As Christians, we possess a complete salvation with respect to forgiveness of sin and having a personal relationship with God now. That reality is based on our past salvation. But at the same time our salvation is not finalized because there are two other areas God promises to rescue us, at which time our salvation will be total and final.

Biblical salvation is like a fine diamond: it’s multidimensional in its beauty and makeup. Like a precious diamond, salvation can be appreciated in various ways by being viewed from different perspectives. True salvation in Christ has several glorious realities that should be understood and appreciated by the believer. But too often this is not the case.

Many professing Christians tend to have a one-dimensional understanding of salvation. As such, they focus too much only on one perspective and so neglect the other salient truths about being saved and end up losing balance in their theology of salvation. Lacking balance in the doctrine of salvation is fundamentally dangerous. A key distinctive of true biblical salvation is that it is three-dimensional, and all three dimensions need to be held in balance.

Past Salvation

This first article will focus on the first of the three dimensions of salvation along with its blessed implications. Simply stated, biblical salvation has past, present, and future dimensions–so it is three-fold. Here we examine our “past” time salvation. There are two main realities about the past time dimensions of salvation: one is from God’s initiative and the other one is from our response, which is the human perspective. God and humans both participate in the past reality of salvation of the believer. With respect to God’s doing of past salvation, there is the doctrine of election. God chose and selected us unto salvation before the world was created. He chose us to be saved before we were even born! God said in the Book of Ephesians that “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” (1:3) and that He also “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself” (1:5). And that election was on an individual basis. Some Bible teachers deny this personal reality of election unto salvation teaching instead that election only refers to some generic, undefined “corporate” election. But Scripture says otherwise. Election, when describing God’s predetermined deliverance of an individual sinner, is very personal. Scripture says of believers, “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation” (2 Thess 2:13).

God is infinite and eternal, so He is greater than the confines of time. He created time (Col 1:16), so He transcends the temporal limitations we experience as humans. God knows what happens before anything happens. God determines history before it happens (Isa 46:8-11). God planned our salvation in eternity past. As such, salvation is all of God. He is the Author of salvation. Or as Jonah confessed while in the belly of the great sea monster, “Salvation is from the LORD” (2:9). In addition, because God is the Author of salvation, having planned it in eternity past, that means it is guaranteed! This is great news for us. Our salvation is eternally secured in His divine decree and will.

In addition to God planning our salvation in eternity past, we participate in salvation by believing His gospel. When a sinner repents and believes in Christ, God’s ancient plan of election to salvation is realized in time by us on personal, human, temporal level. When a sinner believes, in that moment he or she is born again or “saved” spiritually. God saves the repentant sinner from many evils, including the penalty of sin, from their old, rebel life, from the devil, and from the sinful worldly system. This salvation happens in an instantaneous moment of time upon belief. It is a one-time, unrepeatable, supernatural, invisible transaction accomplished by the grace and power of God. From God’s point of view, this salvation is a legal transaction, and so is called “justification” (Rom 3:24; 8:29). In that moment God adopts the sinner into His family and reconciles the sinner to Himself. He also in that moment puts His Holy Spirit inside the new believer as He regenerates their once dead soul.

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