Romans 1:16 says I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation …
Hebrews 2:3 says, ...not neglecting/ignoring so a great salvation…
So what is this Great Salvation?
The word, salvation, includes and encompasses far more than first seen. I will never forget that day in May 1986, when the Lord graciously revealed Himself to me through a powerful encounter. I knew something had happened and there was a dramatic change in my life, but I had no understanding of what had happened and the depth and breadth of it. Over the next number of years, as I read the word, the significance of what had happened, the truth of what had happened, began to take root in me. This, in turn, enables me to walk it out.
Understanding what the Bible declares concerning this great salvation, is absolutely foundational if we are to walk and live in it. If you trace the word salvation through the New Testament, there are actually four tenses of the word salvation:
Paris Reidhead explains it this way:
The Past Perfect Tense “I have been saved! From the pleasures of sin.” Repentance.
The Past Tense: “I was saved! From the penalty of sin.” Justification
The Present Tense: “I am being saved! From the power of sin.” Sanctification.
The Future Tense: “I shall be saved! From the presence of sin.” Glorification.
That event in May 1986 was not the entirety of my salvation, but the beginning. My salvation, which I did not understand until years later, is that Christ, having died for me to change my destination, when I die, also rose again from the dead to live His life in me and change my character. His indwelling life in me overcomes the old Adamic nature and the carnal mind that is at enmity with God.
Salvation is so much more than a change of destination from hell to Heaven. Our salvation is a million times more than simply knowing your sins are forgiven. The Lord Jesus came from heaven to earth, not just to get us out of hell and into heaven, but to get Himself out of heaven and into us. He gave Himself for us to give Himself to us.
Christ did not die simply that we might be saved from a bad conscience or even to remove the guilt of past failure, while that happens, but to clear the decks for His divine activity through us. We are to be stewards of a heavenly realm that will take an ongoing lifetime of surrendering to Christ in us. This opens the way for Him not only to live in us but to flow through us.
This is that “great salvation” which we are called to work out as He continually works in us to display Himself through us for His great purpose and pleasure.
