Tuesday, May 29, 2018 – Eph 6:17
The Armor of God, Pt. 24,
The Helmet of Salvation, Pt. 3,
Present and Future Salvation.
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Stand in Warfare –
Eph 6:10-20.
3. The Equipment, vs. 13-17.
Vs. 17, “And take THE HELMET
OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Past, Present, and Future
Salvation, (continued).
Salvation refers to the estate of
one who has been made whole, which is both an active process and its resultant
effect, both a verb (save) and a noun (salvation). Therefore, salvation is
past, present, and future. The one who is in Christ has been saved, is being
saved, and will be saved. Salvation has reference to the believer’s past,
present, and future. The Biblical images we see for salvation describe what God
has done, is doing, and will do on behalf of men and women who suffer from the
misery, mortality, and meaninglessness of the human condition inside Satan’s
cosmic system.
a. The Past Tense: This salvation is the one you received at the
moment you believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This salvation is
the release of the guilty from the penalty of sin, which is wholly accomplished
for all in the work of Jesus Christ upon the Cross. This salvation occurs at
the time when anyone believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior, Luke 7: 50; 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15; 2 Tim
1:9. That Jesus accomplished salvation is a past fact: His death delivered
us once and for all from the penalty and power of sin, John 19:30; Rom 5:8; Titus 3:5-7; Heb 9:12. Justification,
redemption, reconciliation, etc., are faits accomplis.
b. The Present Tense, This salvation is an ongoing and
progressive present experience that differs from our past salvation or
conversion at the moment we believed in Jesus Christ. Those who have died with
Jesus have also been raised with Him, and so share his life and his Spirit. The
believer’s walk in salvation is living the life of being saved; living the life
of salvation.
That is why Christians are
sometimes described in the NT as “those who are being saved,” Acts 2:47; 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15. This
means that their “past salvation” has released them from the power of sin, and
salvation is being accomplished now in those who exercise faith, John 17:17; Rom 6:14; 8:2; Gal 5:16; Phil
2:12-13.
We have been freed from sin and
the hold of Satan over us from the moment we believed that Jesus was our
Savior. Now, we need to walk in that freedom. Not a freedom to sin, but a
freedom not to sin. Yet, our present salvation is much more than not sinning,
although without that we would not be able to have a present salvation. Freedom
from sinning means freedom to know and walk with God presently! It means to
live by His great plan and desire for your life. To walk in our present
salvation is to glorify Him, as we keep His mandates for our lives out of love
for Him, as we love and serve one another, Rom
6:5-14; 1 John 2:1-6; 5:1-5, 12-13; 1 Peter 2:2.
2 Cor 2:15, “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among
those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”
1 John 5:12, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does
not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
1 Peter 2:2, “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk
of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
The “present tense” Salvation is
the message of Titus 2:11-14.
Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation to all men, 12instructing us to deny ungodliness and
worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our
great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; 14who gave Himself for us, in
order that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a
people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
c. The Future Tense, This is the second commonly thought about
aspect of salvation; our translation to eternal glory. This future salvation
releases the believer from the very presence of sin when he is translated to
heaven upon his death or the Rapture of the Church, Rom 13:11; Eph 2:5-7; Phil 1:6; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 3:1-2.
Rom 13:11, “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already
the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than
when we believed.”
1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to
obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade
away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power
of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The full meaning of salvation will
be known to us only at the last day, when the renewing process is complete and
God throws off this body of sin we are currently living in and He provides a
new, eternal, resurrection body of perfection, 1 Cor 15:20-58; Phil 1:6.
Phil 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He
who began a good work in you (Past) will perfect it (Present) until the day of Christ Jesus (Future).”
Both the OT and the NT express
hope for a new heaven, a new earth, and a New Jerusalem, Isa 65:17-25; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev 21:1-4. The prophets anticipate a
second exodus which will bring about a greater deliverance than that from Egypt
and usher in the kingdom of God, Isa
51:9-11; Hosea 2:16-23. The NT envisioned a second coming of Christ, Heb 9:28; Rev 22.
Heb 9:28, “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear
the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to
sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
Therefore, salvation is also a
future hope that one will be spared from the Divine wrath, 1 Thes 5:8-9; cf. Rom 5:9-10.
1 Thes 5:8-11, “But since we are of the day, let us be sober,
having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of
salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that
whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.”
Rom 5:9-11, “Much more then, having now been justified by
His blood, (Present Tense Salvation), we shall be saved from the wrath of God
through Him, (Future Tense Salvation). 10For if while we were enemies
we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, (Past Tense Salvation), we shall be saved by His life, (Future Tense
Salvation). 11And not only this, but we also exult in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Present Tense Salvation), through whom we have now received
the reconciliation, (Present Tense Salvation).”
The eternal life associated with
the kingdom of God is simultaneously present in Christ and future with regard
to its glorious manifestation, John
3:16; 5:25; 11:25-26; 14:18-20; 17:24-26. The full privileges that belong
to God’s adopted children, the inheritance guaranteed by one’s possession of
the Holy Spirit, is “reserved in heaven
for you,” 1 Peter 1:4-5; v Eph
1:13-14.
1 Peter 1:4-5, “To obtain an inheritance which is
imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who
are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time.”
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