The Bible sometimes speaks of the same thing from different perspectives in time – past, present and future. For example, salvation is presented in the past, the present and the future.

• Salvation is past tense: Rom 8:24 – “For in this hour we were saved.”
• Salvation is present tense: 1 Cor 1:18 – “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
• Salvation is future tense: 1 Cor 3:15 – If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved.”

The emphasis is different depending on the perspective:

• Salvation is past tense: At the moment of Justification we were saved from the penalty of sin.
• Salvation is present tense: Through sanctification the indwelling Holy Spirit increasingly saves us from the power of sin.
• Salvation is future tense: At the moment of glorification we will be saved from the presence of sin.

With the resurrection, the future has invaded the present. We now live in overlapping ages. The kingdom of God has begun but is not yet consummated. Scripture presents God as moving in all facets of time from our perspective.