Are you saved, or is it too soon to so declare? Paul's writings can support either view -- either salvation by present justification, or salvation by future events or states post-justification. I doubt I can improve on David Nienhuis' summary in “Reading James, Rereading Paul,” in The Early Reception of Paul the Second Temple Jew (2019):
"On further exploration one discovers that Paul does not typically assert that faith by itself “saves.” Faith is described as the power that justifies the believer to enable a present, empowering relationship with God through the Spirit, but salvation is reserved as a future tense reality; it is depicted as the telos of justification, but justification and salvation are not understood to be the same thing. One is justified, but one is being saved (see, e.g., Rom. 10:9-13; 11:26; 1 Cor. 1:18; 5:5; 7:16; 15:2; 2 Cor. 2:15; Phil. 2:12-13). A passage from Paul’s initial overview of justification in Romans (5:1-11) may be taken as paradigmatic: “Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (5:9-10).
"By contrast, discussions of justification—and with it, the notion of salvation as an unfolding process —occasionally disappear when one turns to other Pauline letters.
Eph. 2:5, 8—. . . by grace you have been saved through faith . . .
2 Tim. 1:8-9—. . . relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling . . .
Tit. 3:4-5—. . . when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us . . .
"Indeed, it seems that some letters replace the language of justification with the language of salvation realized in toto—and with it, the understanding of salvation as a process of redemption orchestrated by God, a process which calls for active participation on behalf of the believer."
Where do you come down on Paul's theology here? Are you saved, or are you being saved?
"On further exploration one discovers that Paul does not typically assert that faith by itself “saves.” Faith is described as the power that justifies the believer to enable a present, empowering relationship with God through the Spirit, but salvation is reserved as a future tense reality; it is depicted as the telos of justification, but justification and salvation are not understood to be the same thing. One is justified, but one is being saved (see, e.g., Rom. 10:9-13; 11:26; 1 Cor. 1:18; 5:5; 7:16; 15:2; 2 Cor. 2:15; Phil. 2:12-13). A passage from Paul’s initial overview of justification in Romans (5:1-11) may be taken as paradigmatic: “Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (5:9-10).
"By contrast, discussions of justification—and with it, the notion of salvation as an unfolding process —occasionally disappear when one turns to other Pauline letters.
Eph. 2:5, 8—. . . by grace you have been saved through faith . . .
2 Tim. 1:8-9—. . . relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling . . .
Tit. 3:4-5—. . . when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us . . .
"Indeed, it seems that some letters replace the language of justification with the language of salvation realized in toto—and with it, the understanding of salvation as a process of redemption orchestrated by God, a process which calls for active participation on behalf of the believer."
Where do you come down on Paul's theology here? Are you saved, or are you being saved?