The Time of Salvation

When are believers saved?

I have seen a lot of arguments over when believers are saved recently.  Most of them fall into one of several camps.

One camp says that believers are saved at the moment they accept the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) as their savior. They say this because the Book of Truth (The Bible) says if they are saved when they say the Man of Truth is lord because they believe that the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  They say that there is nothing else to do after that, so this camp is often referred to as “once saved, always saved”.

On the opposite end is another camp that says believers are not saved until the end of their life.  They say this because the Book of Truth says that only those who endure to the end are saved (Matthew 24:13).  This camp could be called “the not saved until death” camp.

There is also a middle camp who believe that salvation is an ongoing spiritual experience in the life of believers.  They say this because the Book of Truth says that believers must work out their salvation (Philippians 2:12).  This camp could be called the “salvation is a journey” camp.

There are other camps besides these three.  However, these other camps mostly either fall somewhere between the  “once saved, always saved” camp and the “salvation is a journey” camp OR between the “salvation is a journey” camp and the “not saved until death” camp.

Often believers think that one of these camps must be right.  It seems certain that they cannot all be right.

When there is division between two or more camps over anything, people tend to forget that there is another option besides one of the camps is right.  That option is that all of the camps are wrong.

Some things are not easy to clearly see (1 Corinthians 13:12).  Some things are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16). 

So, it could be that all of these camps are wrong about when believers are saved.  It is also possible that they are all partly right.

One thing for certain is that the Father of Truth is not the cause of all this confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).  Such confusion is an evil work that comes from envy and strife (James 3:16).

Those who began these camps often formed their doctrine first and then looked for scripture to support their doctrine.  As a result, verses are completely taken out of context in an effort to get the Book of Truth to conform to their doctrine.

Others have simply refused to address any scripture that contradicts their view.  They look for reasons why those scriptures must have been corrupted or something like that.

Some like Martin Luther have even gone so far as to try to get entire books removed from the Book of Truth because those books contradicted their doctrine.  However, all of these efforts have been in vain because the Book of Truth contains the incorruptible word of the Father of Truth.

Of course, not everyone who disagrees about when believers are saved is teaching the doctrine of lies.  Sometimes, the problem is the translation that they are using.

The best example of the confusion that comes from using a flawed translation is the one disturbing sentence that is found in most thought-for-thought translations but missing from all word-for-word translations.  Believers who are using a translation with it are bound to come to a different conclusion than those who use a translation without it.  So, it is important to know how to pick a good translation.

That is not all there is to rightly dividing the Word of Truth, but it is impossible to do so with a severely flawed translation.  In like manner, there is confusion over when believers are saved because people forget that context is king!

However, we are going to consider the whole counsel of the Father of Truth (Acts 20:27).  We will not forget that all scripture is needed when forming doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16).  So, we are going to use the Book of Truth, the whole Book of Truth, and nothing but the Book of Truth to determine when believers are saved.

So, when does the Book of Truth say believers are saved?

We are saved right now by the hope we have for things that have not yet happened (Romans 8:24).  We were saved when we confessed with our mouths that the Man of Truth is our supreme ruler because we believed with our hearts that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).

The preaching of the cross was the power of the Father of Truth to save us (1 Corinthians 1:18).  He has saved us by His power (2 Timothy 1:8-9).  He has saved us through His mercy, the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost), and the Man of Truth (Titus 3:5-6).

So, we are saved.  However, that is not the whole story.

Believers have to continue to live like the Man of Truth as the day of our salvation gets closer (Romans 13:11-14).  After we have come to faith, we must not be deceived into believing that we can defile with sin our bodies, the temple of the Spirit of Truth, without being destroyed (1 Corinthians 3:16-18). 

We have to continue in the Gospel to be saved or we have believed the Gospel for nothing (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).  We must not repent of our repentance that saved us by returning to sin or we will suffer death with the world (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).  We have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling by continuing to live differently than the world (Philippians 2:12-16). 

We must not let the things that we have heard slip and neglect this great salvation, or we will not escape the wrath of the Father of Truth (Hebrews 2:1-4).  We have to continue in the fight that we have begun and not forget the warning that the people of Israel who did not continue to believe were destroyed after they had been saved from the Egyptians (Jude 1:3-5).

So, we are being saved.  However, the story is not yet over.

The Man of Truth said that we must be willing to suffer and lose our life in this world to gain eternal life in the world to come (Mark 8:34-28).  He said if we are ashamed to proclaim his name to save our lives in this world, then he will be ashamed to proclaim our names and we will lose our lives in the world to come (Luke 9:23-26).

The Man of Truth told his disciples that they would face terrible persecution, but if they endured unto the end of their lives, then they would be saved (Matthew 10:16-22).  He said that this would continue until the Gospel was preached to all ethnic groups (Matthew 24:4-14).  He said that before the Gospel was published among all ethnic groups, that believers had to endure through persecution to be saved (Mark 13:10-13).

Both Jews and Gentiles will be saved through the grace of the Man of Truth (Acts 15:11).  They will be saved from the wrath of the Father of Truth by the life of the Man of Truth, even though they are already justified by his blood and reconciled to his Father (Romans 5:9-10).

If we do not build our lives on the foundation of the Man of Truth, then we will have no other reward in the world to come beyond being saved (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).  However, if we go into sin then our bodies might suffer destruction, so that our spirits might be saved in the end of the age (1 Corinthians 5:1-5).

Salvation is something we will obtain when the wrath of the Father of Truth is poured out (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).  We must endure through persecution so that others may obtain salvation in the end (2 Timothy 2:8-10).  We look for the Man of Truth to appear a second time to complete our salvation (Hebrews 9:27-28).

So, salvation is our inheritance that will be revealed at the end of the age (1 Peter 1:3-5).  Therefore, we must endure through many trials to receive the end of our faith – salvation (1 Peter 1:6-9).

So, we will be saved.  That is the end of the story.

So, what is the whole story?

It is like the story of two ships.  One ship is the SS World, and the other is the SS Salvation.

People on the SS World experience every pleasure of sin.  However, the SS World is broken and can never reach the Land of Heaven.  Worse yet, it is slowly sinking into shark infested waters and everyone on it is doomed to a painful death.

However, the Land of Heaven sent out the SS Salvation to rescue people from the SS World.  The people on the SS World are warned of their eventual destruction and offered free passage to the Land of Heaven, where sharks cannot reach them.

Some leave the SS World and get on the SS Salvation to be saved from the sharks.  However, they cannot experience the pleasures of sin on the SS Salvation.

As the SS Salvation is taking them to the Land of Heaven, the captain of the SS World becomes angry that these people are no longer his.  So, he begins launching attacks against the SS Salvation. 

The captain of the SS World knows that the SS World cannot sink the SS Salvation, but it can greatly trouble the people on it.  Soon some of the people on the SS Salvation use lifeboats to return to the SS World to escape the persecution.

Next, the captain of the SS World calls out to those on the SS Salvation to come back to the SS World, where they can once again experience the pleasures of sin.  Soon, many of those who had been rescue begin using lifeboats to make their way through the shark infested waters to return to the SS World to experience the pleasures of sin once again.

However, some remain on the SS Salvation and refuse to return to the SS World.  They have not forgotten that the SS World and everyone on it is doomed to a painful death.

The voyage to the Land of Heaven is difficult.  The quarters of the SS Salvation are cramped compared to those of the SS World.  The SS Salvation has to weather storms that the SS World never experienced as well, but people are safe from the sharks as long as they stay on the ship.

Finally, the SS Salvation pulls into the port of the Land of Heaven.  When those who remained on the ship disembark, they are forever safe from the sharks.

So, when were they saved?  It is a matter of perspective.

It is true that they were saved as soon as they left the SS World.  It is true that they continued being saved as long as they remained on the SS Salvation.  It is true that those who endured until they reached the Land of Heaven, would be forever saved.

So, believers are who have not yet died are like those voyaging on the SS Salvation.  They have been saved, they are being saved, and they will be saved.

So, salvation is a process, not a single event.

Like any process, it has a beginning.  You do not have to get everything perfect to be saved, but you have to start somewhere.  You must be willing to come to him in total surrender.

You need to count the cost and be willing to pay it (Luke 14:28-30).  The Man of Truth would rather have you serve the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) full-time, than for you to serve him part-time (Revelation 3:15-16).

The Man of Truth gave up everything so you could be with him (Philippians 2:5-8).  It is only reasonable that the Man of Truth requires you to surrender everything to be with him (Romans 12:1-2). 

It will be worth it, because what you lose in this temporary world cannot compare to what you will gain forever with the Man of Truth (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).  You just need to take heed that you do not fall short of salvation, but take the way of escape that the Father of Truth will provide for each temptation (1 Corinthians 10:6-13).

So, do not receive the grace of the Father of Truth for nothing, but surrender everything to the Man of Truth because now is the time of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).

There is no other name you can call upon to be saved other than that of the Man of Truth who the world crucified, but the Father of Truth raised from the dead (Acts 4:10-12).  Salvation begins for everyone who calls on the name of the Man of Truth to make him their lord because they believe that his Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-13).

Come into the House of Truth!