January 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Salvation is present and salvation is future. We have been saved and we hope for salvation. If we mean by salvation that our sins have been forgiven, salvation is present. "Are you saved?" "Yes, I am." But we are still subject to pain and death, and we are still liable to fall into sin. "Are you saved?" "I expect to be saved." Salvation is also future. Remember: hope that is seen is no hope.

We understand this situation better if we think of forgiveness as one of the first fruits of the kingdom. Since Jesus came into the world, the powers of the kingdom are present. But God's kingdom is not yet fully established. For that we will have to wait until Jesus comes again. That will be our full and final salvation.

We should not expect too little of the effect of Christ's Spirit in the present life. If we belong to Christ, our sins have been forgiven and we can do good works. Sin does not rule us anymore. Christ rules us through his Spirit. Our hearts are changed.

At the same time, we may not expect too much of the Christian life in the present world. Our lives are not going to prove to us that we are saved. That certainty is always outside of us—in Christ Jesus. We hold on to salvation only by faith. In other words, we live "in this hope." And hope refers to the future.

This is the tension that is necessarily present in every Christian's experience: we have it already and we don't have it yet. Why? Because the kingdom has come and yet has not fully come. Therefore we pray even more earnestly: "Your kingdom come!" Or: "Lord, fulfill my hope. Haste the day when my faith shall be sight."

As a matter of fact, when you can pray this with your whole soul, you are a Christian.

Reflections

How do you experience the tension described in this reading?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.