"Now Is Our Salvation Nearer Than When We Believed"

Romans 13:11

 

     As we have been saved by the decree of God, the blood of Christ, and the power of his Spirit, and are being saved by his almighty grace, so we hope that we shall yet be saved. There is a sense in which our salvation is yet future.

     GOD WILL SAVE US THROUGH ALL THE DAYS OF OUR EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE (Isa. 41:10-11; 43:1-7). I do not know what troubles we may face tomorrow. But God will not forsake us now. He will finish his work in us. He who has kept us and is keeping us, will keep us still by his infallible, unfailing grace (Mal. 3:6). In the hour of temptation, God will save us. When satan assaults, God will save us. Though trials come, one upon the heels of another, God will save us.

     AT THE HOUR OF DEATH, GOD WILL SAVE US (Psa. 23:1-6). All God's saints will have dying grace in the hour of death.The swelling of Jordan should cause us no alarm. We will not have to cross over alone. He will send his angels to fetch us safely and triumphantly home (Luke 16:22).

     WE HAVE GOOD REASON TO ANTICIPATE THE COMPLETION OF OUR SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. Our salvation will not be complete until the final restoration of all things under the dominion of King Jesus. But at God's appointed time that shall come (I Cor. 15:24-25). All Christ's enemies shall lick the dust before him and acknowledge his rightful dominion. He will rid the earth of rebels against his throne, either by grace or by wrath. And sin shall be purged from God's creation. The glory of Christ shall be established everywhere and in all things. In heaven, earth, and hell everybody and everything shall glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. And we shall be conformed to the exact likeness of Christ our Savior. Then, but not till then, our salvation shall be complete (Rom. 8:17-23). God will bring our bodies into union with our souls in perfect glorification. Then we shall be saved from all sin, all the consequences of sin, and all the sorrow that follows sin. We have been saved.We are being saved. And, soon, we shall be saved!

 

Don Fortner