The Three aspects of Salvation
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Biblically speaking, salvation in Christ is often spoken of in three phases or tenses: salvation past (justification), salvation present (sanctification), and salvation future (glorification).  —-> https://biblical-christianity.com/the-three-phases-of-salvation

  • Justification: We have been saved from the Penalty of sin (past) – Ephesians 2:8
  • Sanctification: We are being saved by the Power of the Holy Spirit from sin (present) – 1 Corinthians 1:18
  • Glorification: We will be saved from the Presence (future) – 1 Peter 1:5

1. Justification

You are born with a sin nature (Psalm 51:1, Romans 3:10, Romans 5:8) and you are saved from the “death penalty” of sin (Genesis 2:17) by a one-time process of being born-again Spiritually in Jesus Christ (John 3:3).  Note, you can not loose you salvation because you can not be unborn Spiritually anymore than you can be unborn physically … both physical life  and eternal life are a gift from God (Romans 6:23) but unlike physical life the gift of eternal life must be “received” by a person to be enjoyed.  By grace through faith, you believe that Christ has paid for your sin death penalty (Ephesians 2:8-9) by His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).  One without sin (Jesus) had to die for the one in sin (man) as promised (Genesis 3:15).  We have forgiveness of sin through riches of God’s Grace in Christ (Ephesian 1:7).  When you accept/receive the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ you enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:5) and become a child of God (Galatians 3:26).  You are guaranteed eternal life with Christ (John 3:16) and you can never be separated from His love (Romans 8:38-39).  With salvation comes the sealing of your soul and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).  Salvation and entry into Heaven is not granted to you based on your good works because man’s works of righteousness are like filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6).  But by accepting the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ you become perfect in your “position” before God because you are covered by the righteousness of Christ, justified before God because of Christ’s righteousness (Romans 3:22, Romans 8:1).  

2. Sanctification

After you are saved from the penalty of sin (step 1), you are “being” saved from the “power” of sin by daily living a life of faith in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 10:38).  When you are born again you do not loose your sin nature but you receive a new “Spiritual” born again nature of Christ (Galatians 5:16-17), that is contrary to your sin nature.  As a bond servant of Jesus Christ it it your daily duty to “deny” your sin nature and rely on your new born again Spiritual nature of Christ to reign and rule your life (Romans 6:11, Galatians 2:20) … “Die2Live“.  By trusting and obeying God’s word you learn what it is like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and you participate in the good work that Jesus began in you and will complete in you (Philippians 1:6).  As a born again Christian, you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you to guide you into truth (John 16:13) and empower you to do the good works that God has prepared for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).  But it is not the good works that sanctity us and it’s not good works that prove we are save or keep us saved … good works are what God has prepared for us to do and we do when we “abide” in Christ (John 15:5).  Sanctification is a processes of “resting” in what you first believed about what Christ has done for you (Hebrews 4:11, Psalm 46:10, Proverbs 3:15-16).  Resting in what Christ has done for you and is doing in you and is doing through you is what it means to “walk in the Spirit” so you do not carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).  By denying your sin nature and abiding in the “agape love” of Christ that you received at Salvation, you are “working out your Salvation” (Philippians 2:12).  This is what is means to renew and transform your mind into that of Christ (Romans 12:2) … in this way you are becoming perfect in your “practice” before God (Matthew 16:24).  When you walk by faith, you grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).  This is called the sanctification process, to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:13-16). 

3. Glorification

After you are saved from the penalty and power of sin (steps 1 & 2), you will one day be saved from the “presence” of sin, when you soul and Spirit leave your physical body.  Sin reigns in your heart/mind (Jeremiah 17:9) and this is why you must yield your mind to the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the natural tendency of the sin nature (see step 2).  But sin also reigns in your body, in that the desire of the flesh is for comfort and pleasure, not service and sacrifice, as Paul explains in Romans 7:14-25).  I think God free’s us from sin nature by illuminating us fully with His presence in Heaven.  As it explains in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”  , when we know God fully, the desire to sin will no longer make any sense.   If you are a born again Christian, when you die, you will be perfect in your “person before God because you will no longer have sin nature and a corruptible body, you will be like Christ (1 John 3:2).  And not only will you be free from your sin nature and free from your old body but you will also have a new resurrected body that God has prepared for you, a body that is immortal and without sin, a gloried body (1 Corinthians 15:42).  You will be the person that God created you to be!


When you understand these three aspects of salvation it helps to clear up misunderstandings about Salvation.  It explains what Paul is saying in Philippians 2:12 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.   Paul is talking here about the (#2) aspect of salvation, sanctification, not the (#1) aspect of salvation.  We are born again in order to do “good works” prepared by God for us.  We do not do “good works” to be saved or do good works to maintain our salvation.  Sanctification is not progressive based on our works after Salvation but we grown in our understanding of God’s Grace and the maturity of trusting God as we walk by faith (click here).

This can cause such a heavy burden of confusion and anxiety to hang over a believer when he thinks if sinful thoughts and deeds remain then he wasn’t really saved or he didn’t do enough good works to keep his Salvation.  If you doubt whether God is able to keep you saved for all eternity then perhaps you have not understood the powerful loving God of the Bible, your Creator, the great “I Am” who has no equal and does not lie.  No, you can’t loose your salvation (click here to read more).

This is why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Being born “Spiritually” is a one way process that can’t be undone, anymore than you can be unborn physically.  It is a logical impossibility.  The reason you continue to sin after receiving the new Christ nature is not because you lack God’s Spirit from salvation but because the old sin nature remains in you (read about Paul’s struggle with his old sin nature in Romans 7).  If you have confessed that Jesus is Lord of your life then you are saved for all eternity (Romans 10:9).  In order to defeat the old sin nature and live by the new Christ nature you must daily die to self and live by the Holy Spirit in you (that is the theme of this web site  “Die 2 Live).   And when a believer does sin, 1 John 1:9 tells us how to deal with sin and restore our fellowship with God, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness“. 

God is always waiting for believers to confess their sins and return to Him in order to avoid His discipline and God is always waiting for unbelievers to repent (have a change of mind about their sin nature) and believe in Him in order to avoid His judgment.  Here is an article I wrote concerning the difference of God’sJudgment vs His Discipline.  God does not take pleasure in judging and disciplining us but our sin “grieves” God, like a good parent grieves when their children makes a bad choice and they remain defiant.  Of course an earthly parent can only discipline their child while they are young but this is not the case with our Heavenly Father, for those who choose to believe in the good Shepherd, He is always to forgive us and lead us to green pastures.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”  – Matthew 7:11

– Rogersings

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I'm a born again child of God loving and serving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

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