Salvation is the process by which God, through the work of Jesus Christ, delivers sinners from the bondage of sin. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Jesus came for the purpose of seeking and saving sinners (Luke 19:9-10) and by no other name can sinners be saved (Acts 4:12). The nature of salvation encompasses many acts, including: justification, sanctification, and glorification. 

Justification: You were saved

Justification is salvation from the penalty of sin. It is the act of God by which we who are unrighteous in ourselves are declared righteous before God. It is a judicial act of pronouncing one to be right in God’s sight (Romans 3:21-24). Justification happens instantly, clearing one of the record of guilt before the Judge.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
–Romans 8:1-2 ESV

Sanctification: You are being saved

Sanctification is salvation from the power of sin. It is the continual process in the present, by which God is making us righteous. Sanctification is the process by which God gets sin out of us. Through God, we are given victory over the world (1 John 5:4), the flesh (Romans 7:24-25), and the devil (James 4:7). Sanctification does not happen automatically after justification. It requires our continued cooperation, submitting to God’s sanctifying grace.

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” –Romans 6:22 

Glorification: You will be saved

Glorification is salvation from the presence of sin. It is the future act that will abolish our sinful nature and make us perfect (Phil 3:21). We will see God face to face (1 John 3:2) and our freedom will be perfected, no longer able to sin.

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”
–1 Corinthians 15:51-53 

Salvation clears us of the penalty of sin, continually purifies us from sin’s power, and will one day allow us to stand in the presence of a holy and perfect God.