Well, like every journey, it has to have a beginning. And the beginning of starts with God seeking you out, as He did Abram, and Nathanael, and inviting you to go on a long, long trip, with Him as the tour director, and no going back. And the ticket is paid for. You only have to meet the requirement of believing in Him, based on His history with others, leaving everything you have behind, as Peter and his fellow fishermen did, including their homes and Moms and Dads.
Now, when the trip labeled Salvation, or in the pre-Christ times Redemption (which is about the same thing), you need to count the cost, for when God saves, it is for ever, and it happens once, at the beginning, for good, with lasting effects.
Before The Law:
"Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale" (Isa. 29:22 AV).
Jehovah ordered, Abram believed, and The Lord redeemed. (Gen. 12:1, Heb. 11:9).
"Redeemed" above is in the perfect tense, a action performed, once for all time, with ongoing consequences.
"The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; . . ." (Gen 48:16 AV).
Isaac spoke of The LORD to Jacob, and Jacob hd a dream at Luz, which he naned Bethel. There Jacob belived in Christ, and God saved/redeemed him (Gen. 28:20-22). "Redeemed" here is in the perfect tense. Once completed, with ongoing effects.
Under The Law:
"And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity," (2 Sam 4:9 AV).
The Lord sent Samuel to anoint David, David responded and was anointed, and the Holy Spirit was upon him thereafter. David was redeemed, and the tense of the verb is the perfect tense. An action, once completed and irrevocable, with lasting results.
"And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace" (Lk. 7:50 AV).
Mary Magdalene showed her faith in the Lord Jesus, and was saved, not by her works, but by her faith.
"Saved" here is in the perfect tense, Jesus saved her ar once, forever, with lasting consequences.
"And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee" (Lk. 18:42 AV).
A blind beggar, in faith, cried out to Jesus passing by, and had faith to trust Jesus to give him site. Jesus saved him on the basis of his faith unaccompanied by any works, and gave him sight.
"Saved" here is in the perfect tense: an action once for all time completed, with eternal consequences.
Under Grace:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" (Eph 2:4-5 AV).
Those who were saved, were dead in sins and absolutely unable to perform any acceptable works toward The God, but he saved them, each individual at once for all time, with everlasting consequences of new birth, new life, and new Lord.
"Saved" here is in the perfect tense.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph 2:8-9 AV).
Referring to the same souls, they are saved by grace and faith apart from any human beneficial (or detrimental) works, penance duties, acts of contrition, etc. because people who are unsaved, who are dead in spirit to The God and His Christ, cannot do anything pleasing for Him. He saaves in spite of what you are, who you are, or what you do., based on crying out in sensible longing faith, "Please save me!"
"Saved" here is in the perfect tense--somthing done once at a point in time, never needing to be repeated, with ongoing and increasing effects.
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Are you getting the point?? "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:12-13 AV).
You can't work out a salvation which is not already yours, permanently, and for all time. Yes God is more often interested in the process, perhaps more than the product. But you can't have a process, which in this case is sanctification, that doesn't start with an initial event, which is the act God performs gratuitously--salvation--the result being having Him as the new and permanent owner and proprietor of this piece of dead meat.
So, lets not hear anything more about penance having anything to do with this redemption, this act of salvation, this change in ownership. The Savior is not interested or impressed with penance, a self-imposed inversely prideful suffering. There's enough unwanted suffering without it, and He's already done more of it for you already than you can comprehend.
Was the Holy Spirit was upon him even as he murdered another man so he could take the other man's wife in adultery ?
Here are a few verses to that effect and I know there are more.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
1 Corinthians 1:4-8 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 5:4-8 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3156607/posts?page=313#313
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
For which the Greek, from the Byzantine, is:
2Corinthians 1:21-22 ο δε βεβαιων ημας συν υμιν εις χριστον και χρισας ημας θεος ο και σφραγισαμενος ημας και δους τον αρραβωνα του πνευματος εν ταις καρδιαις ημων
The first word in bold above is “bebaion,” the idea of confirmation, frequently used in commercial settings to confirm a bargain. Which of course makes sense of the remaining terms used here, which are also elements of a secured contract.
The second word in bold above is “sphragisamenos,” being sealed is to be marked by the signature, signet ring, or other unique proof of identity, that we belong to God, and this sealing is done by God, who is the one taking action in this verse. We do not and cannot seal ourselves. We do not, by our own powers, have access to God’s “signet ring.”
The third bolded word above is “arrabona,” and indicates what we might loosely refer to as earnest money, but in Hebrew culture conveys more the idea of a pledge of covenant, a security given as a guarantee that the deal will go through, though we only receive part payment at the beginning. See ערב for the related Hebrew stem indicating “pledge.”