Salvation Is More Than A One Time Event by Maxie Dunnam

As Christians we do not emerge full-grown. Salvation is not a one -time event. To see it in its fullness, we talk about “going on to salvation.” If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two—the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth. The former relates to that great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins; the latter, to the great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature. Salvation includes these two works.

This is the reason the new birth is such a powerful image. As our physical birth is the momentous beginning of our physical life on earth, our new life in Christ is the beginning of a life of our souls for spiritual growth. We are by God’s grace redeemed from sin, justified in relation to him. We are also born of the Spirit. 

We need to keep reminding ourselves of the fullness of salvation. The new birth is that great change which God works in the soul following justification, raising it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. “It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God when it is ‘created anew in Christ Jesus’; when it is ‘renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness’; when the love of the world is changed into the love of God; pride into humility; passion into meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind.” (John Wesley)

Even here, in the description of these elements of salvation—justification and new birth—there is the dynamic of growth, going on to salvation. We may be justified by grace through faith and be converted to Christ in the miracle of a moment, but the making of a saint is the task of a lifetime. As Jesus talked about being “born again,” Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians calls us to no longer be infants, but to “grow up in Christ.”

No matter where we are in our Christian life, we need to take time now to reflect on our spiritual journey. You can begin by responding to this question: Can you recall a time, or a time frame, when you definitely claimed the Christian faith and named yourself a Christian?