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We WERE saved. We ARE saved and we ARE BEING saved! How can these three statements be true simultaneously? Let's take a closer look with some scriptural background.
We WERE saved...because the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13) and because this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began (II Timothy 1).
We ARE saved...when we perceive (in time) this eternal truth - which leads us to believe and confess (Romans 10).
We ARE BEING saved...as we grow in revelation and as we CONTINUE to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12. And if we miss this revelation the first time around, God mercifully, spherically and providentially causes history to repeat itself (Ecclesiastes 3:15).
Salvation is both timeless and continuous; instant and somehow a process; simultaneously finished and an ongoing work. In the mind of God, salvation is eternal - no beginning and no ending. Yet, in the mind of the person receiving the revelation of salvation, it is happening for them at that very moment. Salvation was finished even before Jesus hung His head and declared It Is Finished. However, we are always working out our salvation.
God beautifies everything in its time - not in His! (Ecclesiastes 3) In God's time (or eternity) all things are already beautiful. Even though we cannot see clearly into eternity, the eternal truths of God are set in our hearts. What is now a present reality for us in the time-space world has already been. In reference to the idea of Ultimate Reconciliation, the salvation that showed up when Jesus took on flesh - already existed before he came to earth!
God will call the pat to account or cause history to repeat itself. In essence, this means that Calvary has happened throughout time and will continue to happen so that the eternal truth of Christ may always have a presence in time as it does in eternity.
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