Are You Saved?
Yes, I am saved, I am being saved, I will be saved. I remember a Sunday in Clarendon, Arkansas 62 years ago when I preached a sermon that began with these words. A visiting family from a large congregation in Memphis, TN was present. The father exclaimed, “An excellent sermon. I have been a member of the church for many years and I have never heard that before.” I could have basked in that compliment with a simple, “Thank you.” But as a student at Harding Graduate School, I had learned to footnote things. My reply was that I had not heard it either until Jack Lewis said it last week in his class, Introduction to New Testament Teachings. My sermon was notes from that class.
My sermon last Sunday started with Isaiah’s glorious proclamation, “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isa. 52:10). It is wonderful to hear such a broad affirmation. That is one thing but it is another to make it personal; to ask, “Am I saved?” and “Are you saved?”
Saved in the past tense: Acts 2:21 – “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:40 – “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Acts 2:47 – “The Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Rom. 8:24 – “In this hope we were saved.” Titus 3:4 – “He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Saved in the present tense: 1 Cor. 15:1-2 – “Brothers … you are being saved if you hold fast to the word I preached to you.” 1 Peter 2:2 “you may grow up into salvation.” Phil. 2:12 – “work out your salvation … God is at work in you.”
Saved in the future tense: 1 Thess. 5:8-9 – Put on helmet, the hope of salvation. God has destined us for obtaining salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Phil. 3:20 – “We are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform …”
Those who believe in the Lord, repent, and are baptized receive the Spirit. By God’s power in his servant Jesus by the Holy Spirit we are saved, are being saved, and will be saved. Let us be a church which lives in all three tenses.
—Tom Yoakum