Salvation is by free grace alone and is purely a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). It is a divine gift that no man defines in its terms but God, the creator.
It is for this reason that no person can claim to have worked hard enough to gain the favor of salvation from God (verse 9).
Salvation originates from the free grace of God and aims at the glorification of God in all His perfections.
Excellent and free as salvation is, do we receive it once and have it for good? If salvation was a matter of accepting it just once and then having it for good, then the Bible would be a one-sentence book, but it is not.
The Bible, which is the infallible Word of God, has countless instructions, commandments, laws, and rules that are documented so that the living can be made perfect in the sight of God through it.
What does it mean to be saved? Bible verses.
This is a question that is asked by many people, not only Christians, but also non-Christians. The answer to this question has been confusing for many people, even to those who do not believe in God or any sort of afterlife.
Therefore, everyone needs to repent (turn away from sin) and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Acts 20:21). Salvation is a gift given by God through His Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
The word “saved” is used in different ways in the Bible. In general, it refers to being delivered from danger or destruction. When people believe in Jesus Christ, they are delivered from sin’s penalty and power (John 3:16). To be saved by God means that you receive His forgiveness and cannot lose your salvation.
Salvation is a gift from God, who offers it to everyone.
Salvation is not earned by any good deeds, and it is not lost by any bad deeds.
Salvation means eternal life with God in heaven. To be saved means that you have been forgiven for your sins and given the gift of eternal life in heaven through Jesus Christ.
You are no longer lost, but have been found.
It is important to understand that salvation is not based on what you do or don’t do. It is based on what Jesus did for us on the cross, when He died there for our sins so that we would be forgiven and have eternal life with Him.
Salvation is not a process; it is a one-time event. The Bible tells us that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Salvation is not something that will happen to us someday in the future; it is something that has already occurred.
When we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we are forever changed instantly. We become new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Bible states that “those who believe in him [Jesus Christ] may have eternal life” (John 3:15). When we place our faith in Him, we are saved from sin, death, and hell. Jesus Christ paid for our sins on the cross and rose again three days later so that we might have eternal life if we accept His free gift of salvation.
Can you lose your salvation?
Though salvation is a gift from God, it must be received by faith if it is to be effective. Faith means trusting God in all things and obeying him because we love him and want to please him. We must also repent of our sins.
After all, God is holy and just — which means He cannot allow sin into His presence. If we want to be with Him forever in heaven, we must be cleansed of our sin. But the good news is that God has made a way for us to be forgiven and reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.
Enemies of salvation
The real value of salvation is entering the Kingdom of God after this life. Knowing the value of salvation, the devil is all out to nullify it by sending out his evil spirits to influence people into acts of sin. Bible scholars class sins into three categories; sins of omission, commission, and the mind.
No sin is small or big, but it is all unacceptable before God, and it defiles the soul (Mark 7:20–23).
Therefore, without purity, there is no salvation. All impurities are purified through the blood of Jesus. Galatians 5:19-21 mentions just a handful of sins that make a person impure before God.
These are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing. This is by no means an exhaustive list of sins that God forbids; the list is merely endless.
Paul then ends this verse by saying:
The only enemy to salvation is sin. If we can deal with sin, then we can preserve our salvation.
Effort required to retain salvation
In the previous section, I have already indicated that there is no human effort that can impress God enough to warrant salvation. Yet, the Bible does give directives on how to maintain a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ.
These verses confirm that there is an effort that goes into finding and walking this narrow way.
The one that wants to maintain his or her salvation must live in holiness, righteousness, and truth. Believers are commanded to strive to make peace with all men and holiness, without which no man will see God (Hebrews 12:14).
The Bible portrays righteousness as a garment that should be kept undefiled (Isaiah 61:10). God gives this garment at the time when salvation is granted. The required standard of righteousness demands reverence for the Lord, and believers are always called to be mindful of this requirement.
Failing to keep up to this standard positions a believer in a state of nakedness and shame (Revelation 16:15). Jesus Christ, Himself, is a truth that a believer should live by to rightfully access God the Father (John 14:6).
Conclusion
The validity of salvation gets tested when a person dies, yet the person would know its validity while there is time to make things right with God.
Failure to keep your salvation valid until the point of death sadly has eternal consequences. God shows no favor to anyone, but faithfully judges justly according to what one has done while living in the body (1 Peter 2:23).
Be on the alert; let him that has an ear, hear that which God is saying to the churches, even in our time.
