The Three Salvations

(I expand on these thoughts in the Post titled "Sanctification, the Middle Stage of Salvation". That Post will make more sense if you read this Post first.)

I'd like to say that Faith and Trust are two sides of the same coin, but there's really far more to it than that. When done right, both Faith and Trust lead to a full dependency upon God's provision and redemption. What He does for us is so overwhelming and immeasurable that I'm likely to understate it no matter how I try not to.

For now, though, I'm leaning towards saying that Faith and Trust are two facets of a many-faceted diamond. In my metaphor, the diamond represents a person's fully reconciled and restored relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That person is now free from God's wrath and ultimate judgement upon all that is unholy, unclean, and incompatible with His essence. A good Bible word that sums up that fully reconciled and restored relationship is "Salvation": Saved from myself, saved from His wrath, saved for His heart's delight.

(There is another category of faith that I will refer to as "Special Faith." I'll write about that another time. In this Post, I'm talking about Saving Faith.)

Salvation comes in three parts: you were saved, you are being saved, and you shall be saved. Here's what I mean.

Part 1: You Were Saved.
The moment you came came to repentance, putting your trust and faith in Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection and surrendered to His Lordship in your life, you were forgiven, Born Again, and adopted into His eternal family. At that moment, the Salvation process shifted fully into gear. If you had died in the following minute, like the thief on the cross, you would have gone to spend eternity with Jesus.

Part 2: You Are Being Saved.
For as long as you remain alive here, God is working on you to transform you. For all of your days here, He will work on all of you: your desires, your attitudes, your actions...the very way you do life and your relationship with Him. The Bible word for this is "sanctification". This is the middle part of Salvation, the part you are going through now. This is the part of Salvation described in Phillippians 2:12-13: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

Part 3: You Shall Be Saved.
Finally, Salvation will be complete when your physical body is resurrected as an imperishable, eternal body. This will occur at the same time for all of those who once were separated from God but are now justified in Jesus. "Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." (Romans 8:23) 

These three parts of salvation are summed up in 1 Corinthians 1:30: "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—". Righteousness became yours at the moment you were born again; sanctification is what you're experiencing now; the redemption of your body will occur at the resurrection.

Some references to Salvation are best understood when you can see which one of these three stages is being talked about. There are passage, though, where "Save Me!" refers to a present situation that's gone horribly wrong. Think of Peter as he tried to walk on water: But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" (Matthew 14:30).

I pray that understanding the three stages of salvation helps you in your walk on that upward path. Now go read the Post titled "Sanctification, the Middle Stage of Salvation".  Bless you!