Salvation

While some people generally have a good grasp of what this word means, it is a good idea to clear up what this word ought not to mean to the Christian.  Salvation should never have, as its primary meaning, “Going to Heaven,” or even worse, “Avoiding Hell.”

It is true that there are some Christians, and I have met a few, who believe that the reason a Christian is “good” is because he is seeking to avoid punishment.  Such a person has never met Christ, because while the Bible says that fear of punishment may be necessary initially to wake an individual up from Babylonian stupor, (Jude 1:23) this is not enough to sustain an individual in justification.

If anyone wishes to understand the details of salvation, I would direct them the “Three Seals” series of New Moon studies, “The Bood Seal,” “The Spirit Seal,” and “The Water Seal.”  These explain that salvation, or the state of being sealed, may refer to a process rather than an event (this depends to some degree on the context in which the term is used).  Scripture uses salvation in three senses.  One “was saved” when Christ was accepted. (Titus 3:5)  Individuals “are saved,” by Christ as He keeps us in the walk of sanctification, (1Cor 15:2) and we “shall be saved” in a final, ultimate sense when the Messiah returns to glorify His people. (Mat 10:22)