When I was a kid, around ten years old, my mom took me to a big revival meeting in some large municipal auditorium in our city. I forget who was going to preach, and it really doesn’t matter to my story, but it was crowded in there. I was a painfully shy kid, so large crowds were not my thing. Talking to adults that I didn’t know struck fear in my heart. But Mom had sent me ahead to find seats for us while she talked with someone before the meeting started. I approached a few seats that had no one in them, but there was a man sitting in the end of the row so I figured I should ask if there was room for me and my mother.
I approached this man and asked, “Excuse me, Sir. Are these seats saved?”
He turned kinda slowly and stared me down and answered in this ominous voice, “That doesn’t matter, son! The question is, ‘Are YOU saved?’”
I ran back to my mom.
All creepiness aside, that is the question. Am I saved? But too often in church, we treat it as the only question. For some, it’s the only question that matters. You’re saved? You’re good! My increasing concern is that not only is that one question inadequate, but it teaches a partial or incomplete definition of salvation. It packages the gospel too tightly and narrows it down to a single decision, a transaction, and a heavenly destination, a point in time that almost disregards spiritual growth as unnecessary.
“Discipleship? Sounds like works-based salvation.”
“Obedience? Sounds like legalism.”
Following Jesus sounds like something reserved for Christians who are overly committed and don’t have much else on their calendar.
“Following Jesus sounds like something reserved for Christians who are overly committed and don’t have much else on their calendar.”
But a deeper dive into Scripture reveals a gospel that is much more than forgiveness of sins and a ticket to Heaven. And salvation isn’t just an event—it’s a process that will someday be fully realized. Another Bible word for this process is “sanctification,” or “being made holy” (although the word can sometimes describe a past event as in 1 Corinthians 6:11). But we often don’t see it as salvation because we’re so convinced that salvation only happens once at a certain point in time.
In my Sunday School class, we’re walking through 1 Peter. In the first chapter, salvation shows up a number of times, but it’s always referred to as something to be revealed—something in the future. So, it’s been helpful for us to talk about what some have called the “3 Tenses of Salvation.”
As many Bible teachers have helpfully pointed out, the scriptures speak of being saved in three tenses and senses. In one place, the scriptures say that we “have been saved” (past). In another place they say that we “are being saved” (present). In yet another place they say that we “shall be saved” (future).
All these statements are true. An understanding of how we are saved in three senses and tenses helps to avoid wrong ideas about salvation, while helping us gain a true assurance of salvation.
Our Past Salvation: We Have Been Saved (2 Timothy 1:9)
There is a sense in which God has already saved each and every Christian. In this sense, salvation is equated with the forgiveness of sins and baptism.
- Ananias said to Paul, “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away” (Acts 22:16, NIV). So Paul, as soon as he obeyed, had his sins washed away. He was saved.
- Paul said to the Corinthians, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified…” (1 Corinthians 6:11, NIV).
- Paul says of God our Savior, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5, NIV). Again, that’s past tense.
- A little earlier in Titus, Paul says, “The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11, NIV).
“Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away.”
Our Present Salvation: We Are Being Saved (1 Corinthians 1:18)
There is a sense in which God is still saving each and every Christian. In this sense salvation is equated with the Christian’s growth, discipleship, and endurance/perseverance.
- Paul spoke to the Corinthians of “those who are being saved” (2 Corinthians 2:15, NIV). Here, we do not have past tense. We have the word “saved” used in a present and ongoing sense.
- Paul tells the Philippians, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you…” (Philippians 2:12-13, NIV). Here we see salvation presented as something being worked for by us in synergy with God. It is not all over and done with.
- Note the implication of this question, “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3, NIV).
- Also, “make every effort to confirm your calling and election sure…” (2 Peter 1:10, NIV).
- John says that “the blood of Christ purifies us…” (1 John 1:7, NIV). Past sins were forgiven when we became Christians, but further sins since then need to be forgiven too. Forgiveness and salvation continue as we walk in the light.
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you.”
Our Promised Salvation: We Shall Be Saved (Romans 5:9-10)
There is a sense in which salvation is a future event. In this sense salvation is equated with the second coming of Christ.
- “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9, NIV).
- “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:9-10, NIV). Paul twice says, “We shall be saved…”
- Also, “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11, NIV).
- The Holy Spirit is given “as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession…” (Ephesians 1:14, NIV). Here redemption and the eternal inheritance is something in view, something yet future.
- Paul speaks of “the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8, NIV). A hope of salvation implies a future salvation. If our salvation were altogether finished, then we would have no need any more to hold it as our hope.
“Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
For the Christian, we need to have a wider, more holistic view of God’s work to save us—and of our participation in that work, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and minds to more reflect the person and character of Christ. This does not say that our activity in any way earns us salvation—it is by grace we have been saved through faith. This is not from ourselves, lest anyone boast (see Ephesians 2:8-9).
But Paul also tells us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13, NIV).
As Bonhoeffer said, “Only the believer obeys; and only the obedient believe.”
Salvation is not just a one-and-done event any more than a wedding is just a party for one day. It signifies an ongoing covenant relationship totally dependent on God, but invites and compels our ongoing attention, surrender, love, and obedience.
