For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
How great is our salvation? The answer often depends on the version of the Bible that you are reading. Today’s text is a prime example of that. Perhaps no other verse in the Bible suffers more from the corrupted text used by the modern-language versions. According to most of those versions, including the NIV, the ESV, the NASB, and even the New King James, salvation is in the past tense. By using the words ‘have been saved’, these versions refer only to the day of conversion, making salvation merely a fire escape from hell and a ladder to Heaven. But we know our salvation is far more than that. And we get far more than that in the King James Version, as well as several other good versions. The KJV uses the words ‘are ye saved’. So does Darby’s version, a surprise since it usually follows the corrupted text. Young’s Literal Translation expands the expression to ‘ye are having been saved’. Some versions say ‘you are saved’. What is the difference? A huge difference: the versions that follow the uncorrupted Textus Receptus give us not only the joyous past tense of our salvation, but also the victorious present and the glorious future!
Seldom does a day go by without most of us looking back to that joyous day of our conversion. That great event is surely life’s highlight, as we passed from death into life, as God ‘delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son’ – Colossians 1:13. We look back and rejoice that we received ‘redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace’ – Ephesians 1:7. Praise God for the past tense of our salvation.
But our salvation also includes a victorious present. Through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within, through the nourishment and cleansing power of the Word of God, and through the uplifting and strengthening fellowship of the Lord’s people, we rise above the dunghill of this world and are able to worship and serve our Lord acceptably. None of us are all that we could be for God, but thankfully none of us are what we used to be in the helplessness and depravity of sin.
As for the glorious future of our salvation, we can only thrill at the wonderful hope. We cannot imagine Heaven, although we surely try. But its certainty and its rapidly approaching nearness give us comfort in our trials here. To be forever separated from the presence of sin and to be forever united with the Lord Who died for us is the total fulfillment of our salvation. Were you saved? Or are you saved? Do you see the difference? –Jim MacIntosh