In addition to this chronological flow of second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour and year by year, there is also in Greek (cheiros) and in English the distinction between the historical and the historic. Not everything that happens in history is historic; everything that happens in history is historical, but not everything is historic in the sense of having pregnant meaning and radical significance for everything that went before and everything that comes afterwards.

The Bible has this concept of a pregnant moment in the midst of time that changes everything. There is a cheiros, an historic moment that God had planned from the beginning of the world, by which he sends his only-begotten Son into the world to die upon the cross in an historic, once-for-all event. It is an event that can never be repeated, duplicated, surpassed, or even augmented. This is one of the reasons why Protestantism has reacted so negatively to the Roman Catholic celebration of the Mass. For the Roman Catholic Church, the Mass is, in a very technically defined sense, a repetition of the death of Christ, a representation of Christ to the Father. God certainly doesn’t need to be reminded of it, because that atonement, made in the fullness of time, was so rich, so inexhaustible and of such infinite worth that it never needs to be repeated. Nor can we possibly add anything to it by way of merit or value.

God does not wait for us to become righteous before he brings about our redemption.

A sinner is a transgressor of the law, and so we can say that while we were being actively disobedient to God, while we were in a state of rebellion against God, while we were hostile to God, while we were ignoring God, while we were refusing to submit to him, refusing to love him, refusing to worship him, at that time, while we were at enmity with God, Christ died for us.

It is used in the past tense, the imperfect tense, the present tense, the future tense, and so on. There is a sense in which we are saved, we are being saved and we shall be saved, because the full complex of salvation covers the whole of Christian experience. Justification occurs the moment I believe, and at that point I am brought into a state of salvation; but my salvation is still to be finalised, still to be consummated, still to be fully realised through my sanctification and my glorification. I

Not only has Christ’s death meant that we are justified at the present, but Christ’s resurrection life, which is promised to us in the future, will save us from the wrath of God in judgment. We will be given eternal life by Jesus.