Salvation: A present possession and sets us free from sin's power.

 Salvation is the present possession of all born again believers. The idea here is that when you are born again you possess your salvation each moment that you still have life. Some have put it this way: Once you are saved (born again and regenerated by the Spirit of God) you are always saved.

The present tense of salvation is when we are being set free from the power of sin. This aspect of salvation involves what God is doing in our lives each day to make us more like His son, Jesus Christ. 

We are safe in our Father's hand!

John 10:27-30  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30) I and my Father are one. 

Jesus' words are very clear in this text. Salvation belongs to those who hear His voice and believe. Evidence of their faith is the action of following Christ. Jesus gives eternal life to all of His sheep, from the least to the greatest. They will never perish which means they will not be put to death.  They will not be destroyed by the evil one. 

As a point of emphasis, Jesus taught that no man can pluck His sheep out of His hand, nor can they forcibly remove them from His Father's hand. The word "pluck" is the same word translated "caught up" in the text that tells about the  Rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). 

Jesus underscored the security of all who believe on Him and who have been regenerated by God's Spirit. 

All Condemnation is removed!

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation  to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Remember, that John 3:18 tells us that the condemnation of God rests upon all who do not believe the gospel of Christ. "Condemnation" is a word that means God has judicially sentenced each unbeliever to damnation and eternal torment because they refuse to believe the good news of the gospel. 

Jesus came into the world to save the world through His death, burial and resurrection.  This is why Paul shares the glorious news that God's wrath is turned away and His condemnation is taken away from each born again believer. 

There are those who claim to be Christians but they follow fleshly lusts. They are not genuine, born again Christians because they seek the pleasures of the world, and they think, speak and act like the culture around them. 

A true believer "walks after the Spirit" of God. "Walking" in this sense refers to the pattern of  our behavior, the  way that we speak, think or act. In this case, the true believer walks after the Spirit which means that what we say, think and do is conforming to what God commands us to say, think and do in His Word.  

A no condemnation life means a life that models Christ and refuses to be squeezed into the mold of the world. A life spent loving God and loving others, serving the Lord and serving others. 

Safe & Secure now & for eternity!

Rom 8:33-39  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34) Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36) As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37) Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Paul begins this question by asking a rhetorical question "Who can accuse God's elect?" This question requires a negative answer. "No one" can accuse a born again saint in Christ of any wrongdoing because God has forgiven us, reconciled us and justified us. Our condemnation for sin was transferred to Jesus Christ when He bore the sins of all humanity on His body on the cross. 

Jesus Christ is our mighty, victorious Savior and He lives forever. His resurrection is the reason why God declares that each person who turns to Jesus in repentant faith, is righteous and innocent in His sight. The New Testament word often used to describe the believer's standing before God is "blameless" or "spotless." Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us at the throne of God in heaven. 

Therefore, because these things are true, Paul raises another rhetorical question that demands another negative reply. "Who can separate us from the love of Christ?" The answer is "No one can separate us!" 

Physical trials, political persecution, martyrdom or things within the spiritual realm, not one thing has power to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus!"

Blessings are a present possession!

Ephesians 1:3-6  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

Paul gives us more words to encourage us as we live out the gospel of Christ in our lives. God the Father has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. His purpose for each of the blessings is that they work in us to change us and make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ. His spiritual blessings are making us holy and without blame before Him!

All of the spiritual blessings given to each believer through Jesus Christ are blessings that we have right now, in real time, each day as we live. At this very moment each born again child of God is adopted into the family of God, made clean, pure and accepted to the Father because of our salvation from Jesus Christ. 

Sealed by God's Holy Spirit!

Ephesians 1:13-14  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 

The moment that we believed and trusted Christ, He sealed us with His Spirit. Right now, each born again believer is sealed by the Spirit of God. This is part of how He indwells us and how He is working in us to conform us to Christ. 

The seal of the Spirit of God upon us is God's mark of ownership. He owns us because we are bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus. It is like having a clear title to your car or the deed to you home. Such legal documents are proof of ownership. So is the seal of the Spirit of God. 

Salvation is a Grace Work of God!

Ephesians 2:4-10  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5)  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7) That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Repeatedly Paul stresses to us that salvation is by the grace of God. God loved us while we were yet in our sinful state. How could He do this? Because Jesus Christ satisfied all of the demands of the holy law of God. God is satisfied by the sinless life, substitutionary death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Thus, Paul makes it very clear that we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:5 & 8). He tells us that God is going to show each believer the richness of His grace, mercy and kindness toward us through faith in Christ. 

Salvation by grace is a present possession of each believer. It will remain ours from now and throughout all eternity. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

We have only scratched the surface of the many blessings of salvation that each believer has right now, because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is grace lavished on each one of us, mercy poured out abundantly and forgiveness whereby God removes our sins from us as far as the east is apart from the west, and He remembers them no more!

May Jesus Christ help us meditate upon the powerful realities of our salvation and may we humble ourselves before our loving God and Savior, seeking to live for Him and serve Him with all of our hearts!

Bob