What Does “Salvation” Mean?

Christians often talk about “salvation” and “being saved”. However, what does it mean according to the Bible?

From the Anger of God

To be saved means to be rescued from something negative. So, when Christians say that a person is saved, what is he saved from?

The Bible teaches that God’s anger is against people who are sinful (Rom. 1:18; 2:5, 8; Eph. 2:3; 5:6; Col. 3:6). This anger of God is not a petty anger, but rather a righteous attitude against unrighteousness. God must have this righteous anger because he is the righteous judge of the world.

All humans are hopelessly unrighteous because of our sins. Because of our unrighteousness, we will experience God’s righteous anger unless we are saved from it. This is why, according to the Bible, salvation means being saved from God’s righteous anger against unrighteousness (Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10).

Accomplished by Justification

Since God’s righteous anger is directed against us because of our unrighteousness, the only way that we can be saved is if we are made righteous in God’s sight. The act of being made righteous is called “justification”. To be justified means to be made righteous.

After we were justified, we are now righteous, and no longer unrighteous. Thus, God’s anger is no longer directed against us. Since justification leads to salvation from God’s anger, justification is salvation (Rom. 5:9).

Based on Jesus’ Death

However, God cannot simply ignore our sins and justify us. Because God is the righteous judge of the world, he must punish sinners for their sins by death. So then, how could God justify us even though we have sinned?

We deserved to suffer death from God as the rightful penalty for our sins (Rom. 5:12; 6:23). When Jesus died on the cross, he suffered that death penalty in our place. Since Jesus has already been punished for our sins in our place, we no longer have to suffer that death penalty again, and God can now justify us. Thus, Jesus’ death is the righteous basis on which God justifies us.

Received through Faith

How can we receive this justification from God in order to be saved?

A person is justified through faith. This means that he is made righteous by God when he believes in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22; 5:1; Gal. 3:24). Hence, we are saved through faith (Eph. 2:8).

In the Bible, justification through faith is contrasted with justification through doing good works or keeping God’s law (Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16; 3:11). Because justification is based on Jesus’ death on the cross for us, we cannot receive this justification by doing anything to earn it. Otherwise, Jesus would have died for nothing (Gal. 2:21). That is why we must receive justification through faith, by trusting only and totally in Jesus.

Unto Everlasting Life

In terms of our experience, the completion of our salvation is eternal life with God. Titus 3:7 says that, “being justified by his grace, we might become inheritors of eternal life according to hope.” The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, says: “For thus God loved the world, such that he gave his unique son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but should have eternal life.”