What Scripture Says about “Salvation”

“In classical Greek the verb sōzō “to save” and noun sōtēria “salvation” are used for the concept of “rescue,” “deliverance” or “salvation,” and even “well-being” or “health.” The Septuagint most frequently uses sōzō to render the Hebrew yasha‘ (“to save”) and the NT primarily employs sōzō and its derivatives for the idea of salvation.”
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Salvation,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1884.

I think it’s impossible to study the Bible without looking into “Salvation”.

Outside of the ‘history of the Bible’, salvation is one of the main focuses, themes, and messages of the Bible. After all, salvation is one of the primary forces drawing people into the Bible. It’s also arguably the most important factor about, not just the bible, but life (and the afterlife) in general.

Understandably, with something so important, and with so many eyes and minds focusing on this topic specifically… there tends to be ALOT of debate and confusion when it comes to salvation. So today we’re going to leap into the ultimate source for researching salvation! The Bible! And not just the entire Bible, but mostly hyperfocusing on some more specific verses and things Jesus said Himself. Since Jesus brought the New Covenant, most the verses we’re going to look at are in the NT.

Before that though:

“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."
ESV (Isaiah 45:22).

Some of the earliest direct words from God, about salvation, comes toward the end of Isaiah in Chapter 45. We are first told to “turn to [Him] to be saved”. As well as Him being THE God, and there being no other gods. At that time, most people were worshipping many gods, and most all of those gods were only credited with “why” things happened. Like; weather, gods are happy or angry. Same goes for crops, health, tides, winds, animals, it was all “due to the gods”. However, not many gods involved the afterlife, salvation, or any meaning or order behind it all. The one real God brings salvation when we turn to Him.

"let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
ESV (Isaiah 55:7).

We also get this gem before heading into the New Testament (NT).

Letting the wicked forsake his way (and the unrighteous man his thoughts), “let him return to the Lord”. This is telling us that even the wicked & unrighteous, if they foresake their ways (repent) and return to the Lord, that they will be pardoned, because our God is compassionate.

Into the N.T.

Matthew

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 
ESV (Matthew 1:21)

The Rich Young Man

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 
ESV (Matthew 19:16–26)

In Matthew, we see early on in the first chapter, that Jesus will “save his people from their sins.”. We get much more insight and details later on towards the end of Matthew, in chapter 19.

In chapter 19 we get an explanation and answers to questions we all ask:

• “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

Answer: There is only One that is who is good…. Keep the commandments…. Don’t murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t bear false witness. Honor your mother and father, and love your neighbor as you would love yourself (“the golden rule”)

• “Who can be saved?”

Answer: With God, all things are possible!

So, in Matthew we see that; with God, anyone can be saved, and that we need to be keeping his commandments. Which explains why The 10 Commandments are so talked about and memorized!

Mark

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 
ESV (Mark 1:15)

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 
ESV (Mark 16:16)

Here, in Mark, we get arguably two of the most critical verses about salvation.

First in the opening chapter, we are told by Jesus that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus has come to fulfill the Hebrew Law disclosed in the Old Testament.

Mark 16:9-20 is a passage deemed “the longer ending of Mark”, because it wasn’t in all the earliest manuscripts. We did a deep dive into that in the previous Bible Study. There’s ALOT of debate on this part of Mark, so we won’t get to deep here, but it’s clearly stating that “Belief” and “Baptism” are the way to salvation. However… I think it’s important to note, that it’s only specified “but whoever does not believe will be condemned”.

So once again, we see that the key to salvation thus far, is belief.

Luke

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 
ESV (Luke 5:32)

And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 
ESV (Luke 13:23–24)

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 
ESV (Luke 15:1–7)

• The Parable of the Lost Coin

ESV (Luke 15:8)

• The Parable of the Prodigal Son

ESV (Luke 15:11)

• The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

ESV (Luke 18:9)

Lukes gospel is full of insight through parables. Most in chapter 15 cover the same theme in all of them and it’s pretty easy to see, so I saved you some time of reading them all right here but you can click the cited links below parables to see them on the Logos site that I use for most my studies.

The running theme in Luke is that repentance is celebrated in Heaven. That angels rejoice, and God is pleased, when a lost sinner repents. It’s commonly misconceived in these parables that sinners are praised more than non-sinners… but that doesn’t make sense because we are all sinners. These parables merely highlight that repentance is GREATLY significant, although it’s not specifically claimed to be needed for salvation. This could be (and probably is) debated, but in these parables, I’d argue the main topic towards salvation would still be belief.

It’s not clearly stated to “repent and be saved” or “believe and be saved”, but with highlighting repentance for an entire chapter, and giving the same themed parables over and over and over, I think if a sinner is repenting… they must have belief. We Christians don’t pray to Zues or Allah or any other God, not just because that’s a sin, but because we don’t believe in those Gods, so our repentance and prayers would be pointless.

Alright, 3 down, 1 to go.

Johns gospel is a heavy hitter when it comes to salvation. So take a breath, take a few long blinks, and lets finish up in John with what Jesus said about salvation.

John

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
ESV (John 1:12)

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. ESV (John 3:5–8)

This verse finally answers a popular question, though, not the clearest. Again, we get belief in Christ, but we also get some baptism, or more literally “born again”, talk. And that’s where some confusion and debate come into play HEAVILY! There’s plenty more verses to get through in John though, so let’s come back to this.

For now, just remember; “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.“

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
ESV (John 3:16–18)

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
ESV (John 3:36)

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
ESV (John 5:24)

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
ESV (John 6:28–29) 

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life
ESV (John 6:40)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. 
ESV (John 11:25–26)

Guys… I mean… it’s getting abundantly clear, I think.

I might have been highlighting and spelling out the running key to salvation up until now (literally), but in John, we get a very clear picture of what Jesus is trying to tell us about salvation and being saved.

From saying that God gave his only Son so that believers in Him can have eternal life. And that Christ has not been sent to condemn the world but to save it. Because those who DO BELIEVE in Him are not condemned, but those who Do NOT Believe are condemned already for not believing.

To letting us know “that this is the work of God, that you believe in Him who he sent.”, as well as “this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life”.

And actually…

Let’s just throw in some of the final things said on this topic, in the gospel of John:

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 
ESV (John 12:46–47)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 
ESV (John 14:6)

Fun fact: There are 7 Hebrew and Greek words translated as “salvation” that are found 388 times in the Bible.

“Salvation” is one of the most widely debated and talked about topics of Christianity. Honestly, most the debate on that is between Christians with different interpretations. To be fair though, salvation is possibly the “ultimate” topic, and we all want to make sure we’re saved. Plus… here I am… debating salvation LOL

1. When it comes down to it though, the Bible is clear that belief is the specific and absolute requirement for salvation. Salvation comes through faith alone

2. While baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation, Christians should be baptized because the Bible commands it, as part of the great commission

3. Baptism is a symbolic act representing spiritual rebirth. Dying to one’s old self and emerging into a new life in Christ.

4. Throughout biblical history, many believers were saved without baptism, including Old Testament figures, the thief on the cross, and Cornelius

5. Salvation comes through grace, by faith in Jesus Christ – believing that He is the Son of God who died for sins and rose again

Did you catch that?

Not just that salvation comes from Faith alone…

Go back up slightly and reread statement #2.

Baptisms aren’t a prerequisite, but they’re part of the great commission.

“The Great Commission” isn’t coined in the Bible, but it’s about an essential part of the Bible, Christs teachings, Christianity, and why it’s even still around today.

So next week we will be centering our focus on the great commission and learning how to be better Christians!

See you then friend! Have a blessed day! ✝️🙏