Jesus’ resurrection shot through the wall like a bullet, creating a hole through which “end time” realities such as resurrection life and power, the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God, and new creation itself began to pour through into this present evil age characterized by sickness, sin, and death. John notes that Jesus anticipated this happening when he said, “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39; ESV throughout). Jesus’ “glorification” (i.e. his death, resurrection, and ascension) opened the way for the end-time reality of the Spirit to invade the present.
Theologians coined the phrase “inaugurated eschatology” (since theologians, of course, like big words) to describe this reality. “Inaugurated” points to the fact that these things have already begun while “eschatology” points out the fact that the things that have already begun relate to the eschaton or end times.
Salvation has broken through alongside the other end-time realities that have come pouring into the present through the resurrection and the activity of the Holy Spirit.
Despite how we often talk about salvation it is first and foremost an end-time (eschatological) reality. Those who believe in Christ will be saved (i.e. following Christ’s return they will survive the final judgment and experience eternal life in God’s new creation). Many verses throughout the New Testament point to this future timing of salvation.
We Will Be Saved
• “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt 10:22).
• “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:9–10).
• “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rom 13:11).
• “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15).
• “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor 5:5).
• “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:8–9).
• “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim 4:16).
• “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim 4:18).
• “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Heb 1:14).
• “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb 9:28).
• “Who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).
• “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation1—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2).
All of these verses clearly communicate the future tense of salvation—salvation is an end-time event associated with the return of Christ and the final judgment. From this perspective we have not yet been saved. We have not yet passed the final judgment and are not yet living in God’s new creation.
We Have Been Saved
As with the other end-time events that have come crashing into the present though the hole or crack opened up by Jesus’ resurrection, salvation has also come barreling into our present. This is why the New Testament authors can confidently talk about salvation as a thing that we possess in the present. Christians have been saved!
• “For in this hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24a).
• “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2:5).
• “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8–9).
• “Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim 1:9).
• “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Tit 3:5).
We Are Being Saved
As Christians we have confidence that we will be saved because we have been saved. But what about the present time? What connects our past salvation to our future salvation? The process of salvation. As Christians we are being saved in the present.
• “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18).
• “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor 15:2).
• “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor 2:15).
This understanding of salvation as past, present, and future is important for how we understand the Christian life. It also influences our understanding of assurance of salvation, the place of warnings in the New Testament, and a host of related discussions. We have been saved. We are being saved. We will be saved. Salvation is primarily a future event that we have access to in the present in Jesus Christ and because Jesus’ resurrection punctured the wall separating our present existence in this difficult and evil world and God’s promises concerning our existence in his future new creation. We are living in a time of partial fulfillment even as we long for and wait for full-fulfillment at Jesus’ return.
May your life this week be marked by a growing awareness and experience of the end-time realities that have broken into and are transforming our present existence in this world!
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