Defining Salvation

Christianity is full of its own lingo and vocabulary.  Words like redemption, covenant, holiness, faith, and a thousand others can be thrown around with some flippancy to the tune that these words have been emptied of their theological import.  One such word, that is a foundational brick in the house of Christian faith, is salvation.  The over use of this word has made a whimsical term used to describe a number of things, and for this reason it will be briefly examined here.

First and foremost, salvation finds its closest theological synonym in deliverance, as in, salvation is God's action of enacting His deliverance of those whom He saves.  This is the important, though all-too-often neglected, truth about salvation: it is an act totally of God, imparted to those whom He saves.

Famously, Paul writes: "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:9).  Thus, when we are speaking about salvation, we are dealing with the very heart of the gospel of Christ Jesus.

In the end, salvation refers to a huge theological assertion about God, not only in that He has redeemed humanity but, more so, that He has done it by the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Christ Jesus, and that through faith humanity can enter into that salvation.  There is vast depth and breadth when we use the word salvation, and to trim the word of its theological import would be to strip Christianity of Christ.  Therefore, let us speak of salvation with the reverence, humility, and praise that it so richly deserves, acknowledging that in so doing we will be worshiping God Almighty.