In this message I would like to say a further word on the three stages of God’s full salvation.
First Peter 1:5 says, “Who are being guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.” Many years ago I was bothered whenever I read this verse. I was troubled by the phrase “unto salvation.” According to this phrase, it would seem that we do not yet have salvation, for we are being guarded by the power of God unto salvation. I could not understand why we are being guarded unto salvation if we have already received salvation. I was certain that I had received God’s salvation and had been saved. Regarding this matter, I was very strong. Whenever someone asked me if I had been saved, I replied, “Yes, I have been saved.” Furthermore, I visited many places preaching the assurance of salvation. I pointed out the verses in the New Testament that indicate that, when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were saved and that we may have the assurance of this salvation. But here is a verse in 1 Peter 1:5 with the phrase “unto salvation.” I wondered if Peter was correct in his knowledge regarding salvation. I thought that he might have said something wrong according to doctrine. I had such a consideration because I was puzzled, bothered, by this verse.
In 1:5 Peter says that this salvation is “ready to be revealed.” This means that salvation is not yet here. Therefore, I said to myself, “What does it mean that salvation is ready to be revealed? I have already received God’s salvation. How, then, can salvation be ready to be revealed? Peter says that salvation is ready to be revealed at the last time. What is this last time?” I was bothered not only by the phrase “unto salvation,” but also by the words “ready to be revealed at the last time.” I did not know why salvation had yet to be revealed, and I did not understand when the last time would be.
I was puzzled by 1:5 for almost forty years. Only in the last period of my Christian life did I begin to understand it. Now I realize that salvation is not a simple matter. Salvation covers a long span and cannot be enjoyed or experienced all at once. God’s full salvation is of three stages: the initial stage, the progressing stage, and the completing stage. I would encourage all the saints, especially the young people, to gain a thorough knowledge of these three stages of God’s full salvation. In particular, we need to understand what God’s salvation does for us in each stage. We need to know from what we are delivered by each stage of God’s full salvation. We also need to know the items or aspects of this salvation and its results. In each of the three stages of God’s full salvation we are delivered from particular things, we experience certain matters, and we have definite results.
The word “salvation” in 1:5 denotes the full salvation of the Triune God. This means that it does not refer only to a part of our salvation, to that initial aspect of salvation that comes through the Savior, Jesus Christ. Rather, this is the full salvation of the Triune God, of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In this full salvation a great part is accomplished by the Father; another great part, by the Son; and yet another great part, by the Spirit. Therefore, this salvation is the full salvation of the Trinity of the Godhead.
The full salvation of the Triune God comprises many items in three stages. As we have pointed out, these stages are the initial stage, the progressing stage, and the completing stage. These three stages are not divided according to knowledge or merely according to objective aspects of God’s salvation. On the contrary, these stages are arranged according to life. Spiritual life, as we all know, begins with regeneration, continues in transformation, and reaches maturity in the stage of consummation. Therefore, these three stages of salvation are divided according to the experience of life.