What did Jesus mean by salvation?

Answer 1

Some would say, "He meant that the world would be saved and all of God's creation would prosper", but the truth is that Jesus himself limits that salvation to those who put their faith in Him as savior and Lord. He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father [God] as well." (John 14:6)

the apostle Peter stated, "there is no other name under heaven by which man may be saved" (acts 4:12)

Many Christians believe that salvation means to be saved from the wrath and judgments of God because of our sin. Jesus' sacrifice is the fullfillment of the Jewish laws of blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin. When a person puts his faith in Jesus they are forgiven of the wrong they have done.

this is based on several verses in the christian Bible, namely revelation 7:9-17 which says:

"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!...Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"

And I said to him, "Sir, you know."

So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

the judgment of God is spoken of in Revelation 20-21. it says:

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." (revelation 20:11-15)

and

" And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (revelation 21:6-8)

Hebrews 9 v28 says Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Answer:

Salvation is being saved from something. In the case of Jesus Christ, His salvation is saving men from death - specifically, the SECOND DEATH.

Death is man's greatest enemy.

The Bible says the first death is "appointed" to man... but Jesus is coming back to earth with salvation for those who are looking for Him:

"...and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." (Heb.9:27-28)

The timing of His return will also prevent man from causing the first appointed death of men from happening to everyone all at once.

Most men like living and don't want to die. Man has been trying any and every way he can to prevent death. But Jesus says that He has it to "give away"... but we have to do something. We need to undergo an "attitude change":

Jesus said that our words and actions come from our heart. He said that "out of the overflow of our hearts, our mouths speak" If we are to change, we must change our heart. Jesus said that this is being "born again". In John 3:3 Jesus tells Nicodemus, who was a Jewish Church Leader, that in order to go to heaven we must be born again. When Nicodemus became confused Jesus told him that we must be born again of the spirit. When we are born again the Bible says that we are adopted as children into God's family. It also says that our sins are washed clean and that God gives us a new heart. It is this new heart that enables us to be good men and women.

"...behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, THAT I MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?" (Matt.19:16)

The man was asking Jesus about "salvation." "What must I do to receive salvation?" "What must I do to be saved?"

While many professing Christian denominations today would answer, "Nothing,"... Jesus told the man: "...if thou wilt enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS." (verse17) Keep in mind though that this doesn't mean that we are saved by our works. Paul tells us that If it were possible to be saved by works, then Jesus Christ died for nothing. There are also several verses that speak against this. Romans 3:23 - 28 says, "God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus. What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law."

Again in Romans 11:6 Paul says, "" it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."

There is a Day of Judgment coming about which most men are confused or ignorant, but about which the Bible is very specific. The Great Day of Judgment will come at the end of Jesus' thousand year rule over the nations of the earth, as revealed in the chronology of Revelation chapter 20.

The saints of God shall receive their "salvation" a THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE JUDGMENT DAY... when Jesus first comes back to earth:

"...but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. BLESSED AND HOLY IS HE THAT HATH PART IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION: on such THE SECOND DEATH HATH NO POWER, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and SHALL REIGN WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS." (Rev.20:5-6)

The ones God is calling now have the opportunity to repent and receive their salvation... their immunity from the "second death"... a thousand years before it's offered to the vast majority of mankind.

The "second death" from which Jesus saves us happens on Judgment Day... not when we die the "first death," that's appointed to us.

And when, on Judgment Day, everyone receives Jesus' "salvation" whose names will be written in the Book of Life... then, graves and death itself, man's greatest enemy, will be no more: "... THIS IS THE SECOND DEATH." (Rev.20:14)

"For He must reign, till He hath put ALL ENEMIES under His feet. THE LAST ENEMY THAT SHALL BE DESTROYED IS DEATH." (I Cor.15:25-26)

That's what Jesus means by "salvation."