In Three Tenses

Salvation is to be experienced by us in three tenses- past, present and future. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. Now we must be saved from the power of sin. Then finally, we will be saved from the very presence of sin.

It is a good saying that half-truth is even more dangerous than a lie. A lie we can detect at some point of time in the future. But if we believe a half truth, there is a possibility that we would never come to the full truth.

Gospel is the gospel of God. It doesn’t need any human touch on it. It is the most powerful message in the universe. None can remain the same if he encounters the gospel of Jesus Christ. If a 100kg concrete block falls on you, you will never be the same. You cannot say, nothing happened to me. Gospel is heavier than the heaviest substance in the whole universe!

Apostle Paul says in Romans 1, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16)

Then why don’t we value it sufficiently? Why? The answer is ‘we haven’t paid for it’. Someone else paid for it. If we don’t understand the price paid for the gospel and the salvation- we won’t value it at all. Salvation is the most important subject in the history of human race. The only subject that has shaken the angels of heaven in amazement. This is our spiritual destiny. We must make sure we are on the list. The word ‘salvation’ is defined as ‘the act of being delivered, redeemed, or rescued from destruction and peril, including restoration to a state of safety’.

Only those who recognise that they are sick will go to a doctor. Only a sinner needs salvation. Our first need is to admit that we are born sinners (Romans 3:10-12). Whatever our religion may be, we are all sinners. We have sinned against God’s holy laws, in thought, word, attitude, deeds and motives. Sin is more dangerous to our soul than sickness to our body.

God’s desire for us is our sanctification in all levels. Our spirit, soul and body must be kept pure (1 Thessalonians 5:23). When a person is born again, his spirit is born again. The last stage in the life of a believer is the redemption of his body. As we grow in our spiritual life, the life we have received in the spirit should pass on to our soul and gradually to the body. Our conversion in the spirit will become evident through our soul and body.

Man is hopelessly LOST. Romans 3:23 says, “No difference, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Men are evil, ungodly and full of sins. If the secret motives and thoughts that pass through the mind is exposed, even a so called ‘holy man’ cannot stand with it before the public. Because heaven cannot tolerate sin, even one sin can send us to hell. If God wants to make some of these evil men His children, He must do something. They must be pardoned. But a righteous God cannot pardon a criminal as it is something like a judge releasing a proven criminal to be free without punishment. So, the solution is ‘death of the wicked or substitution for the wicked’. God became a man. He was truly man and truly God (Colossians 2:9). On the cross, He carried the sins of His people. The perfect justice of Holy God that should have been poured out on the heads of the people and all the fierce wrath, anger and hatred of the holy God against the evil that should be poured out on the wicked men were poured out on the Son of Man, Jesus! (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The punishment for sin is spiritual death- which means to be cut off from God’s presence for ever. That’s what hell is, the place forsaken by God. That is what Jesus Christ experienced on the cross for us. He was forsaken by His father (Matthew 27:46). It was God’s great public declaration and vindication of the Son to the universe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ and only saviour and what He did on the cross was the act of Salvation! (Acts 4:12). The Bible says, God commands everyone to repent and believe in His son for salvation (Acts 17:30).

Salvation would involve more than forgiveness. It would involve His pulling me out of the pit that I have fallen into. God forgave our sins, that by itself would be wonderful news. But the good news of the gospel is that Christ has not only forgiven our sins but saves us from the power of sin as well. Salvation is to be experienced by us in three tenses- past, present and future. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. Now we must be saved from the power of sin. Then finally, we will be saved from the very presence of sin, when we meet with the Lord (1 John 3:2-3).

Let us understand these three aspects of Salvation

1) Saved from the penalty on sin (JUSTIFICATION)

This is clearing off our past guilt by freeing us from the penalty of the past. Declaring us to be righteous. Court of God’s Law declares us to be guiltless. Salvation is a supernatural work of God. We read in 1 John 4, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). We read in gospel of John, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18). Now, we read in Romans 8, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death”. (Romans 8:1-2).

2) Being saved from the power of sin (SANCTIFICATION)

Sanctification is the continuous work of God in the life of a believer in making him or her holy. It’s done through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are expected to grow every moment. It is something like student in the school. He is expected to be promoted to the next class every year. No student would sit in the same class for ever. He is progressing. Some students progress fast someone slow. It depends how seriously you take the lessons. Your growth is not measured by the Bible knowledge. It can be measured by one thing- how far you are being saved from the power of sin. How do we know a child is growing- the frequency of falling reduces slowly and comes to a day he doesn’t fall. If you are falling in sin, even after being a believer for many years, don’t get discouraged. But take it seriously, your falling will be reduced and one day, you will never fall!

We are called to be holy. There are many verses, in fact, commandments in the Bible to examine ourselves every day before God. We are called to follow a different lifestyle from the rest of this world (2 Corinthians 6:17-18). We have been predestined to be conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). We have been called to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates our spirit, soul and body, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1). Bible says, those who are waiting for the return of the Lord must purify themselves, just as our Lord is pure (1 John 3:3).

3) Will be saved from the presence of sin (GLORIFICATION)

This happens at the return of our Lord. This refers particularly to the time when those who died in Christ and the living believers will be given resurrection bodies, a final and full redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). Bible says, we shall be like Him when He shall appear (1 John 3:2). This verse tells me that when Christ comes back, I will be saved from even the very presence of sins.

All the decisions that we take in life, produce consequences. We all have to reap what we sow. And many times, even our children have to reap the bitter fruit of what we sow. We should not imagine therefore that the little choices we make today are unimportant. God allows us to be tested and to be tempted through various people and various circumstances, so that we might prove to Him that we really want God more than anything on earth. It is when we refuse to yield to temptation in our minds that we develop character. I am what I am today because of the choices that I have made in my life thus far.

We need to trust in God’s power, ask for God’s grace to overcome temptations in our life. God alone can save us from our sins.

We are encouraged to meditate on this beautiful promise in 1 Thessalonians 5, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

By Pastor Renji George

Scriptures: 1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:2-3, 1 John 3:3, 1 John 4, 1 John 4:10, 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 2 Corinthians 6:17-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Acts 17:30, Acts 4:12, Colossians 2:9, John 3:16-18, Matthew 27:46, Romans 1, Romans 1:16, Romans 3:10-12, Romans 3:23, Romans 8, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 8:23, Romans 8:29

Sermon Topics: Salvation, Justification, Sanctification, Glorification, Assurance Of Salvation, Justice Of God