Our Salvation, part 3

Dr. Alan J. Dunn

The people profiled in John 1:12-13 are described in terms of past and present blessings. We surveyed their past blessings in Part 2.

We Are Currently Believers in Jesus Christ

Who are these people? So far, we have identified them as recipients of past blessings. Can we identify them in terms of the present? Can we know who they are now, today? Yes. [Grammar alert!] A present tense, active verb, identifies them. The verb is a present participle, which means it describes an ongoing present action. Here is something these people are continually doing. They are those who believe in His name, which is to say, they are those who “are believing in His name.” Who are the people who were born of God and received Jesus in the past? They are the people who are presently believing in His name. Now, we can identify a relationship between received Him and believe in His name. Both receive and believe describe one’s relationship to Jesus Himself: to receive and to believe in His name is to receive and to believe Him. We ascertain sequential and logical dynamics since received is a past act and believe is a present, ongoing act. In the past, Jesus was received. Now, in the present, Jesus is believed. How can we identify the people described in John 1:12-13? They are believers in Jesus Christ.

Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Do you now, today, presently, believe in Jesus Christ? Are you believing in His name? I’m asking about yourself as you are today, now. Do you believe in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in and interpreted by Scripture? Your past is not irrelevant and your future is ever in view, but I’m asking you about who you are today, now. If you are believing in Jesus, why is that? What is the Bible’s explanation for your faith in Jesus?

Your present faith in Jesus is due to what God has done, is doing, and will do in you by His Spirit who is applying to you all that Jesus has obtained for you as your Savior. The Holy Spirit sovereignly, powerfully, and supernaturally birthed you. You can read Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus in John 3 to learn about your having been born of God. Having come to new life by the Spirit, He enabled you to see Jesus with the eyes of faith, and consequently you received Him. The Holy Spirit began to teach you that the incarnate Son of God, Jesus, lived for you and died for you, that He rose from the dead and now reigns for you, and that He is coming again for you. Your salvation encompasses your past, present, and future. If you are presently believing in Jesus, that is because God has been, is being, and will continue to be active for you as your Savior. Saving faith is not natural. It is not due to your bloodline, some biological endowment, or your or anyone else’s will. The only explanation for your saving faith in Christ is that you have been born of God and have received Christ Jesus with all the rights and privileges of a full-fledged member of God’s family.

By the way, that is what the right to become children means in v12. The right speaks of an authorization. Now united to Christ, you are an adopted child of God. As God’s children, we are legally loved and admitted into the presence of the enthroned Lord. We pray Our Father [Matthew 6:9], and our worship is accepted through the mediating ministry of Christ Himself. As God’s children in Christ, Jesus’ inheritance is also ours! We have the legally legitimate title to all entailed in the resurrection and the age to come. Jesus has given us His Spirit as the down payment of the glory that awaits us at His return. We will rise with resurrected bodies to inherit a glorified cosmos [see Romans 8:14ff]. God has saved us, is saving us, and will save us. Our salvation has us covered: past, present, and future. Our faith indicates that God has changed us and our relationship with Him. We are children of God in Christ Jesus! John, in John 1:12-13, highlights past and present aspects of our salvation but there are many future aspects as well that we are to enjoy in this life and in eternity.

I’ve focused your attention on the fact that you presently, today, profess to believe in Jesus Christ. There is biblical wisdom here. I’m not asking, “When were you born again?” Some believers can answer that question by pointing to a traumatic crisis conversion they can recall, like Paul, who could testify to having seen the sudden explosion of the light of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus [Acts 9]. Other believers cannot answer that question with such specificity. Their conversion was more like Timothy’s in 2 Timothy 3. They were taught to trust in Christ from their childhood and cannot remember ever not believing. They know full well that they were once in darkness of unbelief but cannot give you the date or precise occasion when they were suddenly aware of coming to faith in Christ. For them, the light of the gospel emerged gradually, like the arrival of the dawn of a new day. Over time, slowly but certainly, they began to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ [2 Corinthians 4:4] and, with the energy of new life, they got up from their spiritual graves and began to move in repentance and faith toward Jesus. So, here we are – believing. That is the question. Are you believing? If so, should you be congratulated? Should we explain your faith by your inherent virtue, ability, or achievement? No. It is because He gave you new life, faith [and repentance], and the rights of sonship. The Lord does not congratulate you. Instead, He calls you to worship and serve Him, confessing that Jesus is Lord [1 Corinthians 12:3].