It is often times used in a way that is not properly understood, it does not concern itself with the body and the ills of this life, it is not the same as is used in the Old Testament when the word meant that which involved only temporal blessings; this word today, salvation, talks about the state of the soul of man. Noah and his family were saved from the judgment inflicted upon the old world; the Israelites were saved from the Egyptians, and the companions of the apostle Paul were saved from watery death; but this is not the salvation of which we speak. When Christ was introduced to the world it was said of him, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” The salvation of which we speak, is the salvation of the soul in the present life. There is a present salvation and then there is a future salvation-both of these the child of God will experience. All people today who call themselves Christians anxiously expect a future salvation-or “the glory that is to be revealed in us at the last time!” The salvation of the soul is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the earnest paid down on our bodies.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted those: “to save themselves by repenting and be baptized for the remission of sins, in the name of the Lord Jesus.” The results-“and the Lord added, daily, the saved to the assembly.” The King James says those who “should be” saved. I never quite understood this “should be” business. How can somebody who is bought by the blood of Christ, cleansed in the blood of Christ, and thoroughly redeemed by Christ blood ever think there was a chance, condition that might make it possible NOT to be saved! The apostle Paul writes; “the gospel of the cross is foolish; to those that are lost, but salvation to those that are saved.” Again, to the Ephesians he says; “we are to God a fragrant odor of Christ among the saved, and among those who are lost. To Titus, he wrote: “God saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His own mercy.” The promise of salvation to the obedient is found in almost every public address recorded in the New Testament. In Christ covenant, the new covenant, everyone who “believed the gospel, and was immersed, was saved!” It was the apostle Peter who wrote that “immersion saved us, purifying the conscience because the resurrection of Christ proved it’s validity. As we come out of the watery grave of baptism, we are emulating Christ resurrection from the grave. To the Corinthians, the apostle Paul teaches, “the gospel that I preached ye received, and wherein you stand; was the gospel that saved you, if you keep in memory what I preached.” How could any Baptist preacher then tell his people that immersion does not save?
Christians are also taught to expect and hope for a future salvation-a salvation from the power of death and the grave-a salvation to be revealed in the last time. We received the first fruit of the Spirit, the salvation of the soul from guilt, pollution, and the dominion of sin, and came under the dominion of the righteousness, peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit. Or as he wrote: “Jesus, having not seen, you love; on whom, not now looking, but believing, ye received with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the reward of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
The convert to Christianity by the apostles were taught to consider themselves pardoned, justified, sanctified, reconciled, adopted, and saved by those apostles who preach the gospel of Christ. None of these things are personal attributions of the body, soul or spirit. All of these describe a condition that we, who have obeyed the gospel, have happily found ourselves in–called saved! There are many who do not understand this state called, saved. They think it an ambiguous term without definition. Childhood is a state; so is manhood. A person in childhood may sometimes act like a person in the state of manhood, and those in the state of manhood may show actions that would resemble childhood, but all of us understand the different states. We are expected to act in accordance with the state in which we exist. We are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son!!
