonement, common and efficacious grace, and so much more buried underneath the water of that iceberg. So, because of the limited time, many of these aspects of salvation may not be articulated in this article.

Are…being…saved…

Are…being…saved. This is where the past and the present collide in the same sentence. When you read it out loud, it almost sounds childish in a way.

• Are: Present tense
• Being: Continuous action
• Saved: Past tense

The apostle Paul wrote this verse for a simple reason that teaches us a valuable lesson most churches do not teach: that salvation is not a one-time event but an ongoing process.

Justified

When we first believe in Jesus, we are justified before God and saved from the penalty of sin. It is a gift given through the grace of God through faith in Christ (Rom. 3:24) and takes place the moment the individual has faith in Christ (Rom 4:2; 5:1). Here, God looks at us as though we never sinned. He looks at us as righteous, holy, and pure; just like His Son, because of the blood of Christ and His atoning work on the cross (Rom 5:9) apart from works (Rom 4:5).

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1-2 NKJV

This is past tense. Justification is in the past. Throughout the New Testament, justified appears only in the past in a believer’s life.

Sanctification

Even though we are justified, our salvation is not thoroughly complete until we are sanctified and glorified.

Sanctification is the ongoing process of being transformed from the power of sin into the image of Christ and becoming more holy. We are not yet perfect because we struggle with sin, temptation, and walk around in these imperfect bodies. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in each and every Christian, we are being saved from the power of sin in our lives. Here, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which we received (Ephesians 4:1-3). We should live as instruments of righteousness because we have been bought with the price of His Son (Romans 6:11-14; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:23). Each of the apostle Paul’s Epistles follow a pattern: the first half is teaching/doctrine, but the second half is practical application. That is where our sanctification comes into play. 

Glorification

Finally, when we die and are stripped away from our sinful bodies, we will be saved from the presence of sin forever when we are glorified. When this happens, Christians will receive a new body and will never again experience temptation and sin again. We see this in Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27. 

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” … But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27 NKJV

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” According to GotQuestions.org, saved in this context does not mean saved from persecution or death, but to those who endure the persecution and death will be saved and ushered into eternal life.

Therefore, salvation has three aspects: 

1. Past: We have been saved from the penalty of sin. We have been justified. 
2. Present: We are being saved from the power of sin. We are being sanctified. 
3. Future: We will be saved from the presence of sin. We will be glorified. 

This is why when sharing our faith to someone and they receive Christ, we shouldn’t say, “Welcome to the family!” If we do, we run the risk of saying to that person they have achieved their goal before it even started. We won’t know until Jesus says, “Well done good and faithful servant…enter the joy of the Lord.” (Matthew 25:21, 23). Pastors, like Greg Laurie, do a disservice to new Christians and proclaim them into the kingdom by use of a sinner’s prayer (https://www.gotquestions.org/sinners-prayer.html). Only God can declare that. He knows all things: He knows our thoughts, intentions, motives, desires, and when we are alone — people cannot. Their walk is just starting — not ending. 

Now, when a person is truly born-again, they are justified and cannot lose their salvation. But we don’t really know who will until the end. Only time will tell through their actions, obedience to God, and the good fruit their lives produce. Throughout the book of 1 John, John lists many questions of our faith and shows us what it really means to be saved and born again.

Jesus wants disciples, not converts

Jesus never intended us to just make converts and secure people into heaven without their lives being changed one ounce. Salvation is not a one-and-done; for Jesus said:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

If you are justified by the blood of Christ, your new life in Christ has just started. Picture a man drowning in the sea. A ship comes along and saves him. Imagine when they brought him aboard that not only saved his life, but they made him part of the family. They made him part of the crew! There is work to be done for His Kingdom, not to be saved (because we already are) but out of thankfulness to Him. We are to make disciples and followers of Christ. To be His hands and feet, examples of the those who should follow Him. Attend a good, solid, Bible-believing and teaching church. Seek out a more mature believer of the same gender as yourself and be discipled. Learn how to share your faith to the world and multiply like crazy. Read the Bible faithfully, believing what it says and living it out for His glory.

1. Slick M. Div., Matt. Christian Defense Manual. http://www.CARM.org, 2008. pg11. ↩︎