Salvation Syntax

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"Assuredly, I say to you, Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43)

Jesus spoke these words of certainty and assurance to one of the thieves, to the one on the right or the left we don't know. The thief was there under punishment but in a moment he had his entry to Paradise assured — "Assuredly!" "Will be!"

There are skeptics who say we cannot know for sure today that we are saved. And several folks are puzzled with the question, "Can I be sure of my salvation?" Yes, thousand times, yes, because the Bible says so. "The Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47). Here's the definition of the Church: No unsaved member inside and no saved outside!

One of the reasons why people dispute over the possibility of present assurance of salvation is that they fail to understand salvation in three tenses. Salvation past is deliverance from the "penalty" of sin; salvation present is deliverance from the "power" of sin; and salvation future is deliverance from the very "presence" of sin. Respectively they are called Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. The first one is a crisis experience, the next one is a process, and the last one is a crisis again, which will take place at a moment. We are already saved from the penalty of sin. We are being saved, moment by moment, from the power of sin. But removal of the presence of sin is still in the future.

Our assurance may be shaken up as we walk through trials, tribulations and temptations. During the turbulence of this present time, the "Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" and He assures us that "the sufferings of the present are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom 8:16,18).

Our sins which were red like crimson have been made whiter than snow by Jesus. He bore them all on the Cross of Calvary. As far as the East is from the West, so far He has removed our sins from us. He has cast them behind His back. He has thrown them into the depths of the sea. They disappeared like the clouds of the sky. Oh, the breadth, the length, the depth and the height of God's forgiving love! We need not doubt our salvation a bit!

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song;
Praising my Saviour all the day long!

(Fanny Crosby , 1823-1915)

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