Saved is past tense....
Not future tense....
Not present tense.
Saved is something that happens AFTER you die....
Mostly
Not really. "Salvation" is a word that had meaning for Israel in the present world as they were delivered from their enemies and various plagues and punishments. They were delivered by obedience to the Law. This was, for them, "salvation."
But as you indicate, there is a wider scope to the whole idea of deliverance from punishment. Man had never really been restored after the Fall, being that we still die. And so, you rightly point to a future resurrection, after we die. But you shouldn't ignore any present sense of "salvation" either!
There is the FREEDOM from sin that accompanies following the Gospel message but that's not exactly what is presently being discussed.
And there is the "Tabernacling" with God while here on Earth.....
Bur again another diversion from discussing eternal life.
Tabernacling with God and living a life of repentance from sin is being "born again," or living by a new nature, freed from the condemnation of sin. Israel had always been told to live by the spirituality and righteousness of God, as opposed to life of independence from God and sin. But they never had, until Christ, freedom from the condemnation of sin.
And so, we call living in the spirituality and righteousness of God today "living in Christ" and "new life." It is a "new nature," associated with Christ's perfection in the legal sense even though we still remain "sinners" in our carnal nature.
This is "salvation" as Christians use the term. It is "life in Christ" and has everything to do with how we live today. Eternal Life begins, therefore, today, and not just after death, in my view. We are delivered from God's punishment today, just as Israel was delivered from their enemies and from punishments in their own day. None of this requires that we die to be "saved."
So...Judas was not "Saved" from eternal damnation. He ran to it.
BUT
Did he believe Jesus was the Messiah?
Yes he did. After 3½ years of walking with Jesus....that pretty much speaks to belief.
So....
The real question for clarity is:
"Where did Judas go wrong?"
Belief that Jesus was the Messiah is not necessarily Salvation, although it can be. In Judas' case, his belief did not translate into "new life." He did not adopt the spirituality and righteousness associated with living in Christ alone, as opposed to our own carnal ways and independent judgments. We are to live in partnership with Christ alone, to be "saved." Otherwise, we are still under the wrath and punishment of God.
