Tuesday, November 24, 2009

past, present, and future

John Piper in Reason 47 of Why Jesus Came to Die - To Rescue Us From Final Judgment ...

The Christian idea of salvation relates to past, present, and future. The Bible says, "By grace you have been saved through faith" (Eph 2.8). It says that the gospel is the power of God "to us who are being saved" (1 Cor 1.18). And it say, " Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed" (Rom 13.11). We have been saved. We are being saved. We will be saved.

At every stage we are saved by the death of Christ. In the past, once for all, our sins were paid for by Christ himself. We were justified by faith alone. In the present, the death of Christ secures the power of God's Spirit to save us progressively from the domination and contamination of sin. And in the future, it will be the blood of Christ, poured out on the cross, that protects us from the wrath of God and brings us to perfection and joy.

...

Those who reject Christ and give their allegiance to another "will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ... will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night" (Rev 14.10-11).

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