“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace” (2 Tim. 1:9). “Being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).
“Who Hath Saved Us”
How wonderful it is that, when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we can know, now in this world, that we are saved. We have peace with God and are eternally secure, and we can speak of this as a matter that has been settled once for all. We can say we are forgiven (1 John 2:12), “justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39), and our sins all washed away in the precious blood of Christ (1 John 1:7). “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). We know that we are eternally secure, for John 10:28 says, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”
We also learn from God’s Word that this eternal life which is given to us is the very life of Christ, as we read in Colossians 3:4, “Christ, who is our life.” God also gives to the believer the “Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). He also adds us to His church the moment we are saved, as we read in Acts 2:47: “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” We need to search the Scriptures to find out God’s plan as to how Christians should gather. This is not joining a man-made church, for we are already part of “the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). It is our privilege to gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone (Matt. 18:20) in His appointed way, at His table to remember Him in His death till He comes (1 Cor. 10:15-17; 11:23-26).
“Saved by His Life”
This brings us to what is spoken of in Romans 5:10: “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Even though we are saved and have the very life of Christ, the Bible shows us that the old fallen nature, which is in us by natural birth into this world, is still in us, and we are not to allow it to control our lives. The Lord Jesus, who died for us, now lives for us at the right hand of God as our Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14-16) to supply grace and strength day by day and to keep us from committing sin. In this way we are saved by His life.
If we do not ask His help to keep us, but trust our own hearts, we may fall into sin, as Peter did when he denied his Lord. Even though we possess this new life, the life of Christ, the “old man” (our old nature) is still there in our bodies, and we are told to reckon it dead and let the “new man” (the life of Christ) control our lives (Rom. 6:11-14).
If we fail to ask help from the Lord (our Great High Priest), we will, as believers, commit sin, and then we need Christ as our Advocate (1 John 2:1). He leads us to the confession of that sin, and He restores us into communion with Himself again (1 John 1:9). This is what is referred to in Romans 5:10, “We are saved by His life.” This is His present work for us now in the glory above.
“Nearer Than When We Believed”
There is also an aspect of salvation that is future. “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11). As believers we are looking for the Lord to come, and then our salvation will be complete. We already have the salvation of our souls. We are receiving from the Lord Jesus the daily help that we need and, as our Advocate, restoration when we have failed. But we still have mortal bodies with the old nature in them. When the Lord comes, our bodies will be changed and fashioned like His glorious body. Then there will be no “old man,” no fallen nature, in those bodies of glory. The moment of the Lord’s coming is “nearer than when we believed” the gospel, and we wait that glorious moment (Phil. 3:21; Rev. 22:20).
May the knowledge of all this precious truth which is revealed to us in God’s Word, the Bible, fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving and give us the desire to live day by day in the full assurance of faith and in loving obedience to the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
G. H. Hayhoe