Walking in the spirit requires us to navigate the tension between that which already is and that which is to come in God’s kingdom and our lives.
Standing in What Christ Did in the Past
The nature of our salvation requires us to live in the present while simultaneously looking backward to the past and forward to the future. We remember the once-for-all finished work of Christ (Hebrews 10:10) by which he actually completed our salvation. When he said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) our Lord meant it. Nothing can be added to or subtracted from what Jesus accomplished. It simply must be believed and received by faith, a faith that includes our faithful allegiance to him as Lord. This is the basis of our ability to rest in God’s grace.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:4–10 (NKJV)
The immediate beneficiary of Christ’s perfect finished work is the innermost part of us – the Spirit, where we are born again, declared “not guilty,” and given a right standing with God. This is where God dwells inside us. We are united to God’s Spirit through the miracle of justification.
But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:12-14 (NLT)
Looking forward to What Christ Will Do in the Future
We are also looking to the future when we will receive the last installment of our great salvation – the resurrection of the body. The spirit was saved over 2000 years ago at Calvary, but the body still waits in eager anticipation of the glorious day when Christ will return to raise his people from the dead.
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Galatians 5:5 (NKJV)
Through justification we have already been made righteous (Romans 5 :1), but that righteousness is not yet as complete as it will be when our bodies are raised from the dead. At that point, we will be fully glorified and delivered from the power of death.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:50–54 (NKJV)
At that point, we will be completely and finally saved. Nothing will remain to be done. The final link to Adam’s transgression, the body, will be transformed forever. The battle with what the Bible calls the “flesh” will be over.
However, in the meantime, we live in the present in a divine tension between the past and future aspects of our salvation. The present requires that we experience a daily experience of God’s grace. Our past salvation was accomplished without our participation. Christ did it for us. Our future resurrection is not something we can pull off either. God must do it.
The present process of our transformation or sanctification, however, is a partnership between God’s Spirit and us. As we trust and obey the Spirit of God, he applies the benefit of Christ’s finished work to our lives. Our eager anticipation of what is yet to come motivates us to live for our Lord and his kingdom.
Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NLT)
The look to the past assures us that God already has done the “heavy lifting” that guarantees the final outcome.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13–14 (NKJV)
The “redemption of the purchased possession” is the resurrection of the body. Until that happens, we are sealed with God’s Spirit, meaning that we belong to him.
The look forward comforts us with the confident expectation that we will not struggle forever with the “flesh” and sin. This motivates us to live each day by faith, drawing upon the Spirit’s life and power within. Looking backward teaches us that sin, death, disease, oppression, slavery, and the devil have already been conquered, despite any contrary outward appearances. Looking forward to the resurrection and final judgment, which include the rewards Christ will dispense to those who faithfully serve him, inspires us to make the commitment and sacrifice to serve him with our whole heart. We live in a divine tension between the past, present, and future. Those who are already made perfect in spirit are being made holy in the soul while awaiting the glorious resurrection of the body. This is a tension between the already done merging with that which is still in process and waiting completion.
The daily work of the Spirit in transformation and the future glorious promise of the resurrection are firmly rooted in the already finished work of Christ. God is working out in time what has been settled for eternity.
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