Salvation is Past, Present, and Future

My Old Testament professor said something profound that I still remember two and half years later.

He said that we were saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Theses three stages of salvation are past, present, and future.

A person who has received saving faith is one who:

• Has trusted in Jesus death on the cross and resurrection as the means of our eternal salvation (justification)
• Is trusting in Jesus to save us from the bondages of sin that we still find ourselves in right now (sanctification)
• And continues to trust that Jesus will come back someday to fully save us from our decaying bodies and broken world by restoring and renewing everything (glorification)
  

Why is this important?

Many Christians are trusting in the past and future saving acts but not the present one. That is why you will find many Christians still addicted to pornography, stuck in broken marriages, or living anxiously from day to day.

They go in and out of church every Sunday, thinking about how their neighbors need to be saved (justified) and that their world needs to be saved (glorified), without taking a second to think about the ways in which Jesus wants to save (sanctify) them of the broken areas of their lives right now.

I am guilty myself of thinking a lot about how God wants to change other people and change the world without giving much thought to how God wants to change my life.

Justification is the starting line, not the finish line, for sanctification.

Finding the Narrow Path: Part 2

NARROW IS RISKY

Venturing onto the narrow path is risky business. Since most people will continue to walk in the other direction, leaving this big path means that you will be leaving a lot behind. In some cases, you’ll be leaving your entire family behind. In other cases, it is leaving your material possessions, your friends, your false beliefs, your comfort, your ability to be cool. This is all done with the kind of faith that says that the narrow path will eventually lead to bigger and better things.

Here are some ways to help you measure whether or not you’ve actually left the wide road and entered onto the narrow risky road of faith:

1) What comes out your mouth? Is it the same type of things that come out of everybody else’s mouth? Slander, gossip, complaining, etc.?

2) Do you know God? Not, do you know about God. But do you know who he is, what he wants, what he likes/dislikes? Are you merely hearing God through other people, or are you hearing from him yourself?

3) What do you give your money to? Jesus says that where your money is, that is where your heart is also. I’m not talking about just giving money to your pastor. What about the injustices in your city or in the world? Paying a pastor or missionary is great, but is that all God cares about?

If you are a little nervous after reading this short list, then you might be tempted to go out and do these things. But, I have bad news. The list is much longer than this. Trying to complete the checklist is a futile pursuit.

The goal isn’t to go out and do more things for God, it is to become the type of person who desires to do these things.

And that desire can only come from God.

People on the narrow path aren’t the ones with the biggest resumes, but they are the ones who know God intimately, not intellectually - and their lives bear much fruit because of it.

They fully realize what God has done for them in Christ and therefore have unlimited access to resurrection power - the only power that will bear spiritual fruit.