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UNDERSTANDING OUR SALVATION·- Ray E Horton
Many Christians are taught that salvation is a process and not a one-time event, and, scripturally, in one way they are right, but in the most significant way, they are wrong.
Being Born Again is a one-time event. We are “saved.” Yet, by faith, and in the power if the Holy Spirit, we work out that salvation in our daily lives as we grow and mature. It is the overflow of God’s grace, which we continue to experience by faith. It is the fruit of our salvation. It is not works to maintain our relationship with God, but the loving response of Him working in and through us.
The confusion lies in the lack of understanding of our tripartite being, which, according to scripture, is spirit, soul, and body. This is essential truth that needs to be taught more. I AM a spirit (my identity, made in God’s image and likeness), I have a soul (mind, will, emotions) and I live in a body.
Our Tripartite Being
I AM a spirit (my identity, made in God’s image and likeness), I have a soul (mind, will, emotions) and I live in a body
It is my spirit, the inner man, that is saved instantly when I put my trust in Jesus and become a new creation with a new heart. The old man dies, and we receive the gift of Christ’s righteousness, putting us in right standing with God.
Not so the soul, the part we are in most touch with, our thought life and attitudes and feelings, etc. For the soul, salvation is a process as we look into the mirror of God’s Word with unveiled faces and see His glory that has been placed within us and are gradually transformed from glory to glory. That process is lifelong and only takes place effectively as we become aware of our perfected spirit and who we have become in Christ. Then, one day, when we graduate, even our bodies will be glorified, the future salvation.
This is the way we have been saved already, the instant event of being Born Again, yet are currently in the process of being saved, working it out to our minds, wills, and emotions, and will in the future see the fullness of our salvation when we go home. Meanwhile, we have an earnest of that full salvation, having been sealed by the Holy Spirit, through which we can be healed and participate in the supernatural in the here and now.
It is Good News
Understanding this takes off the pressure and allows the joy of our salvation to flow. As Born-Again believers, you and I are no longer working to make it to heaven. I have already arrived at eternal life in Christ Jesus, I am seated with Him in heavenly places, He abides in me, and in my intimate relationship with Him I hear His voice, and He leads me, guides me, and directs me to “all things I need for life and godliness,” the resources He has placed within us by the Holy Spirit.
While I only alluded to scriptures and didn’t quote them, I will be glad to back up any of these truths upon request.
And now, “May the very God of peace sanctify you completely. And I pray to God that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23).
