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Three Stages of Salvation

This is a little introduction to a topic that has been heavy on my heart. The subject is why we, as Christians, don't always act or say what we should or shouldn't. Let's start at the beginning and understand what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ, and one does that by trusting Him completely for salvation. As one complete book, the Bible lays out man's sinfulness and the need to have sin forgiven so man could have eternal life with God. That forgiveness comes from accepting what Jesus did by dying on the cross, and he suffered the consequences of our sin. If that is true in your life, why do you sometimes live in a way that dishonors Him?

Let’s approach this by discussing what we might call the three stages of salvation. The first one is called Justification. That is when the decision is made. I am a sinner, and because of that, I am lost. I need help. This is the starting point when we realize that no matter how hard I try, I will never please God in and of myself. Now I understand I need God, and He met the need through Jesus Christ. By faith, I believe that Jesus died for me, and by accepting this, my sin is forgiven, and I am saved. I have been justified with God through Jesus Christ. "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1). I have been made just in the eyes of God because I stand in Christ who is just. It's not me but Him. I am saved from my sins.

What does that mean going forward? Do I just keep living like I always have, or does it mean I have to change and be different? We enter a new stage in our salvation that is called Sanctification. Contemporary author and pastor, Max Lucado said it like this. "God loves you just the ways you are but He is not willing to leave you that way." God gives you His Holy Spirit to do many things, but more significantly, to help us change to be more like Jesus. A big part of the New Testament epistles tells us the things that we now should do and the things that we shouldn't do. There are both lists with encouragement and instruction to do what we should. We don’t even have to guess. It is spelled out for us. I intend to delve into this more in the future.

The last stage, which is still the future, is Glorification. That’s the one we are waiting for when we will be changed. “It has not appeared as yet what we shall be, but we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”(I John 3:2). We will have new eternal bodies, made to spend eternity with God. No more pain, sorrow, death, or sin.

It's all a part of the salvation experience and must start with "justification ." The other two are meaningless unless one has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ. In future columns, I intend to talk more about Sanctification, God's desire to change us.

Pastor Lynn Rettig

Musselshell Community Bible Church