The preachers quoted here describe salvation as God's own supernatural work: something Christ does and not something a person achieves, the product of grace and not a debt God owes. They differ in how strongly they stress each person's responsibility to respond.
The Greek soteria means rescue or safety,1 and the Hebrew yeshuah, deliverance.2 The name Jesus comes from the same root, and the angel explains it: "thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). In the Bible salvation is first of all rescue from sin and its consequences.3
The New Testament speaks of it in three tenses. Believers have been saved: "by grace are ye saved" (Ephesians 2:8). They are being saved: the preaching of the cross is the power of God "unto us which are saved" (1 Corinthians 1:18). And they will be saved: "we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9), for "now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Romans 13:11).
It is God's work from first to last. "Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9). It is found in one person only: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
It is received, not earned. To the jailer's question, "what must I do to be saved?", the answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:30-31). It is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy" (Titus 3:5). Spurgeon wrote his little book All of Grace, he said, "to tell you that salvation is all of grace, which means, free, gratis, for nothing."4
Theologians distinguish what Christ accomplished from how it is applied: calling, regeneration, faith and repentance, justification, adoption, sanctification and glorification (Romans 8:29-30). Christians have differed on how God's choice and a person's response fit together; the classic statements are the Arminian Remonstrance and the Canons of Dort that answered it.
Whatever the differences, the warning and the invitation stand together. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
- Strong's Greek 4991, sōtēría: "rescue or safety (physically or morally)".
- Strong's Hebrew 3444, yᵉshûwʻâh: "something saved, i.e. (abstractly) deliverance; hence, aid, victory, prosperity".
- "Salvation," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia and Theological Dictionary (with 18 other reference works).
- C.H. Spurgeon, All of Grace, "Chapter 02: What Are We At?".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Salvation is not something you do, but it's something that Christ does when you receive him.
Kathryn Kuhlman
in Salvation Is Somebody
Listen at 2:38
Salvation is the blessed product of the God of all grace.
Rolfe Barnard
in Do Men Have Choice of Accepting or Rejecting Christ?
Listen at 17:20
Salvation is a supernatural work of God whereby when the Gospel is preached to you, you are struck by the greatness and the majesty and the holiness and the justice of God.
Paul Washer
in (True Disciple Conference) How Do I Know I Am Saved?
Listen at 16:10
Salvation is not by education, but by revelation.
Erlo Stegen
in Salvation Is by Revelation
Listen at 6:40
Where they differ
These preachers agree that salvation is God's work. They speak differently about the human side: one insists God owes no one anything, another that each person must attend to it himself.
Salvation is not God paying off a debt that He owes to sinful men, because He don't owe sinful men anything.
Rolfe Barnard
in Do Men Have Choice of Accepting or Rejecting Christ?
Listen at 17:10
Salvation is a personal matter that no one else can do for you; you must attend to it yourself.
Billy Sunday
in Old Time Religion
Read in context
What Scripture says
- Acts 4:12 no other name under heaven by which we must be saved
- Ephesians 2:8-9 by grace are ye saved through faith
- Acts 16:31 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved
- Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness, but according to his mercy
- Romans 10:13 whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved
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