So far in this series (see “Once Saved, Always Saved, & Being Saved”) we have considered several principles we need to keep in mind if we are to be clear about the ongoing aspect of our salvation, what we are referring to as “being saved”: namely, that divine truth is always tw0-sided; that the security of our salvation relates to our eternal destiny, not to where we will spend the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the earth; and that the once-for-all aspect of our salvation, the new birth, takes place in our human spirit (John 3:6), while the ongoing aspect, transformation, relates mainly to our soul (Rom 12:2).

Now we need to consider another principle, which is that God’s full salvation must deal with not one, but two, basic problems we have before Him.

This is very clearly stated in Romans 3:23, quoted above, which is a key verse in the New Testament. The first problem is simply this:

“All have sinned.”

Almost everyone, even is he is an unbeliever, is aware of this problem, that we are guilty sinners before God. After this verse, roughly the next two chapters of Romans, up to the middle of chapter 5, show how God has dealt with this problem through the death of Christ on the cross, so that we can now be justified through faith in Christ.

But, Romans 3:23 shows us a second problem as well— one that very few, even among Christians, seem to be aware of. It is this:

“And fall short of the glory of God.”

This problem is not an issue with sin, at least not directly; rather, it is that, because of the fall, we can no longer fulfill the purpose for which we were created, which was to be the many glorified sons of God.

But, thank the Lord, after dealing with the problem of sin, Romans goes on, from the middle of chapter 5 through the end of chapter 8, to show us how God deals with this problem: by giving us His divine life. This section begins,

Much more then, having now been justified in His blood, shall we be saved through Him from the wrath; for if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in His life.
— Romans 5:9-10

Just as we saw, in Romans 3:23, the two problems we have before God, so in these verses we see God’s two solutions to our two problems.

First, God has already dealt with our sins through the blood of Christ, so that we are now justified; this took place in the past.

But second, even though we are now justified, we still must go on to be saved in His life. That is not something that has already taken place in the past; rather, it needs to be worked out in our daily living. It is, in brief, the ongoing, progressive aspect of our salvation, and it is this progressive aspect of salvation that brings us into God’s glory. So, this section of Romans concludes,

For those whom He foreknew, these He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.
— Romans 8:29-30

This is what it means to be “saved in His life”: that we are fully conformed to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God in glory. This is God’s response to our second problem before Him, that we “fall short of the glory of God,” and it is the end result of the progressive aspect of God’s full salvation.

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— 22 April 2026 —