In 1973, I was at a wedding reception for the daughter of a friend of my mother. I dreaded going to the wedding and the reception because the bride’s family belonged to a Fundamentalist church. The bride and the groom were students at Bob Jones University. As I feared, the wedding included an altar call inviting anyone who was not “saved” to come down and make their confession of faith. As well as I can remember, this invitation came just before the couple took their vows. At the wedding reception, the couple announced that they would spend their honeymoon in prayer and reflection. In other words, no sex and no fun until after the honeymoon. Even my mother was flabbergasted. I will never forget the look she gave me when this announcement was made.
During the reception a male student from Columbia Bible College approached me and without any introduction asked, “Are you saved? If so, when did that happen? If you don’t know exactly when you were saved, then you’re not saved.” I had just finished my fifth semester of New Testament Greek at seminary. So, I asked him, “Do you mean sozomai, esothen, or sothesomai?” He looked at me like I was speaking Greek—which I was. I could tell he was not satisfied with my answer. Perhaps he thought I was speaking in tongues. Of course, it was a smart aleck answer (I was only 25 years old and had had my fill of fundamentalist theology for the day). But it was also a biblical answer, and I think, a good answer. What I was asking the student was this: “Do you mean am I being saved, was I saved, or will I be saved?”
Past Tense
In 2 Timothy Paul writes to his protégé, “Join me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our words, but according to God’s own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
For some there is a crisis point in which a dramatic turn is experienced in their lives. For example, two hospital patients may have the same disease and the same symptoms. To the lay person, there is no difference. But one is dying and the other is recovering. The difference is not in condition, but in direction. For some, the same is true for salvation. There is a point in their lives when they “turned” and for them that moment was the beginning of their salvation. Without that moment, they are convinced there would be no salvation.
What I think Paul is saying is that God’s intention toward us has been, is, and forever will be love.
Now, as important as that dimension to salvation may be to many, the Bible focuses more on God’s affirmation of us and God’s claiming of us as God’s very own children when it speaks of salvation as a past experience. As Paul says in our 2 Timothy passage, “This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” Is Paul talking about predestination here? Is he saying that before time and space were created, God chose to save some who can now be understood to be saved from all eternity? No, not at all. What I think Paul is saying is that God’s intention toward us has been, is, and forever will be love. We need not fear anything from God’s side as far as our salvation is concerned. It is God’s will that all be saved. God’s grace is not ultimately preferential, but is sufficient for all if they will accept it. When we say we have been saved, biblically what we mean is that from God’s side we have nothing to worry about. God has loved us from the edges of eternity. God has called us as God’s very own precious children. No power outside ourselves can jeopardize that salvation. As far as the Almighty is concerned, we belong to God now and forever regardless of our feelings of inadequacy and failure.
Present Tense
In 1 Corinthians Paul writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Here we see salvation as a process. We are being saved—we are being healed and becoming whole. This process is reflected in these familiar words from Paul in Philippians: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind.”
Maya Angelou, poet and best-selling author, wrote the following in her book entitled Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now: “Many things continue to amaze me, even into the sixth decade of my life. I’m startled or taken aback when people walk up to me and tell me they are Christians. My first response is the question, ‘Already?’ It seems to me a lifelong endeavor to try to live the life of a Christian.” Judging from what Paul wrote in Philippians, I would assume Paul would shout, “Amen!” to Angelou’s insight.
We are in process. God has not finished with any one of us. If we are in Christ, then we are in the process of being made whole and being healed. I’ve always liked the title of one of psychologist Jesse Lair’s books because in so many ways it tells the story of my life. The title is “I Ain’t Well, But I Sure Am Better.” I am being saved. I am being made whole. And I am being healed. In the words of Paul, I am being transformed from one degree of glory to another in the likeness of Jesus. And so are you. The present tense of salvation reminds us that we are on a journey and have not yet arrived at our destination.
Future Tense
In Romans 13 Paul writes, “You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.” Here we see the future dimension of salvation. In fact, Paul speaks more in terms of our future salvation than he does of our past or present experience. Such an emphasis is understandable when we think of salvation as a process. Right now, we are being saved and made whole, but we are not there yet. God is not through with any of us. There is more healing, love, mercy, compassion, righteousness (not self-righteousness), honesty, generosity, and maturity to be nourished and cultivated in the life of every one of us.
If life is a pilgrimage and salvation is a process, then we can understand why Paul prefers to speak of our salvation as a future event. A pilgrimage has a destination. That is the difference between endless wandering and a committed pilgrimage. With a pilgrimage, we are going somewhere. And that destination is the dream of God. That destination is the transformation of creation (of which we are a part) into the likeness of Jesus. 1 John 3 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. What we know is this: when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Our ultimate destination is a home transformed in the likeness of Jesus.
The older I become, the more comfort I take in this hope. It’s not “pie in the sky when I die.” It is the fulfillment of God’s love for each part of this creation, and it is the final healing and consummation of each life held precious in God’s heart. That gives me courage on two fronts. First, I am encouraged in spite of my weaknesses, failures, sin, and cowardice. What I shall be is not what I have been or what I am today. God is not through with me yet. One day this selfish, petty, impatient, anxiety-ridden life will be Christ-like. God will not abandon me to my sin and weaknesses. I shall arrive in the heart of God healed and whole. I may have started off like a broken-down jalopy. At this point in my pilgrimage I may appear to be running on two cylinders. But I shall end a Rolls-Royce—not because of my goodness but because of the grace and love of God. And so shall you. So shall every one of us.
Paul’s understanding of our future salvation has cosmic dimensions. Not only shall we be made whole and healed–so shall the whole cosmos.
The second way I am encouraged by this hope takes on broader implications. Paul’s understanding of our future salvation has cosmic dimensions. Not only shall we be made whole and healed–so shall the whole cosmos. All of time and space will be redeemed/liberated. How that will happen and what form it will take is beyond our comprehension. But Paul and the entire early church believed that Jesus’ resurrection signified a cosmic resurrection and healing. What happened to Jesus would happen to us and all creation (1 Corinthians 15; Romans 8). This hope encourages me to trust God for the consummation of all the acts and intentions of love, justice, sacrifice, mercy, and peace that we humans pursue in our daily lives. Somehow, some way, God will take all goodness and love, all strivings for justice and peace, all deeds of compassion and mercy and weave them all into the splendid tapestry of a new creation. No goodness, no act of love, no sacrifice, no courageous deed will be lost in the sacred economy of God. They will all be taken and added up in the heart of God in the glorious consummation of a new creation shaped after the likeness of Jesus.
And so, we need not despair over the unfulfilled goodness of our lives or the unconsummated intentions of our hearts or the frustrated results of our seemingly failed deeds. We need not despair when our love is spurned, when goodness seems to be trampled by evil, when justice is mocked by oppression, when peace is shouted down by violence. We can trust God with our goodness, love, and sacrifices. We and this wonderful creation will be saved, healed, and made whole.
So, the next time someone asks you, “Are you saved?” take their question seriously. And then ask them (without the arrogance of a twenty-five-year-old), “Do you mean sozomai, esothen, or sothesomai?” Both of you will be better for the dialogue.
Communion: Within the African-American tradition there is an old prayer which goes: “I ain’t what I ought to be, and I ain’t what I’m gonna be. But, thank God, I ain’t what I used to be.” These words reflect the pilgrimage we are called to make in Christ as we experience the tenses of our salvation. Each time we come to this Table, we have a grace-filled opportunity to grow in the likeness of Jesus; to be transformed from one stage to another in the process of our healing and becoming whole. If we are receptive to the presence of God in the Bread and Wine, then at this very time and in this very place, we are being saved.
Commission: We leave this Table with a profound trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God. We depart free to love and share, to seek justice and speak truth, to serve and sacrifice. God will take our acts of devotion and weave them into the splendid tapestry of the new Jerusalem. Empowered by the tenses of our and the world’s salvation, let us follow our Christ in a compassionate and joyful pilgrimage as we share the Good News of God’s transforming love.
Benediction: May the God who has loved you from the edges of eternity redeem your past with forgiveness and mercy. May the God who calls you to contemporary discipleship walk by your side as your trusted and cherished companion. And may the God who weaves your life into the tapestry of the new creation bless all your tomorrows with transforming peace. Amen.
