"Now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed."
"And that, knowing the time, that
now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for 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 (Ps. 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). Indeed, for the believer,
it truly is not death to die. Our Savior says, “He that liveth and believeth
on me shall never die.”
Are we children of God? Have we been born again by God’s almighty
grace? Is Christ made of God unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and
Sanctification, and Redemption? If so, 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 (1 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 all 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. All who are
saved by grace are saved forever!
AMEN.