The Four Salvation Questions: A Tool to Help Bible Readers Understand Salvation Passages

Q: “Salvation”—How do I determine what is being saved, and from what it is being delivered?

The Bible applies the word “save” to many contexts. For example, in Mark 8:25 the disciples asked Jesus to “save” them from the storm on the sea. And in Mathew 9:21, a woman decided she could be “saved” if she touched the fringe of Jesus’s garment; the Greek root word “sozo,” often translated as “saved,” is translated “I will get well” in that verse because in context the woman is hoping to be delivered from sickness.

These examples suggest that the key to ascertaining how to apply the word “save” or “salvation” is to observe in context what is being delivered from what. In contemporary language, the meaning of “save” is always determined by the context in which this term is used. We “save” leftover food. We “save” money. We “save” tickets. We “save” time. Relief pitchers “save” baseball games. Good coworkers can “save” our important project from falling apart.

In each of these uses, what is being saved and why it is being saved are entirely different depending on the situation. We determine what is being delivered, and from what it is being delivered, through the context.

• We “save” food by delivering leftovers from being discarded and putting them in the refrigerator so they can be consumed later.
• We “save” money from being consumed now so that it can be applied toward a later application.
• We “save” time by increasing efficiency, which allows us to spend time we would have spent on one thing to be applied to something else.
• A relief pitcher is awarded a “save” if they deliver a baseball game from being lost by putting away the other team in the ninth inning.
• A worker can “save” a project from being scrapped or shut down by making improvements such that the project begins to hit its designed objectives.

Just as with most words, the full meaning of “save” depends on context. The Greek language operates similarly; the words usually translated as “save” and “salvation” in the New Testament gain their full understanding of what is being delivered, and from what it is being delivered, through context.

The word “save” or “salvation” often appears in contexts that address a spiritual salvation. These applications fall into what might be thought of as three “tenses”:

• Past tense — a believer has been saved/delivered from the penalty of sin through faith in Jesus.

 

In the past, each believer was saved or delivered from the penalty of sin, which is separation from being a part of God’s family. God gives each person who believes in Jesus the free gift of eternal life simply because they believed.

As Jesus says in John 3:14-15, the faith required to gain salvation from the penalty of sin is to look on Jesus hoping to be delivered from the penalty of sin. As Jesus says in Revelation 21:7, the faith to gain deliverance from the penalty of sin is sufficient faith to acknowledge our spiritual thirst and look to Jesus to grant us the water of eternal life.

The free gift of salvation from the penalty of sin is received apart from any efforts we might make (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a gift freely given through Christ (Romans 5:15-16).

• Present tense — a believer is delivered continually, each day, from the power of sin and its adverse consequences through walking daily in the power of the Spirit.

Daily, in each moment of each day, believers are delivered from the power of sin and the flesh when we make a choice to set aside our flesh and walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:13, Romans 6:16). Each day we have an opportunity to follow and know God by faith and enjoy life with Him. We walk in the Spirit by setting our minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5-7).

Believers have an inner battle raging between our flesh and the Spirit, each of which “lusts” for us to choose to follow it (Galatians 5:16-17). There is an immense consequence based on whether we choose to follow the Spirit or the flesh; the consequence of sin is death, which is separation from God’s design.

As Galatians 5:13-15 sets forth, if we choose to follow the flesh, the outcome will be biting and devouring; broken and fractious relationships. God’s design is for the opposite; the law’s application to us is summed up in the command to love our neighbors as ourselves. As Romans 1:24, 26, 28 sets forth, choosing sin is a choice of self-destruction; lust deteriorates to addiction then to a loss of mental health.

Believers in no way earn or work to be justified in God’s sight; that comes through faith alone and is a gift of God’s grace—the past tense aspect of salvation (Romans 3:21-24, Ephesians 2:8-9). But this present tense aspect of salvation, walking by faith, is difficult work (Philippians 2:12); the goal of our efforts is to please God and do the works He prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).

• Future tense — every believer will be delivered in the future from the presence of sin when they receive a new, resurrected spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44). Each believer who overcomes will be rewarded with a share of Christ’s inheritance (Revelation 3:21).

In the future, each believer will be delivered or saved from the presence of sin when we live in a new earth where righteousness dwells. We can see this application of “saved” for a future tense quite tangibly in this verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans:

“Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”
(Romans 13:11)

We see in Romans 13:11 that as time passes from the moment someone first believes, the person’s “salvation” is getting “nearer” in time. That has to mean that the “salvation” being referred to in this verse is a future deliverance. This fits the context, which exhorts believers to live godly lives since the Lord will appear in the future and judge the world. When Jesus returns, we will be saved from the presence of sin; the Lord will set up a new earth in which righteousness reigns (2 Peter 3:13).

It follows that if we are to understand the Bible’s full meaning, it is therefore critical to look at the context of the occurrence of the word “saved” or any other term or account that describes salvation, and consider its meaning. All references to “save” and “salvation” are profitable for our instruction, but we will gain the most benefit when we understand the intended application (2 Timothy 3:16).

Here are four helpful questions Bible readers can ask to better determine what a verse or passage is saying about salvation. Ask these questions anytime you encounter explicit or implied scriptures about salvation, and you will be more likely to see what the Bible is saying in that passage:

1. WHAT or WHO is being Saved?
   The answer to this question is the “Subject of Salvation.”
   
   
2. WHO or WHAT is doing the Saving?
   The answer to this question is “the Savior” or “Agent of Salvation.”
   
   
3. What is the Subject of Salvation being Saved FROM?
   The answer to this question is the “Escape of Salvation.”
   
   
4. What is the Subject of Salvation being Saved TO or Saved FOR?
   The answer to this question is the “Purpose” or “Outcome of Salvation.”

1.  WHAT or WHO is being Saved? — The Subject of Salvation

The first question to ask is What/Who is being delivered/saved?

Almost all references to being saved in the Bible are with respect to humans needing saving. (According to some counts, 430 out of 434 Biblical references to salvation involve humans).

When we look closer at the passages of scripture that use “save” or “salvation,” we often find that there is a wide spectrum of what is being saved even when it comes to people. Listed below are passages that contain the Greek root word “sozo” or its noun form “soteria.” It is noted when these words are translated in a manner other than “save” or “salvation.” Old Testament passages are chosen when a form of “sozo” or “soteria” is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the “Septuagint”).

• Sometimes the “save” verses refer to a person’s physical body or part of their body that is saved.
  (1 Kings 20:31, Mark 5:34 where “sozo” translates as “well,” Luke 17:19 “well,” James 5:15 “will restore”)
  
  
• Sometimes it is their spirit being delivered from something.
  (Matthew 1:21, Ephesians 2:5, Titus 3:5)
  
  
• Sometimes it is a person’s inner being or entire person being delivered.
  (Matthew 16:35, Luke 9:24, Hebrews 10:39 “preserving,” 1 Peter 1:9, James 1:21)
  
  
• Sometimes it is their earthly life being delivered.
  (Matthew 14:30, 27:40, 42, 49, Mark 3:4, Acts 27:44 “were brought safely”)
  
  
• Sometimes it is a city or nation.
  (Deuteronomy 20:4, 2 Kings 19:34, 1 Chronicles 16:35, Romans 11:26)
  
  
• Sometimes it is money being referred to as being saved.
  (1 Corinthians 16:2, 2 Corinthians 12:14. NOTE: These verses do not use “sozo” in Greek, but most English translations use the word “save” in passage.)
  
  
• Sometimes the passage refers to a complete restoration of humanity from the effects of the Fall.
  (Hebrews 2:1-3)

Correctly recognizing the Subject of Salvation—i.e. what exactly is being delivered from something—in any given scripture can greatly enhance how we understand that scripture’s meaning, and allow the Bible to instruct us, thus avoiding reading a preconception into the Bible.

2.  WHO or WHAT is doing the Saving? — The Savior or Agent of Salvation

The second question is Who is doing the delivering/saving?

The Bible is God’s story of His saving and restoring the world. God powerfully intervened to save the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and death in the wilderness as a picture for His greater salvation of the world from sin and death (John 3:14-16).

God knows humans are not capable of saving themselves from sin or death. So, the Father sent the Son, named Jesus, to make a way to save the world. In Hebrew, the name Jesus means: “Yahweh saves.”

At other times God empowered people to be the means of His salvation.

• God used Joseph to preserve His covenant and to save his family from starvation.
  (Genesis 45:7, 50:20).
  
  
• God used Moses to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt.
  (Exodus 3:10, 14:30, Deuteronomy 5:15)
  
  
• God used Joshua to deliver His people into the Promised Land.
  (Joshua 1:2, 21:43-44)
  
  
• God empowered David to save Israel from Goliath and the Philistines.
  (1 Samuel 17:45-47, 19:5)
  
  
• And God uses people today to share the good news of the Gospel and make disciples of all nations.
  (Matthew 28:18-20).

3.  What is the Subject of Salvation being Saved FROM? — the Escape of Salvation

The third question is: What is the Subject of Salvation being delivered/saved from?

Just as there are many different Subjects of salvation, each determined by context, there are also many different things a Subject of Salvation is saved from.  The thing that a subject of Salvation is saved from is called the Escape of Salvation.

The Bible shows God saving people from slavery, physical harm, slander or political shame or harm,  physical death at the hands of an enemy. It also depicts God as saving believers from the eternal penalty of sin and the power of sin over their lives.

Sin is doing anything that disobeys God’s will; it is operating apart from God’s design. Sin can be an external action, a spoken word, entertaining an evil thought, or harboring a selfish attitude. Sin is described as unrighteous because it disrupts the perfect harmony of God’s created order. Sin separates the sinner from God and brings discord within himself—the Bible refers to this separation and discord as “death” (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1, 2:5).

God explicitly showed the blessings of obedience and the curses of sin to Israel in the Law (Deuteronomy 28). Yet despite this instruction, Israel’s history shows a cycle of disobedience and consequence, then God’s mercy and restored prosperity.

After centuries of waiting, Joseph and Mary received a prophecy that the Messiah was coming and He would save people from sin (Matthew 1:21). Jesus died as a substitute for humankind, paying the penalty of sin on our behalf and resurrecting back to life to defeat death once and for all (Isaiah 49:6, 53:10-12, 1 John 2:1-2)!  This is the past tense aspect of salvation.

And while Jesus saves people from (enables them to escape) the deadly penalty of sin, He also saves people from (enables them to escape) the corrosive power of sin to bring death to their daily lives. Death is separation, and walking in sin separates us from God’s design, thereby separating us from His blessings. This is the present tense aspect of salvation.

The faithfulness of believers to work out their salvation through obedience to God’s commands will come to full fruition at the Judgment Seat of Christ. All believers will escape the eternal death in the Lake of Fire, because Jesus will never reject those who are made a part of Himself (2 Timothy 2:13).

But there are not only present but also future consequences for sin. This is the future aspect of salvation: through a walk of faith, believers are delivered from the futility of this world to immense eternal rewards. However, believers who do not live faithfully will not gain this deliverance; they will suffer loss:

“If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
(1 Corinthians 3:15)

• They also might not escape dismissal from the Messianic Banquet and the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  (Matthew 8:12, 25:30)
  
  
• They might not escape God’s wrath or the rebuke or their Savior.
  (Matthew 7:21-23, 25:12, Romans 1:18, Hebrews 10:26-27)
  
  
• They might not escape their shame at His coming or the crushing of all that their souls hoped in during this life.
  (Mark 8:38, Hebrews 10:39, Hebrews 12:15-17)
  
  
• They might not escape being denied the fullness of their divine destiny.
  (Matthew 10:33, 25:26-27, 2 Timothy 2:12)
  
  
• They might not escape the loneliness, frustration, and futility of trying to overcome life’s trials on their own.
  (Matthew 11:28, John 16:32-33)

By recognizing that there are multiple things that God helps us to escape from (and not just the eternal penalty of being consumed in the Lake of Fire), believers can become more mindful of our lives, our faith, and what is at stake for our lives.

4.  What is the Subject of Salvation being Saved TO or Saved FOR? — the Purpose or Outcome of Salvation

Now the fourth question: What is the Subject of Deliverance/Salvation being Saved TO or Saved FOR?

The Purpose or Outcome of Salvation is the other side (the positive side) of the coin from the Escape of Salvation.

There are multiple things in which the Bible saves a person To or For. For instance, during the ministry of Jesus, He saved the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, demoniacs to reclaim possession of themselves, a hemorrhaging woman and lepers to health. These outcomes are distinct from the forgiveness of sins, eternally belonging in Him, or the ability to overcome sin through His example, teachings, and power.

God’s ultimate goal for restoring all of creation is to save us from sin and death and allow us to live in fellowship with Him forever (John 3:16, 10:10, 17:3).

The object of this salvation is to escape and be saved from death and to enjoy and be saved to life.

The main outcome of God’s salvation is often called eternal life (John 10:10). The two Greek words translated “eternal life” refer to a quality of life that fills us to overflowing.

The Bible describes eternal life as two related but distinct things.

The Gift and the Prize of Eternal Life are related because having the Gift qualifies a person to be able to win the Prize and a person cannot win the Prize until they first have the Gift.

But the Gift and Prize are also distinct because they are not the same things. And a person can have the Gift of Eternal Life even as they miss out on the Prize of Eternal Life.

• The Bible describes eternal life as a Gift. Believers are saved to the Gift of Eternal Life by simple faith, through the finished work of Christ.

• And the Bible describes Eternal Life as an Inheritance, Reward, or Prize. Believers are granted an inheritance when they believe, but possess and enjoy the fruit of that inheritance through a walk of faith.

See The Bible Says article, “Eternal Life: Receiving the Gift vs Inheriting the Prize” to learn more about the Gift and Prize.

Just as there are multiple things that God saves us from, there are also multiple things God saves us to and/or for. By recognizing these distinctions in the Bible, the Gospel becomes less blurry, and we can better see the full scope of the Gospel (not just a single part of it) and God’s good and eternal purpose for our lives and not just a single part of it.

And as is the case with recognizing the different escapes of deliverance/salvation, most of the Bible becomes immediately and urgently relevant to our lives, since scripture is written for the benefit of those who believe (2 Timothy 3:16).

In conclusion, the Four Questions about Salvation are:

1. What or who is being saved? 
   - The Subject of Salvation
   
   
2. Who or what is doing the saving? 
   - The Savior or Agent of Salvation
   
   
3. What is the subject of salvation being saved from? 
   - The Escape of Salvation
   
   
4. What is the subject of salvation being saved to or saved for? 
   - The Purpose or Outcome of Salvation

These four questions are useful tools for understanding the Bible’s use of the word “save” or “salvation” and its many synonyms. By thoughtfully asking what is being saved, who is doing the saving, what is being escaped, and what is being gained, readers are equipped to rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

May you grow in wisdom, walk in clarity, and abound in gratitude for so great a salvation.