Part 1 · Deep dive
What is salvation?
Saved from what, saved for what, and saved by whom.
'Saved' can sound like church jargon. In Scripture it is a vivid word: a drowning person pulled from the water, a captive set free, a sick person made well. To understand salvation, ask three questions: from what, for what, and by whom?
Saved from
Sin's guiltCondemnation removed
Condemnation removed
Sin's powerSlavery broken
Slavery broken
God's wrath and the second deathJudgment averted
Judgment averted
'Since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's condemnation' (Romans 5:9).
The devil and deathCaptives freed
Captives freed
Saved for
Salvation is not only escape. God saves us for adoption as His children, for holiness, for good works, for the church, and ultimately for eternal life with Him in a renewed creation.
Saved by
'Salvation comes from the LORD alone' (Jonah 2:9). The Father plans it, the Son accomplishes it, and the Spirit applies it. Ephesians 1:3–14 praises each person of the Trinity in turn.
Only through Christ
Peter told the same council that condemned Jesus: 'There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.'
The early church
The early church
Irenaeus of Lyons · c. 180 · Against Heresies 3.18.1
Taught that Christ 'recapitulated' humanity in Himself, so that what we lost in Adam, being in God's image and likeness, we recover in Christ.
Augustine of Hippo · c. 400 · Confessions 1.1
'You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.' Salvation is the heart coming home to God.
Key takeaways
- We are saved from sin's guilt, power and judgment.
- We are saved for adoption, holiness and life with God.
- Salvation is the work of the Trinity, through Christ alone.