Welcome back to my blog. The last few weeks we have discussed the chronological events of salvation. Although we activate salvation for ourselves by belief in Christ’s death as the punishment for our personal sins, the remarkable story of our redemption began before all time and will end with Christ’s final magnificent return.
We have examined in this timeline in prior blogs the biblical concepts of God choosing and dragging us to salvation alongside the Holy Spirit’s conviction, all which brought us to the point of faith in Christ for our personal salvation. We also have considered what Christ accomplished by his death to allow us to be saved, our resulting secure positions in Christ and most recently, the resurrection.
Please review the prior blogs which support the timeline of salvation posted below.
Let’s complete our marvelous journey through the timeline of salvation and review again how a person accesses eternal life. And we will continue to discuss all these topics in greater detail in future blogs for they are great promises, worthy of deeper detailed discussions!
- Perseverance – After we are saved, we serve God with our lives as Christians. God is active here in perseverance to salvation (Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Scripture does not describe the precise method, but we do know during this time the Spirit seals us to salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14) and has placed us within the church (1 Corinthians 12:13). We also know we are regenerated to a new person and are forgiven, allowing us to approach the most holy God (Hebrews 10:19-22).
- Eternity – Ultimately Christ will return in the clouds at the rapture to take His believers with him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58). The time of this event is not known. Following the rapture is the great tribulation for seven years and then Christ’s return when he ushers in His great Kingdom, and after that follows eternity with the new Jerusalem (Revelation 4-22: 1 Thessalonians 5; 2 Thessalonians 2).
It will be a glorious day when we as Christians live with Christ in heaven! What a great promise!
Let’s review the timeline of salvation!
Our salvation is a process that began before all time and ends at Christ’s second coming with continued effects into eternity. Thanks be to God! Here is the process the Bible describes (see Figure below):
- God chose us before all time (Ephesians 1:4,5,11; Romans 8:29-30).
- He convicted us by His Spirit (John 16:8).
- God dragged us to Himself to believe (John 6:44).
- Our faith (belief) made Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection efficacious for our personal salvation. Further, at the time of our belief we were:
- Sealed by the Holy Spirit.
- Regenerated into a new person by Christ’s resurrection (Romans 6:2-9; Colossians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:4-7).
- Sealed to the day of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5).
- Placed into the church universal (1 Corinthians 12:13).
- God causes us to persevere throughout our lives until we are with Christ (Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
- After Christ takes believers out of the world, he later comes to gather believers to Himself and His righteous Kingdom, and ultimately to the new Jerusalem and eternity (Revelation 19-22).
Figure: Timeline of salvation
How does an unbeliever access salvation?
It is by faith alone! No work is required, either before or after salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:23-26). God did all the work to bring us salvation and no credit is given to us. It is a gift with all glory and praise to God.
What exactly is the gospel message?
The Bible indicates (Romans 10:14-15) that someone must actually hear the words of the gospel to understand salvation. Further, the apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 2:9-10) noted that although he worked day and night to live a blameless life in front of the Thessalonians, he still verbally spoke the gospel to them. In other words, non-verbal efforts, although important, will not bring somebody to belief. A non-Christian needs to hear and understand the specific gospel message.
The gospel message
The plan of salvation should contain generally the following information (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-26, Romans 10:9):
- Man sinned.
- God is just, requiring a punishment for sin.
- But out of love God sent His Son Jesus Christ, who by dying on the cross provided forgiveness of sins in taking man’s deserved punishment.
- Therefore, by faith alone in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and belief in His resurrection, man can gain eternal life.
Here it is packaged and ready to say! Salvation is a free gift of God! You can have confidence you are saved!
Thank you again for visiting. Please join us again next time as we discussed a very important topic of the security of our salvation.
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