...and also "your faith has saved you, go in peace".
Have listened again to Ray's fantastic study on being saved. Decided to quickly check myself and searched for "saved" in the NT. Sure enough, almost all of the results were in the context of "may be saved", "will be saved", "those being saved" and so on, obviously meaning both an ongoing process and something to be completed in the future.
The number of scriptures if nothing else point to the truth of the matter, however knowing that Ray (and you guys) are big on explaining things in Scripture that seem contradictory, can anyone suggest why Jesus seems to imply that salvation "has come" to Zacchaeus, and the woman with the perfume has been saved?
The only thought I had on the matter relates to God creating us in His image. I know Ray says He "is creating us" in His own image, but to my mind He did at least start - there is something of God's image within us, being steadily built up and perfected (I don't think that we are just flesh apes who suddenly inherit the full perfect image of a God at the resurrection). Similarly, is it fair to say that to the true Christian, he/she has been saved, is being saved and will be saved?
In this way, just because these two characters exhibit dramatic expressions of their faith doesn't mean they were not "being saved" from that moment, and also "will be saved" when they are raised up up at the first resurrection.
However, even with this thought process, not sure how it squares with Ray's claim that Jesus never converted anyone in His ministry?