Salvation is like a new car . . .

Buying a new car bears some resemblance to the Christian experience. The decision is made that a new car is needed, so we take a look at the model we want in the showroom or on the lot, taste what it will be like with a test drive, put down our money in exchange for a bill of sale, then wait until we can take delivery. In anticipation, we keep looking at that piece of paper, for in it our new car is fully described. Not only that, the paper says that it is ours; we just don’t have it fully in our possession yet, but our hope is secure until that day.

I thought of this reading Psalm 119:18 this morning. The verse says, “My soul faints for Your salvation, but I hope in Your word.”

Salvation is mine in three parts; I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved. God has forgiven my sin and removed its penalty from me. I have a whole book that tells me eternal life is mine, just like the car that I’ve not yet parked in my garage.

I’m still in the test drive stage though, discovering that He is giving me victory from the power of sin even in this life. The future looks sweeter and sweeter as those tests help me realize His ability to give victory over sin in my present experience of driving along the roads of this life.

However, that book, His Word, says that one day salvation will take me totally out of the presence of sin. Then full salvation will be fully mine. Until then, I look to the paper, the Word of God which assures me of this fact.

This is what the psalmist is talking about. He knows the past tense of salvation—that he is saved from its penalty. He knows the present tense and this verse might express his longing for more of that experience of being saved from sin’s power. He hopes in God’s Word because it contains the promises of God. From the Word, he knows that God will work in his life and give him victory over sin.

But he also longs for that future salvation where sin is no longer a present issue but past tense. He longs for the time when God has removed sin totally and he is saved out of its presence and into the presence of God.

Every time I am overcome by my sinfulness, I experience the same longing. When I confess my sin to God, I enjoy the sense of being forgiven and His promise to cleanse me from that sin (1 John 1:9), but I also look forward to that day where this sin/confess/sin/confess cycle will no longer be part of my life. Because this is written in His Word, I can be certain that this “hope” is a sure thing. I just cannot take delivery yet.