What Is Salvation?...

Salvation is literally being rescued from a calamitous, dangerous, threatening condition; namely in our case, hell and the wrath of God.  If you ask the man on the street if he's saved, he might inquire:  Saved from what?  The term is loosely used and misused to even mean being "saved by the bell" in boxing matches.  This concept is important because that's the meat and potatoes of Christianity:  salvation from self, sin, Satan's power, and hell.  Our faith is one of salvation and the saviorhood of Jesus must be made manifest front and center as the focus of our faith.  The actual, literal interpretation of the name Jesus means "Jehovah is salvation."  He was named Jesus because He was ordained to save His people from their sins. 

Now we must not neglect such great salvation and realize its implications!   He saved us; He did.  He keeps us; He does.  He's coming for us; He will.  And so it's more than mere forgiveness!  We are set free from the power of Satan and sin over our lives; we don't have permission to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit.  Our past is indeed forgiven (in fact, all our sins, past, present, and future); our present is given meaning, and the future is secured and given hope. Only in Christianity are we given dignity and meaning in life that has objective as well as subjective foundations.

We must never contextualize, water down, or dumb down the gospel message but realize that the bad news of universal sin and total depravity must also be preached--not just the good news about Jesus rising from the dead.  Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost and the sinner, not the righteous.  There is a danger of preaching easy-believism or cheap grace that justifies the sin, not the sinner too. Lordship issues must not be glossed over!   We don't add to grace either:  grace is not only necessary, as Catholics will acknowledge, but sufficient!  We are saved wholly by grace and not by our merit--we don't deserve it, cannot earn it, nor can we pay it back, nor can we add to it!

The essence of the gospel is that "salvation is of the LORD," according to Jonah 2:9.  This means that we don't have to cooperate or contribute our human do-goodery or good conduct as a presalvation work or merit.  Nothing we can do can make us fit for salvation!  The only way we can be assured of our salvation is that it wholly depends on God, not on us.  If we had to do anything, we'd fail!  Therefore, it's not Jesus plus (plus going to church, plus doing good deeds, plus charity, plus preaching, or even plus prophesying or doing any miracle).  Jesus alone saves, not faith--it's the object that saves (Jesus alone is the Savior)!

Much confusion arises in understanding this because of the tenses and times of salvation:  we are saved, are being saved, and shall be saved!  As for the timing:  It all began in eternity past, is realized in time, and looks forward to heaven.  The formula of the Reformers was that we are saved by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone (God's grace is the source, Christ the means, and faith the channel). If we have no works to validate our faith, it's suspect.  Therefore, we are not saved by good conduct nor by good works either, but unto them.  As they say, we're not saved by good works, but not without them either! 

In sum, we get saved by recognizing our sin, realizing Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf, and repenting of our sin and finally, receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior.  As a result, we get the power to live in the Spirit and conquer sin, a new purpose in life, pardon of all our sins (known and unknown), and even the peace of God which surpasses understanding.    Soli Deo Gloria!