Salvation

Lately I've been thinking about this thing called salvation. Most of the time in the evangelical world the word salvation is directly connected to the eternal dwelling in which a person will inhabit. You know, heaven or hell. But I think we lose something when we only talk about salvation in reference to our final destinations. I do think it's pretty amazing that Jesus' death on the cross gives believers eternal life in heaven. I'm not saying that should be diminished in anyway, but I am saying I don't think salvation stops there.

The more I read the Bible and study God's word, I'm convinced that salvation is not just from eternal damnation. Jesus made it clear he came to give us abundant life (John 10:10). Paul says we've been given every spiritual blessing which includes wisdom and understanding, grace, the Holy Spirit, and his power. In Galatians Paul explains that where the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control follow. While I can't imagine that any of those will be lacking in heaven, I have to believe those gifts were meant for this life--not the next.

Just as I was starting to really wrestle with this topic, it came up in our study of Romans at church. This Sunday Pastor John spoke on Romans 6:1-14. He announced the beginning of his sermon was about the three phases of salvation, and I couldn't stop the enormous grin from taking over my face. He went on to explain the three phases of salvation by defining the following words. I'll just write what he included in his outline.

• Phase One: Justification, being set free from the penalty of sin, happens the moment a person hands his or her life over to God.
• Phase Two: Sanctification, being set free from the power of sin, is the process of becoming more like Christ. This is the daily salvation I have been contemplating recently.
• Phase Three: Glorification, being set free from the presence of sin, will happen when we reach heaven some day.