Reading my Bible in church this morning, another passage that precedes the famous Eph. 2:8-10 came up. It talks about salvation being in the past tense.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:4-10
This is really an amazing verse:
"by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus"
We have been saved - perfect past tense, completed action. And God "raised" us up and "seated" us with him. The problem is with people who think they can lose their salvation, is they have the order of salvation mixed up.
Justified - Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." God does this for us through the blood of Christ, and it is already done, already accomplished.
Sanctified - 1 Thess. 5:23 "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The on-going process of walking with Christ and being transformed by the Holy Spirit into his image.
Glorified - Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." What happens to us when we meet Christ face toface.
Let's look at verse 5 of Eph. 2 above.
"even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."
If we are made alive in Christ, something God did even while we were sinful, if we lose our salvation, then does God make us dead again? Or kill us spiritually?
Or are we made alive in Christ, and stay that way? I prefer to rest confident that my salvation, being justified, is in the past, just as the Bible says it is, and not worry about being killed by God every time I slip up or sin.
"By grace you are saved" That phrase is repeated twice in the Eph. 2 passage. Why? So we know it is God who makes us alive and saves us, it is not about our ability to stop sinning, but rather the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us as children of God.