What Is The True Meaning Of Salvation?

By Larry Cooper


The terms save, saved and salvation can be used in different contexts. At the basic level, the meaning of salvation is being delivered from destruction or danger. In the strict interpretation of Christianity, it means being delivered from sins. This means that you have been rescued from eternal condemnation that translates to living forever in pain and anguish.

Christians believe that it is Jesus who saves. It is the reason Jesus came to the world, sent by his father. Jesus died on the cross to redeem humanity from eternal condemnation. The aim was to defeat Satan and his powers, in the process winning heaven or eternal happiness for human kind. It was a sign of the love of God and His desire to rescue man from eternal condemnation.

How do people get saved? This statement implies that Christians have to make a journey. It can be translated to mean that there is a path to be followed. From James 2, 24-26, this path is that of obedience to the will of God. This obedience signals that your actions are in line with the world of God.

If salvation is an issue, who is this savior? As skeptical as this question appears, it is necessary. People have been arguing on who between Jesus and God saves. The Old Testament points at God as the source of all salvation. He sends people like prophets to redeem his people from hardships. Such incidences are recorded by Isaiah in chapter 43, 1st book of Samuel chapter 10, Jude 25 and Titus 2, among others.

Jesus Christ becomes the final savior for human kind. His coming was prophesied by Old Testament prophets. He is the ransom that God pays for people to gain salvation. In the New Testament, we are told that you have to go through Christ in order to gain salvation. It becomes difficult and irrelevant to attempt to separate God from Jesus Christ when talking about salvation because each represents a different dynamic.

Will everyone be saved? This is a difficult question to answer considering the scripture and its account of salvation. The books of gospel and revelation point at a selected number of people who God has chosen as his own. However, the same books point at a choice given to all human beings to decide their destinies. It is only the few who meet the conditions set that will be saved.

Is being saved eternal? One might think that because Jesus died on the cross, it is enough for everyone to be saved. This is not the case. Everyone has the duty of working towards his own destiny. Only those who keep the fire will be safe. It is an accumulation of good deeds and efforts towards living according to the will of God. Without that, even the pastors, reverends and bishops will not find salvation.

Salvation is not a command. Rather, it is a choice that every human being has to make from time to time. Only those who are ready to walk the journey will have the joy of living with Christ in eternity.




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