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What do you think of when you you hear the word “salvation” or “being saved?” Specifically, I believe most think of going to heaven when you die as the full meaning of salvation. The meaning of this word has been warped fantastically by the devil, and is so misunderstood by Christians and non-Christians alike that it is of no practical value in the life and understanding of most believers.
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 5:23)
As there are three aspects to a person’s being, so are there are three aspects to a person’s salvation.
1) SPIRIT – A making whole by supplying that which is lacking. A person
becomes saved at the moment the holy spirit of God is birthed within. Where
before there existed only corrupt life, destined for death, there is now added
eternal, incorruptible life.
2) SOUL – The wholeness of this new spirit is worked out into practical reality in the consciousness and heart and the living of a person; who becomes saved as and to the degree that the truth of that new birth lives in their heart, which can only happen by the ongoing revelation of the spirit of Christ within. This wholeness is a progressive journey of awareness. The mind, psyche, logic, emotions, attitudes are thus made more and more whole.
3) BODY – A rescue from physical harm or an increase in physical well-being. Rescue from the “wrath of God” to come (if that believer is still alive) by the return of Jesus Christ and that person’s removal from the earth, where the wrath takes place.
John 3:15-17 That whosoever believes in (eis – unto) him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in (eis) him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
I love prepositions! They show the relationship between things. On, under, by, near, toward, away from – they’re so important! And I love how the Greeks defined their prepositions; by means of geometrical terms. The word eis, used above, was shown by the diagram of a ray (line) coming from outside of a circle and ending at the center of that circle. The motion of our believing is into the heart of Jesus Christ.
John 20:31 But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in his name.
I John 4: 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.
I John 5:12, 13 He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you who believe on (eis) the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may (continue to) believe on (eis) the name of the Son of God.
God did the work of saving us through His son, Jesus. God raised him from the dead. When any person believes into the heart of this very truth, he/she receives the spirit of eternal life, which is the spirit of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. This is wholeness of the spirit… salvation.
Now let’s take a look at salvation of the soul.
Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out (effect, achieve) your own salvation with fear and trembling.
This “fear and trembling” refers to the proper attitude of a household servant back then, who was to have respect with a readiness to hear and obey.
The phrase “work out” is the single Greek word, katergazomai, from kata… down, and ergazomai… to work. What saves a believer internally, or spiritually is already there; what remains is for that wholeness to be “worked out” into the mind (by revelation) so that it can be lived. Spiritual wholeness, or salvation, still needs to be worked out into practice, into the conscious, mental, emotional, physical world. Toothpaste in a tube isn’t useful until it’s “worked out.”
Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
“Works” is the Greek word energeo (related to ergazomai) meaning to be in work, operative, energized and energizing. Putting these 2 verses together, we see that the energy which God is supplying within us is our responsibility to see worked down or out into practice, to simply allow to happen! Thus does our salvation manifest itself into our souls, our psyche, and we become emotionally and mentally whole. Our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us, as they find expression in our practical, emotional minds, being founded on truth, cause our feelings and thinking to become healthy and sound.
Romans 10:9, 10 That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto (eis) righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto (eis) salvation.
The holy Scriptures are clear that our salvation is due to the work of this man, Jesus; which we receive by believing on his being God’s son, and on the work of his being raised from the dead by his Father. As our mouth gets involved in the reality of this inner salvation, due to its becoming the reality of our hearts, it becomes confirmed in our living.
Matthew 12:34b … for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Lastly, the salvation of our bodies.
I Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead; Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.
This is the salvation of our bodies, should we still be alive at the return of Jesus to gather together all his saints. These next verses of Scripture includes the idea of all 3 aspects of salvation.
Romans 5:8-10 But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life (in us).
This reconciling was done by giving us the spirit of God, (His very life, fully manifested in Christ), which saves us from the future wrath. Meanwhile, as that life is worked out into our understanding and then the living of our lives, the wholeness of the Christ within becomes the practical living reality of our salvation now!
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Related studies:What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and How to Preach It.
How to Be Born Again
How Do We Get Faith? ….. God GIVES It To Us
IN CHRIST – what does it mean?
True Christianity – in a Nutshell
