THE THREE TENSES OF SALVATION

1. PAST TENSE – I have received JESUS AS SAVIOR

“I have been saved from the penalty of sin”
Justification – Free Gift This is past tense salvation – It is positional salvation and carries a divine, eternal, guarantee to the one who simply believes in Jesus as the Christ. (John 1:12, 3:16, 5:24, 6:40, Eph. 2:8-9). This is based in evangelism. To receive Jesus as Savior is a free gift and cost the believer absolutely nothing. It is a one time, single event. It happens at a point in time with results that goes on forever. Once justified, always justified. It is “by grace through faith, not of works”. It is faith alone in Jesus alone. It is a judicial act, a one time event, by which God the Father declares the new believer “not guilty” and imputes to the believer the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). In this phase of salvation (justification) one can't help but be filled with the fullness of God when we comprehend how much God loved us and the extent (the width and length and depth and height) to which He went to express His love for us (Eph. 3:18). Under the category of justification, God has made us a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) and blessed us with “every spiritual blessing” (Eph 1:3) which will be discussed later under the “forty things” God did for us when he saved us. Included within those blessings are two commissions, 1) a Priest and 2) an Ambassador.

2. PRESENT TENSE – I acknowledged JESUS AS LORD

“I am being saved from the power of sin”
Sanctification – Process This is present tense salvation. It is properly referred to as experiential salvation (Matt.16:24-26, Rom. 13:11, 2 Cor. 1:6-7, Phil. 2:12-13, James 1:21) This is based in discipleship. All disciples are believers, but not all believers are disciples. To acknowledge Jesus as Lord cost the believer everything (Luke 14:33). This salvation is not a one time event but rather it is an ongoing, lifetime, process which has its ups and downs. For the one who has acknowledged Jesus as Lord and then sins, he does not lose salvation but rather breaks fellowship with God and risk losing “blessings” in time and “eternal rewards” in the future (James 1:25, 2 Cor. 5:10). “Confession of Sin” restores the believer to fellowship (1 John. 1:9). The believer's response to divinely provided justification (Eph. 2:8-9) “should be” (not necessarily “will be”) good works (Eph. 2:10). If the believer fails to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and/or remains out of fellowship, he lives in perpetual carnality and is not being saved from the power of sin. Experiential Sanctification is not automatic. It is not guaranteed by God. Notice that sanctification is missing from among the five links listed in the “Golden Chain” as presented in Romans 8:29-30, because, experiential sanctification (being saved from the power of sin) requires our participation “...work out your own salvation...” (Phil. 2:12). The five links represent the sum-total of God's guarantee to the believer but does not include sanctification. Leaving this word out was not a divine oversight or mistake. The five links are God's work, sanctification depends on our work, our participation. Justification emphasizes God's love for us. In Sanctification we are to demonstrate our love for God by loving our fellow believers (1 John 4:20-21). In Sanctification, God has only two expectations of us: 1) faithfulness, and 2) fruitfulness. You cannot accomplish this in your own strength. It can only be done by the filling of the Spirit. But, we do have a responsibility to have a positive attitude toward God’s will for our life and Peter says in 2 Pet.1:1-11 that we are to ‘apply all diligence’ in pursuit of holiness (sanctification).

3. FUTURE TENSE – I will, in the Kingdom, serve JESUS AS KING

“I will be saved from the presence of sin”
Glorification – Evaluation This is future tense salvation and carries a divine guarantee (Rom. 8:29-30, Phil. 3:20-2, Col. 1:5). It is here the believer receives a glorified body exactly like that of Jesus Christ. The glorified believer will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, not to determine his salvation, but rather to receive rewards for his good works of faithfulness and fruitfulness. All believers will enter the kingdom, but only believers who have been faithful and fruitful will reign with Christ in His earthly kingdom (Rom. 6:8, 8:17b, 1 Cor. 3:14-15, 2 Cor. 5:10, Col. 3:23-25, 2 Tim. 2:12a). It has been said that the apostle Paul had only two days on his calendar --1. Today, 2. That Day -- meaning that we should diligently use today to prepare for the day of the judgment seat of Christ. Here's a sampling of Paul's references to “that day”: (Rom. 2:16, 13:12, 14:10, 1 Cor. 1:8, 3:13, 5:5, 2 Cor. 1:14, 5:10, Eph. 4:30, Phil. 1:6, 1:10, 2:16, 1 Thess. 5:2, 5:4, 2 Thess. 1:10, 2 Tim.1:12, 2:12, 4:1, 4:8, Heb.10:25). The apostle John warns that some believers will be ashamed on “that day” (1 John 2:28). A person who abides in love and has the love of Christ perfected in him will have confidence at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 John 4:17-19).