Salvation ⇒ Encyclopedia

Salvation is a term used in the Bible very broadly. There are three main aspects of salvation, and we do well to understand and distinguish them. In fact, many errors have arisen from not understanding how the Spirit of God is using the term “salvation” in a given passage of scripture. As always, context is key. For example, the Lord Jesus said, “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Some wrongly interpret this to mean that a person who maintains good works to the end of their life will be eternally saved, and go to heaven. This would support conditional security, or the idea that a person can be saved (justified) and then lost again. However, the context of the verse reveals that the message is to the Jewish remnant in the tribulation, that those who endure persecution until the end of the tribulation will be saved from their persecutors by the judgment that falls. How important to understand the context!
  1. Eternal Salvation: Justification. This is salvation from the penalty of our sins. It involves forgiveness of sins in the eternal sense, and justification by faith, conscious peace with God, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Titus 2:11; Eph. 1:13; Rom. 1:16; Rom. 8:24; Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 15:2; Eph. 2:5,8; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3:5; 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Pet. 1:9). Once “saved” with this eternal salvation, a soul can never be lost! It is a mistake to think that “salvation” always refers to eternal salvation. More than half the occurrences of the words “save”, “saved” or “salvation” in the epistles refer to the other aspects of salvation!1
  2. Ongoing Salvation: Sanctification. Sometimes salvation has to do with being preserved spirit, soul, and body in this lifetime. Christ is in heaven living for us now as our High Priest and our Advocate, giving us strength for the path, and restoring us when we fall. It is a practical, on-going salvation (Rom. 5:10; 2 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:2, 4:18, 1 Tim. 4:16; Heb. 7:25; Jam. 1:21). This is also what is referred to as practical or ongoing sanctification. While all salvation is from and through God, in this aspect of salvation, the believer must cooperate with the work He is doing in us; “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” (Phil. 2:12-13).
  3. Final Salvation: Glorification. Sometimes salvation is looked at as something that we will receive at the end of our pathway when we are caught up to heaven and glorified with Christ. Ultimately, our physical bodies are still under the curse of sin; that will be removed at the rapture when we are given glorified bodies. We also are living in the world that is fast coming under judgment; we will be taken up before the Tribulation begins and therefore saved from the coming wrath (Rom. 5:9; Rom. 13:11; Phil. 3:20; 1 Pet. 1:5; 1 Thess. 5:8-9). 
A Christian who knows their sins forgiven, has justification and peace with God, and enjoys deliverance from sin can say “I am saved“. He can also acknowledge the work that Christ is doing in heaven, the progressive nature of spiritual growth, the providence of God, etc. and say “I am being saved“. He can also look forward with anticipation to the coming of Christ, to a glorified body, to the Father’s House and say “I will be saved“.
 
The Savior. In all these aspects, Jesus is our Savior. Each aspect in connected with Him in some way:
  1. Our eternal salvation (justification) is connected with His death and resurrection.
  2. Our ongoing salvation (sanctification) is connected with His life now glorified at God’s right hand.
  3. Our final salvation (glorification) is connected with His coming again!
The Shepherd. As the One who died for us He is the GOOD SHEPHERD (eternal, John 10:11), as the One who lives for us He is the GREAT SHEPHERD (ongoing, Heb. 13:20), and as the One who is coming again for us He is the CHIEF SHEPHERD (final, 1 Pet. 5:4)!
 
We see all three of these aspects in a short series of verses in Hebrews 9 (out of order), connected with three appearances of our Savior:
Appearance on Earth at His First Coming
Eternal Salvation
Heb. 9:25-28a
 “Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;”
Appearance in Heaven between His Comings
Ongoing Salvation
Heb. 9:24

“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:”
Appearance on Earth at His Second Coming
Final Salvation
Heb. 9:28b
 “and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
 
Other aspects of salvation include:
  • Salvation from a specific judgment or danger. There are times where the word “salvation” or “save” is used in New Testament where it refers to deliverance from a specific trial or judgment. We have already mentioned the deliverance of the Jewish remnant from the persecution of their countrymen (Matt. 24:13); they will be saved from their persecutors by the judgment that falls. Another example is the salvation of the Messiah, prophesied about in the Old Testament, but only commenced when the Lord came (Matt. 1:21; 21:15, Luke 2:30-32; 4:16-21). This same message, of governmental forgiveness of sins for Israel, was preached to Israel after Pentecost (Acts 2:40), referring to salvation from a judgment that was coming on the nation of Israel. Those Jews who had heard the gospel needed to accept it, not only for eternal salvation, but to be saved from the governmental judgment on Israel; “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3).
  • Salvation through fire (1 Cor. 3:15). The believer who ministers erroneously will suffer loss, because his works are burned, but he will be saved in spite of the fire. It is an expression given to mark the difficulty of it – “as through the fire”. Note that the fire is applied to the works, not the person. False Catholic doctrine twists this verse into supporting the idea of Purgatory, that the soul is purified by punishment in the intermediate state.
  • Salvation of the local assembly (Phil. 2:12). This is a collective aspect of salvation in which we Christians are called to play a part. In Philippi the assembly was going on well for the most part, but disagreements were threatening the unity of the assembly. If those issues were not worked out, eventually the assembly would become ineffective or it would experience a division. Paul exhorts them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”. This applies broadly, but also includes the preservation of the local assembly.
  • Salvation by baptism. Baptism is the way a person is outwardly disconnected with the world and is brought onto Christian ground in association with Christ. It can’t save inwardly or for eternity, but it can and does save outwardly for the present time. For example, Paul stood in a questionable place outwardly until he was baptized (Acts 22:16). His sins were gone before God the moment he was justified by faith, but he still needed to disconnect himself outwardly from his sins before conversion. Baptism doesn’t actually put away “the filth of the flesh”, but by disconnecting you with the world which will shortly be judged, it puts you into a place that “a good conscience” demands (1 Peter 3:20-21; Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16; Acts 2:40-41).
  • Salvation in the big picture. There are some places where “God’s salvation” is mentioned in the sense of His grand scheme for delivering the world from the consequences of sins. (Luke 2:30; 3:6; Rev. 7:10; 12:10; 19:1)
Context is key. Understanding which aspect of salvation is being referred to in scripture requires examination of the context. Often Christians jump to “salvation from our sins” as the de facto meaning of salvation everywhere, but that is a mistake. Often it isn’t salvation from the penalty of our sins that is in view.
  1. References to eternal salvation in the epistles (46%): Rom. 1:16; 8:24; 10:1,9,10,13; 11:11,14,26; 1 Cor. 7:16; 9:22; 10:33; 15:2; 2 Cor. 1:6; 2:15; 6:2; Eph. 1:13; 2:5,8; 1 Thess. 2:16; 2 Thess. 2:10; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 5:9; 6:9; 1 Pet. 1:9; 2 Pet. 3:15; Jude 1:3. References to ongoing salvation in the epistles (35%): Rom. 5:10; 9:27; 1 Cor. 1:18; 1:21; 2 Cor. 7:10; Phil. 1:19; 2:12; 1 Tim. 2:15; 4:16; 2 Tim. 2:10; 3:15; 4:18; Heb. 2:3; 7:25; 11:7; Jam. 1:21; 2:14; 5:15; 5:20; 1 Pet. 2:2; 3:21; 4:18, Jude 1:23. References to final salvation in the epistles (18%): Rom. 5:9; 13:11; 1 Cor. 5:5; Phil. 1:28; 1 Thess. 5:8,9; 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 1:14; 2:10; 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5,10; 1 Pet. 4:18.