Salvation - 4.29.09 1045 (part 3)

But what is salvation anyway? This is what i can gather so far. It is a restored relationship with God. What was broken before is now fixed. There is a big emphasis on the fact that something that was once dead has been revived, resurrected, brought back to life. Because it has been restored, God also dwells in you. We have a fuller and a more untainted access to his guidance and influence and discernment. You have eternal life that is sustained by God, not inherent in yourself. God is the life-giver. Salvation also means freedom from bondage/slavery to sin. We are no longer obligated to follow those desires. When we do, it's because we let it, where as before, without God's restored indwelling, we were obligated to follow it. With salvation comes God's righteousness. But salvation and righteousness are distinct from each other. There were righteous people before Christ's coming, but there weren't saved people.

One of the most interesting parts about salvation is how it's talked about in the New Testament; it's timeless. It is a past, completed action. "I was saved three years ago." But it's also a continuous action in the present. "I am being saved" or "I'm in the process of being renewed." There's this whole idea surrounding salvation that we are to "work it out" and that we are being "conformed to his image." These are actions happening right now that are in motion towards a goal; Christlikeness. And then there is the future hope of salvation, this idea that it hasn't happened yet - at least not in all it's fullness - but that it will. In fact, it is a "sure hope," in the sense that we can have absolute confidence in it's completion. Salvation has a much more, well, Hebraic sense to it where it's not spoken of completely in a "past/present/future" tense, but a timeless understanding of whether it's a completed or "perfect" tense (in grammar-like terms). That's why Paul, who is fundamentally Hebrew in his thinking, can talk about it as a finished action, whether he's referring to it in past, present or future. It has happened, is happening, and most assuredly will completely happen without fail.