God's redemption is according to His economy. In one sense, God's redemption has already been accomplished, but the application, or the practice, of God's redemption requires a long process. In the view of God's economy, we became fallen in Adam six thousand years ago (Rom. 5:12); Christ as the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8); and we were regenerated through Christ's resurrection almost two thousand years ago. This is the view according to God's economy.
Nevertheless, it takes time in God's economy for us to experience the redemption in Christ's death, in Christ's resurrection, and in the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit. We were sealed by the Spirit when we were saved initially, and this sealing will proceed until the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). Redemption here does not mean to redeem our spirit or our soul but to redeem our body. Our body still remains unredeemed. Redemption in its entirety was accomplished by God in an instant, but in practice and application redemption is still not finished.
When I believed in the Lord Jesus, I experienced His redemption in His death, but at that time I did not know redemption through resurrection. Then I began to love the Lord, to seek after Him, and to love the Bible. I studied the Bible for many years and eventually learned that redemption is not only through His death; it is also through His resurrection. Without Christ's resurrection God as life could not germinate us from death (1 Pet. 1:3).
After my initial salvation, through more than seventy years I have learned one lesson: to follow the Spirit, to walk in, according to, and with the Spirit, to be in the Spirit and with the Spirit, and to be mingled and mingling with the Spirit. I am still learning this. In recent months I have often confessed, saying, "Lord, I am sorry that I did not do this according to Your Spirit. O Lord, forgive me. When I spoke to my wife, I did not speak according to Your Spirit." I have not finished learning this lesson.
In the last step of His redemption, God will redeem our body at the fullness of the times. At Christ's coming He will transfigure our body (Phil. 3:21). That will be the completion of God's redemption.
We have not yet been fully redeemed, but we are on the way. On the one hand, the Bible says that we have been redeemed (1 Pet. 1:18-19). On the other hand, it says that we have been sealed by the Spirit until the day of redemption. Romans 8:23 says that we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body. When others ask us if we have been redeemed, we should say, "Yes, I have been redeemed, yet I still need to be redeemed." Even if we have been redeemed in our spirit and our soul, we are still waiting to be redeemed in our body.