I just finished up (re)working through Vaughn Roberts' God's Big Picture. In chapter 7, Roberts offers a concise and helpful passage on the Spirit's work in salvation.
The Bible uses three tenses to speak of our salvation.... If we trust in Christ, we have already been saved, in the past, from the penalty of sin by the death of Christ: 'By grace you have been saved' (Ephesians 2:8). We shall have nothing to fear on judgment day because Christ has already faced our punishment in our place. But sin, sadly, is very much a reality in our lives. It is only in the future, after Christ returns, that we shall be saved from the presence of sin. So the Bible sometimes speaks of our salvation as something that is still to come. We shall receive its full blessings only in the future (e.g. I Corinthians 3:15; I Timothy 2:15). That just leaves the present tense (e.g. I Corinthians 1:18; 15:2). We are being saved, in the present, from the power of sin. Although we shall never be sinless this side of heaven, God is at work within us by his Spirit to help us fight sin in our lives and become more like Jesus. We must certainly play our part and work hard to resist evil, but we are not left to do so on our own. It is 'by the Spirit' that we are to 'put to death the misdeeds of the body' (Romans 8:13).
In addition to many helpful sections (such as the one above), Roberts' books provides a quality outline of Scripture's main themes (particularly Christocentrism). God's Big Picture (for those unfamiliar with its content) will prove to be an invaluable tool for interpreting Scripture. For anyone who hasn't read this brief, quite approachable book, I highly recommend it.
Semper Reformanda
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