04 Oct Salvation: Past, Present and Future, Part I

Have you found salvation? When someone asks you that, they are usually asking if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Have you allowed Christ into your life? Yes, that is being saved, but salvation is much more than that. Did you know there are three tenses of salvation? They are Salvation Past, Present, and Future. Over the next three weeks, let’s examine each tense. Let’s begin today with Salvation Past:

I HAVE BEEN SAVED — FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN

Justification — Salvation’s Past Tense. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, God declares us righteous because of Christ’s finished work. Justified, just as if it never happened. Others may try to condemn us for our past (as someone recently did to me), but those of us who are in Christ never need fear condemnation:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

Never let anyone put on you the chains of condemnation, guilt, shame and regret that Jesus has removed from you.

And your freedom was absolutely free! There was nothing you had to do to receive it. You did not have to earn it!

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV) 

We don’t have to do anything to earn it, there is nothing we can do to lose it, and we can never be condemned.

The Point:

I don’t have to earn my salvation. I don’t have to make myself good enough for God. Jesus paid the penalty I could never pay. My salvation begins with what Christ has already done.

I HAVE BEEN SAVED. Saved from the penalty of sin.  No wonder Contemporary Christian Group “Mercy Me” sings: “The Good News is the best news ever!

Next Week:

I AM BEING SAVED — FROM THE POWER OF SIN: Sanctification — Salvation’s Present Tense

Pastor Jerry Bader