Why Wait?

From Sunday school to Bible college through two seminary degrees I seem to recall being told that salvation is a process. It has a beginning point; the exact point is debated whether it’s at confession or baptism, but either will do for my point here. Suffice it to say humans are born lost and must be born again to be saved. I have been taught that salvation begins with justification, carries on through sanctification, and ends with glorification. That seems logical, and it can apparently be supported as biblical. (For another look at this idea, see “Lies We Have Been Told”)

There may be a problem with thinking of salvation as a process, however. Looking at each aspect of salvation individually, it is possible to assert that the process explanation is a crutch – a concession to our humanity that disregards the truly spiritual nature of salvation. When Jesus explained to Nicodemus how salvation was accomplished in John chapter 3, He described it as a purely spiritual operation. Jesus said one must be born “of water” and “of spirit.” Most scholars agree that “of water” refers to the physical reality of human beginnings in the amniotic waters of the womb; some argue that it refers to baptism, but either way, it is a physical, material condition.

The second birth Jesus mentioned, the “from above” birth is of the spirit. Jesus and the New Testament authors consistently use “from above” to refer to the spiritual plane. Like us, they thought of heaven as being above where the other, spiritual dimension existed. To be born again, as it is sometimes translated, is to be born of spirit. Paul’s teaching throughout his letters speaks often of believers having been once dead but now being alive. The death that was overcome in the act of salvation is a spiritual death, and the new life that results is a spiritual life. Read Paul again: life “in the spirit” is the sine qua non of saving faith. In the opposite state, in the flesh, it is impossible to please God (Romans 8:1-8)

The space-time continuum as Einstein discovered it was created by God for the benefit of His time-bound, temporal creatures. The Bible is quite clear about this when it says things like, “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.” (Eph. 1:4) There is a sense in which those who are born again are justified, sanctified and glorified before they are even born the first time. We spend our earthly existence bound by the restrictions of physical time while at the same “time” we are new creations living in spiritual “time.”

This condition is fairly easy to imagine with regard to justification because it is a one-time declaration of one’s righteousness, but it is more difficult to see how it works with sanctification and glorification. A deeper look into the meaning of each of those words may help clear it up. The New Testament word “sanctification” comes from the same Greek word often translated “holy.” To be holy means to be set apart for a particular purpose. That purpose is anchored in spiritual “time” in Romans 8:28-30 where all the verbs are in aorist tense, meaning they are actions completed in the past. Our purpose, the passage says, is to be conformed into the image of Christ.

The New Testament teaches that the way we are supposed to accomplish our conformation is to live, pray, sing and be filled in spirit (or with the Spirit). We are aided in our specific duties by the spiritual gifts each believer receives; we are sanctified, made holy, when we use the gifts we are given for the purpose God intends. This conforms us individually to the image of Christ, and it corporately forms His body, the Church into the spotless bride for whom He will one day return. Our “setting apart,” our sanctification is a done deal; we have only to get with the program and live like we know it.

Not surprisingly, this brings about our glorification as well. Again, the Greek word “glory” means, on one level, to look good. We glorify God when we make Him look good or reveal His goodness. Just as an earthly father looks like a wise, good parent when his children behave appropriately, our Heavenly Father “looks good” when His adopted children fulfill their spiritual purpose. By living “in the spirit” as we are commanded, we bring glory to God and as a result, we too are glorified.

If all this has become too academic, let me try to put it in practical terms. If we are sitting around on our justified bottoms waiting for our sanctification to become fully realized so that one day we can be glorified and complete the salvation process, we are missing the point. Every time we move in accordance with the promptings of the Holy Spirit, every time we commit an act that is empowered by our unique spiritual gift, every time we reveal the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit in our lives we demonstrate the reality of our salvation. Every believer has the potential to complete his or her salvation whenever the Spirit is allowed to take control.

Not sure if you have fully trusted Christ for your justification? Do it now. Don’t know what your unique spiritual gift is? Begin praying that God will reveal it to you and ask your fellow believers to help you. If you want to bring glory to God, you have the potential to do so this very minute. Now is the time; why wait?