“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” – Acts 6:4
LIGHT FOR NOW: The salvation made available by Jesus who is the blue print of God’s redemption plan has tenses. Hence, the understanding of the tense of salvation is critical in your understanding of salvation.
The subject of prayer is one of the most important taught concepts in the scripture. The scripture is so loud on prayer; hence it’s not a subject to be taken lightly in bible study. Our topic for today makes us see that prayer is an ongoing work of Christ, what does this mean or tell us? Simply, in what Jesus accomplished for us in salvation or in God’s salvation plan executed by Jesus who is the blue print of redemption, there is what referred to as in bible study is as the tenses of salvation. We have three tenses of salvation, and they are listed below:
- The past tense of salvation.
- The present tense of salvation.
- The future tense of salvation.
The past tense of salvation is what Christ has done; it is finished. Hence, the past tense of salvation is referred to as the finished work of Christ. This past tense of salvation which is the finished work of Christ lays the premise or is the fibre/foundation for the present tense of salvation and the future tense of salvation. Ephesians 2:8 is an example of this past tense, it reads “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”. Notice the tense “saved” (its past tense). Your forgiveness in Christ also is a fact of the past tense of salvation, thus 1John 2:12 says “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake”. So, our forgiveness in Christ is a past work.
Now, the present tense of salvation refers to the ongoing work of Christ. They are activities which require the active participation of the believer. Thus, this tense of salvation puts responsibility on the believer. This tense of salvation uses verb tense, that is, instructions, commands or responsibilities to be carried out by believers. Also note these are the ones that we shall be rewarded for at the judgment seat of Christ, as opposed to the past tense of salvation that is a gift from God and not a reward for good work well done. Prayer, evangelism, walking in love, spiritual growth, etc are all examples of this tense of salvation as it puts responsibility on the believer. So prayer today is for the believer to do, it is not for you, not even holy Mary can pray for you. The responsibility to pray is on the believer. The future tense of salvation is what is referred to as the rapture which by biblical deduction, it is the salvation of this physical body, that is, where mortality will put on immortality. The believer therefore cannot be passive in prayer but the believer should be active in prayers since it’s an ongoing work of Christ that requires his active participation. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Be involved in the ongoing work of Christ.
CONFESSION: I declare that I am an active participant of the ongoing work of Christ, in Jesus Name. Amen.
For More Light, get the message, “The Potency of Prayer” by Dr. John Linus
QUOTE: An active attitude should be a believer’s attitude in prayers and not a passive attitude.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: ACTS CHAPTER 1; EVENING: ACTS CHAPTER 2
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 