When a sinner becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, that person is justified and adopted by God and given the guarantee of the Holy Spirit for the future consummation of their salvation and inheritance in heaven unto eternal life (Eph. 1:11-14). Some verses, John 5:24, for example, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life, are used as proof that sinners receive immediate salvation upon believing in Jesus Christ. But that is not what this verse is teaching. Scripture teaches that once God justifies and adopts us, he guarantees the consummation of our salvation unto eternal life in the future at the second coming of Christ. Thus, our salvation is a present certainty but not a consummated reality. Therefore, our salvation has an “already” and a “not yet” aspect.
God will exercise His eternal, condemning wrath against human beings as punishment for their sins only once in all eternity, and that is on the Day of Judgment at the second coming of Christ. Therefore, He will only be able to withhold this eternal, condemning wrath (i.e., save believers from His wrath) once in all eternity — at Christ’s second coming.
The view that we receive consummated salvation when we believe in Jesus Christ is an over-realized eschatology. This over-realized eschatology occurs when Christians assume blessings presently that will not occur until the second coming of Christ. This is seen in the so-called “prosperity gospel.” When we become believers, as John 5:24 states, we are certain of our salvation and eternal life and receive all the benefits (i.e., election, predestination, regeneration, redemption, saving faith, forgiveness of sins, justification, adoption, etc.; see Eph. 1:3-10) of God’s plan of salvation (Eph. 1:10) even though the actual consummation of our salvation has not yet occurred (Eph. 1:13-14).
We are living in the “last days,” and certain aspects of God’s plan of salvation and the kingdom of God have already been experienced by us, but some are yet to be consummated at the second coming of Christ. Louis Berkhof writes:
various movements can be distinguished in the process, that the work of the application of redemption [i.e., salvation] proceeds in a definite and reasonable order, and that God does not impart the fullness of His salvation to the sinner in a single act. Had He done this, the work of redemption would not have come to the consciousness of God’s children in all its aspects and in all its divine fullness.[1]
Let’s consider what John 5:24 teaches.
Truly, truly, I say to you – Jesus was in Jerusalem by a pool called Bethesda, and seeing a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, he asked the man, “Do you want to be healed?” The man answered yes, and Jesus said, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” The man did so, and the Jews were concerned that Jesus, by doing this on the Sabbath, had done violence to pharisaical law. In responding to them, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say unto you.” The King James version is translated “Verily, verily.” This phrase is an English translation of the Greek word amēn, which is translated from the Hebrew word āˈmēn. Ordinarily, this word is used at the end of a statement to indicate so be it and thus affirm what is stated. But Jesus, in John 5:24 and elsewhere, uses it at the beginning of his statement to suggest that he had first-hand knowledge and authority of the truth of the statement. So, Jesus is saying, I assure you that I have personal knowledge and authority of the truth of what I am telling you.
whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me – Jesus describes the Christian as, first of all, one who actively listens and learns from the word of God as a student from his teacher. The believer must also believe that God sent Jesus Christ to us, manifesting his glory in Christ as his Father and as our Father, and that God’s glory shines in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).
has eternal life – this phrase is a reference to believers “who… shall awake… to everlasting life” in Daniel 12:2, referring to the general resurrection of all for the final judgment (Matt. 25:46). “Eternal life” refers to an end-time eternal-resurrection-life that begins spiritually in this age, when one believes, and is consummated at the final physical resurrection on the last day.”[2]
He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life – believers receive a full pardon through the grace of the gospel that fully discharges them from the curse of the law. Though they continue in sinfulness, the believer is not under eternal condemnation nor present condemnation because of their sins due to their position in Christ [see also Rom. 8:1]. The believer “is invested in a present happiness in spiritual life and entitled to a future happiness in eternal life.”[3]
Salvation unto eternal life is a present certainty of a future reality for all believers. Our present certainty comes as a result of God’s guarantee of our future inheritance of salvation, glorification, and eternal life, which future inheritance we have obtained in Christ and is sealed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:11-14). At the second coming of Christ on the Day of the Lord or Judgment Day, believers’ salvation will be finally consummated by God, and the elect believers will be ushered into heaven, where they will enjoy the new heaven and new earth eternally in the presence of God.
When Christians become believers, they receive the present entitlement to salvation, glorification, and eternal life in the future at the second coming of Christ. The believer is considered to have passed from death to life when they believe, although God’s consummation of salvation, glorification, and eternal life is yet to come.
God’s plan of salvation is a process that actually begins in eternity and is first applied to the individual elect person at the efficacious call and regeneration and continues through faith, justification, adoption, and progressive sanctification to its completion in salvation and glorification at the second coming of Christ. This is why the Bible says we have been saved (e.g., Eph. 2:8), we are saved (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:2), and we will be saved (e.g., Rom. 10:9) because all three tenses are correct since God’s plan for our salvation began in eternity past, continues at the present, and shall be finally consummated in the future at the second coming of Christ. So, it is accurate to say I am saved, but it is inaccurate to say that my salvation is finally consummated.
[1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 416.
[2] R.C. Sproul, gen. ed., The Reformation Study Bible, Ephesians (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2015 (ESV)), n. 5:24, 1863 (emphasis added).
[3] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, vol. 5, Acts to Revelation (Hendrickson, 1991), 750.
