Introduction
Most of us have heard the word salvation and many of us even know what it means when someone says they are “saved”. But what can we see about salvation in the Bible?
Biblical Salvation
Would it surprise you to learn that even though the word save is used 109 times in the New Testament that only 29% of the time it actually refers to salvation in the eternal sense? The Bible uses two words from the Greek: “sodzo” which means “to save” and “soteria” which means “deliverance or salvation”. So, what is Biblical salvation? The Bible breaks it down this way:
Rescued from Physical or Spiritual Illness or Death
The Bible has at least twenty-eight examples of the word save or salvation that means healed from physical illness or death. Sometimes this word is also used to mean whole or healed. All four Gospel books list examples, here are some:
Matthew 8:22-25 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. 23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
Matthew 9:21-22 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Matthew 27:40-42 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
Mark 3:1-4 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. 3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Luke 8:36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
Luke 23:38-39 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Deliverance From Sin and its Consequence
We also see many times when the Bible uses the word salvation or saved in relation to being delivered from the consequences of sin.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
2 Corinthians 1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
2 Thessalonians 5:8-9 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Revelation 7:9-10 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rescued from Eternal Death
And as mentioned earlier, though it is not the most common use of the words saved and salvation, many times the Bible speaks of salvation as the gift of eternal life.
Mark 13:20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
Luke 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
1 Peter 3:21-22 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
What Does it Mean When Someone Says They are Saved?
When someone asks you if you are saved, they are really asking you if you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior. Savior from what? Jesus saved us from the penalty of sin that we owe for our sin. That penalty is death and damnation forever (Romans 3:23-26; 6:23). They are asking if you have made a choice to accept God’s gift of salvation, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross to pay for our sins, so that we do not have to pay for them by our death and eternal damnation. Why do we need to pay for our sins in the first place?
The Need
Bear with me because this Biblical truth is the foundation to all other teaching in the Bible. To understand why, we must go all the way back to the first book in the Bible to set the foundation.
In Genesis 2:15-3:20 we see the origin of sin and its penalty. When God created the world, He made a perfect place and then He created living creatures to live in this perfect place. Among those creatures was the first man, Adam. God gave him only one rule (commandment) and that was to never eat from the tree that was in the middle of the Garden which was called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or else he would die. After that, God made a woman called Eve to be Adam’s wife. As we read on into chapter 3 of Genesis, we see that Eve was tempted by the serpent (Satan) to eat from that tree. She ate fruit from that tree and gave some to Adam to eat. This was the beginning of “sin” – breaking the only “law” that God gave to Adam.
Because of this first sin, death and its penalty were brought upon all of Adam’s offspring. We were born sinners and subject to its penalty because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12-19). In other words, we will all die physically because of Adam’s sin. In addition, we are all alienated from God because of Adam’s rebellion and we all can suffer eternal separation from God.
Because God loves us, He provided a way for man to become righteous and to be re-united with Him. However, the penalty for sin had to be paid. God temporarily instituted ceremonies and practices under an Old Testament system of laws and commandments to be used to pay (atone) for sin. This included the ritual sacrifices of animals that were without blemish – perfect (Genesis 8:20-22; Leviticus 11:1-12:6). This system of ritual sacrifices also pointed toward a day when a Savior, Jesus Christ, would give Himself as a living sacrifice to end all other sacrifices and provide a way forward for all of humanity.
The Good News!
The good news is that God is full of grace, and He offers that grace to “any”, “all”, “whosoever”, “the world” and everyone who believes in the promise that His perfect Son Jesus died as that perfect blood sacrifice for our sins (Matthew 10:32-33, 16:25, John 3:15-16, 6:40, 51, 10:9, 11:6, Acts 1:36, Romans 3:22, 1 Corinthians 15:22). Despite Jesus living a perfect life and never breaking any commandment, making Him guilty of sin, He chose to die a cruel death on the cross as a payment for our sins. It is by God’s grace through faith in what Jesus did on the cross that we are saved from the penalty of sin. It has nothing to do with anything we do, it is all about what Jesus has already done (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5).
Because Jesus was without sin (because He is God John 1:11-14) He is justified in the eyes of God. He is the replacement, fulfilment and our substitute for the Old Testament animal sacrifices. And through his death Christ turned away the wrath of God and made it possible for the believing sinner to be forgiven.
At the moment we believe in what Jesus did for us on the cross, we receive in us the Holy Spirit Who helps us to become more like Jesus every day. Holy Spirit also helps us understand the Bible and even know how to pray (Romans 8:26-39; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Acts 2:38). The amazing great promise of this whole thing is, as I heard one great preacher say: “One transgression plunged mankind into sin and one act of obedience and the death of Christ on the cross makes it possible for man to be saved”.
Jesus Did it
Again, I say, Jesus did not have to die on the cross because He was and is perfect. Yet He willingly allowed Himself to be sacrificed as our perfect lamb because we are not the perfect sacrifice (Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:11-12; 1 Peter 1:18-20; 1 John 2:2).
Since Heaven is a perfect place and no sin can be there, Jesus’ sacrifice made it so that anyone who believes that Jesus died for them can be there. Those that do not accept Jesus, will go to Hell because they still owe a payment for their sin because we are all born sinners (Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12; 1 John 1:10). But we can choose to go to Heaven through faith in what Jesus did (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is salvation in the “eternal” sense – also called eternal or everlasting life.
We Believe it
When we choose Jesus, our destination is immediately changed from Hell to Heaven. Do you believe that Jesus did what the Bible says He did for you? When you do, you are SAVED, and you have eternal SALVATION. If you have questions related to this article, please leave us a comment below.
