The entire Bible defines salvation as the saving of mankind from sin and its negative consequences through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Every human being is born a sinner with a sinful, selfish nature. We, as humans, have a natural tendency to go against God’s will and to do evil. Because of our sins, we are all separated from God and deserve His wrath; thus, Jesus’ life was given to save us.
Christians assert that they have been “saved by God’s grace,” but what does this entail? God bestows salvation on humanity as a free gift. Jesus bearing our sins on the cross made the gift of sinlessness possible. As Christians, we place a high value on salvation. We must understand what salvation is and how to determine whether or not we are saved.
Key Takeaways
- Salvation in Christianity is spiritual deliverance from sin and its consequences, including death and separation from God.
- For Christians, salvation involves being cleansed of sins and accepting eternal life through God’s grace, achieved by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. Beyond being saved from sins, salvation also means being saved for a purpose—to live according to God’s intentions and share His word.
- Salvation is a gift from God received through faith in Jesus Christ, not through personal merit. Repentance and obedience to God’s commands are essential aspects of this process.
Contents
What Is Salvation, And What Does It Mean?
The Hebrew word for salvation, yasa (to save, help in distress, rescue, deliver, and set free), appears in the Old Testament. The definition of salvation is the preservation of or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.
Common examples of physical deliverance are incidents where a firefighter rescued a 3-year-old girl from a burning house, and drowning at the beach means that you were on the verge of death when a lifeguard rescued you.
However, great salvation is more than physical protection from harm. In Christianity, salvation is the spiritual deliverance of human beings from the power and consequences of sin, including death and separation from God.
The road to salvation in the Book of Romans presents a clear and structured path to a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, emphasizing the need for salvation due to the human condition of sin, the provision of salvation through Jesus, and the response required to receive salvation.
What Does Salvation Mean To A Christian?
When it comes to Christian salvation[1], deliverance is an essential aspect. Receiving deliverance (or rescue) from danger is referred to as “salvation.” For Christians, salvation entails cleansing our sins and accepting God’s gift of eternal life.
In the New Testament, salvation is divided into two parts: deliverance from eternal death, which is the penalty for sin (Romans 6:23), and deliverance from mortal shackles and enjoyment of eternal life (John 3:15).
Salvation means we are delivered. Even though humanity is subject to the eternal consequences of sin, God has provided a way out through the sacrifice of His only Son, Lord Jesus. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
“God demonstrates His own love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). We were destined to perish, but God, in His grace and love, saved us through Jesus Christ’s death.
Christians value salvation through obedience. Your obedience will show God that you have faith in him. It is considered evidence of your faith. We must love, believe, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, which necessitates obedience.
Praying for the salvation of others is not just a spiritual duty but also mirrors the core Christian value of selfless love, which Jesus exemplified in His teachings and life.
What Are We Saved From?
We are saved from God’s wrath, that is, from God’s judgment of sin, according to the Christian doctrine of salvation (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). All people are born sinners due to our inherited sinful nature from Adam. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Our sins have estranged us from God, and the result of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). We will all die; it is an unavoidable fact of life. However, the doctrine of salvation demonstrates that we can be saved from eternal death.
Biblical salvation refers to our rescue from the consequences of sin. According to the Scriptures, Christ died to rescue our souls from the consequences of sin (John 3:17).
We receive salvation through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that salvation is a gracious, undeserved gift from God (Ephesians 2:5, 8) and that it is only available through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Salvation belongs to God alone.
However, we must remember that the Christian life isn’t only about getting saved and helping others get saved. As we explore the teachings of the Bible more deeply, we learn that the concept of being “saved” not only implies being saved from something—specifically our sins—but also signifies being saved for a particular purpose.
Salvation is about saving us from our sins, but it is also essential to recognize that we are saved for a reason. God’s salvation doesn’t mark the end of our journey; instead, it initiates a beautiful life where we live as God intends us to.
We are saved to fulfill the purpose for which God has placed us on this earth: to share God’s word and to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world, demonstrating God’s love through our actions as we grow more like Him.
What Are The Key Terms Of Salvation?
Throughout the Book of Romans, Paul uses these terms to describe the gift of salvation and eternal transformation available to all who believe and trust in Jesus for the repentance of their sins. The more one understands the key terms used by the apostle Paul to explain the gospel, the more profound one’s experience with the word of God will be.
Atonement (Romans 3:25): “God offered Christ as an atonement sacrifice, and through the shedding of His blood, we receive it by faith. This act demonstrated His righteousness, as He had previously left unpunished the sins committed in His forbearance.”
God offered Jesus as a blood sacrifice to pay off the debt or atone for our sins. Paul writes that the gift of human salvation must be accepted through the sacrifice of God’s own Son to atone for our sins. We must accept this gift with faith.
Faith (Romans 1:17): “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Christian faith is trust in Jesus Christ and his ability to see you through any situation in life.
It is trusting God to make you into a new person by repenting of your arrogant, selfishly willing choices and allowing him to place the Holy Spirit on behalf of Jesus, his Son, into your heart and mind, where Jesus can do his work to give you a new life of service for God’s glory.
Gospel (Romans 1:16): The Apostle Paul taught us to be fearless in our proclamation of the gospel, or good news, of His death and resurrection. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and then to the Greek.”
Grace (Romans 6:14): Grace is an unmerited favor from God. In the Bible, God saves us through grace and faith. “For sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under the law but under grace.”
Justification (Romans 5:18): “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Paul is reflecting on the two greatest commandments, according to Jesus, to love God and our neighbors (Mark 12:29–31). He wishes to discuss our obligation as Jesus’ followers to love others, including our neighbors.
Redemption (Romans 3:23–24): “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet all receive justification freely by His grace through the redemption that Christ Jesus brings.” God the Father has assigned Jesus the task of bearing the judgment and wrath that we deserve for our sins. His Son took the judgment we deserve in our place, so we don’t have to do anything to earn salvation.
Righteousness (Romans 1:17): “The righteous shall live by faith.” When we put our faith in Christ, God sees us through Christ’s eyes and declares us “righteous” or “justified.” Being righteous is also a way for us to enter the kingdom of God.
Salvation (Romans 1:16): God’s salvation is deliverance from peril. Anyone who puts their faith in Jesus and His death on the cross for their sins will be saved. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2).
Sin (Romans 3:20): “For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” By nature, we are sinners. The law is a gift because it shows us how sinful we are.
We break God’s law in too many ways to count. The law teaches us about sin and leads us to the conclusion that we deserve God’s judgment, but there is a path to righteousness available to us apart from God’s law.
By Whom Are We Saved?
According to the Old Testament, Jesus Christ is the only way for men to be saved. Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as “our Lord and Savior.” Jesus is in the way for salvation to happen. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst,” says 1 Timothy 1:15.
“For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16–17). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it through him.
The Bible demonstrates how God, the Father, and Jesus Christ love us. God raised us in His image and likeness so that we could be like Him. To do that, we had to free ourselves from the bonds of sin. “But God demonstrates His love toward humans in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” says Romans 5:8. We are delivered from the wrath of God and brought into eternal life with Him.
How Do We Receive Salvation?
Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God.” God loves, forgives, and saves us. Our best efforts will never be enough to earn our salvation, but God declares us righteous through Christ. We only receive that grace through faith. God is in charge of our salvation.
We can have faith in Christ when we are sure that He exists, have a correct understanding of His character, and are aware that we are striving to live according to His will. Faith in Jesus Christ entails relying on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. Faith in Christ is the only way to be saved, because it is only by faith that we can be counted righteous in God’s sight (Galatians 2:16).
The doctrine of lordship salvation asserts that true faith in Jesus includes a commitment to obedience, arguing that faith without submission to Christ’s lordship is insufficient for salvation.
Moreover, repentance is the way for us to become free from our sins and receive forgiveness. Repentance is a spiritual transformation that brings us closer to God. It includes turning away from sin and seeking forgiveness from God.
Sins slow our spiritual progression and can even stop it. Repentance makes it possible for us to grow and develop spiritually again. A genuine desire to obey God’s commands motivates it.
The need to repent of one’s sins is a central Christian belief. The only true way to live an eternal life in heaven is to accept Jesus Christ into your life and ask Him to cleanse you of your sins. True repentance entails saying, “I have sinned,” in an honest, regretful acceptance of the sin and a commitment to change and live a life with Christ.
Proverbs 28:13 says, “You will never succeed in life if you hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.” We make Christ’s atonement powerful through faith and repentance in Him. Through faith, we can also receive strength to overcome temptations.
Summary
God made us in His image to reflect Him. However, we were born sinners. God’s mercy is manifested in our spiritual deliverance from the consequences of sin. Salvation is a free gift from God. We are saved to fulfill the purpose God has given us on this earth: to share God’s word and to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world.
If we believe that Jesus is the Savior, we will undoubtedly obey God. Disobedience is a sin or rebellion against God. Thus, our obedience will demonstrate to God that we believe in and accept Him. It is regarded as proof of your faith.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does Jesus Explain Salvation?
Jesus explains salvation primarily as a process of being spiritually reborn and saved from sin through faith in Him. He emphasizes the need for personal belief and a transformation that aligns with God’s will.
What Is The Bible Word Of Salvation?
The Bible word of salvation is often associated with terms like redemption, deliverance, and rescue, reflecting liberation from sin and its consequences.
What Is The More Meaning Of Salvation?
The more meaning of salvation extends beyond just being saved from sin; it includes entering into a restored relationship with God, receiving eternal life, and embracing a life of righteousness and service.
What Does His Salvation Mean?
“His salvation” typically refers to the salvation offered by Jesus Christ, meaning deliverance from sin and eternal death, and the gift of eternal life through Jesus’ sacrifice.