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How many kinds of salvation are mentioned in the Bible? How are they explained?
There are at least six kinds of salvation mentioned in the Bible.
The first kind of salvation is eternal salvation before God, which we obtained the moment we believed in the Lord. This salvation involves our being delivered out of the judgment of sins, the curse of the law, the threat of death, the punishment of hell, and the power of Satan. Our trespasses have been forgiven, and we have been cleansed of our sins. We are justified, sanctified, and reconciled to God. This salvation also includes regeneration, receiving the eternal life of the Lord, the quickening of our spirit, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. We receive this salvation entirely by the grace of God; it has nothing to do with our works. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works that no one should boast.” Second Timothy 1:9 says, “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages.” Titus 3:5 says, “Not out of works in righteousness which we did but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 15:11 says, “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus we are saved in the same way also as they are.”
This eternal salvation was accomplished by our Lord Jesus. He is our Savior who came to die for us on the cross and bore our sins (1 Pet. 2:24), redeemed us out of the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and delivers us from the wrath which is coming (1 Thes. 1:10). By His death He destroyed the devil, who held the might of death (Heb. 2:14), and delivered us out of the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13) that we should not come into judgment, but pass out of death into life (John 5:24). By the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, we are born again, given eternal life, and become the children of God (1 Pet. 1:3; John 12:24). By the ascension of the Lord Jesus, we are brought near to God the Father so that we and the Father can have fellowship in the Holy of Holies (Heb. 9:12; 10:19-22), far above all the powers of darkness (Eph. 1:21). The Lord has accomplished all these matters. Our part is simply to believe and receive. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name” (John 1:12). “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes, both to Jew first and to Greek” (Rom. 1:16). “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
This kind of salvation is eternal. Once a person is saved, he is saved forever. “And having been perfected, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5:9). Since the salvation that the Lord has accomplished for us is eternal, our salvation is also eternal.
We can find at least twelve aspects in the Bible which confirm the security of our salvation and the fact that we shall not perish once we are saved.
We have been made children of God and have received sonship not according to our condition but according to the predetermined will of God (Eph. 1:5). God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose (2 Tim. 1:9). Our condition may change, but God’s will never changes (Heb. 6:17). In eternity past, God determined that He would save us and not lose any of us (John 6:39). How then could we be saved and later unsaved? Our salvation is eternally secure in God’s unchangeable purpose.
Our election by God is neither accidental nor temporary. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). God chose us according to His purpose, not according to our works (Rom. 9:11). Furthermore, we did not chose the Lord, but He chose us (John 15:16). The Lord will never change. God’s calling is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Therefore, our salvation is eternally secure and will never be changed.
We are saved because God loved us, not because we loved God (1 John 4:10). Our love may easily change, but God’s love is deeper than the love of a mother (Isa. 49:15); it is eternal (Jer. 31:3), to the uttermost (John 13:1), and unchanging. This everlasting love of God assures us that His salvation can never be a matter of concern and never be lost.
We are not saved by ourselves nor by our works but by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8-9). Our self and works may change, but the grace of God is constant and unchanging. Therefore, our salvation is forever secure. Furthermore, God has saved us according to His grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages (2 Tim. 1:9). Our salvation is according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7). The grace of God is sufficient and superabundant; it is able to bear all our burdens, meet all our needs, and save us to the uttermost.
God saved us not only because of His love and by His grace but also according to His righteousness. The Lord Jesus received the judgment of God’s righteousness on the cross for us, thereby satisfying the requirement of God’s righteousness. Consequently, God must save us if we believe. If God did not save us, He would fall into unrighteousness. The righteousness of God is revealed in His saving us (Rom. 1:16-17). We are justified by God, and God must save us because who can bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? (8:33). Righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne (Psa. 89:14) and is solid and unmovable. Our justification is based on the righteousness of God and, therefore, is eternally secure and unshakable.
God has made a covenant to save us (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 8:8-13). Since this covenant cannot be altered (Psa. 89:34), neither can our salvation be changed.
“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:29). Since God is almighty, so is His power. Therefore, no one can snatch us out of His almighty hand. Our salvation is secure according to God’s power.
The life of God is eternal. God has given us His eternal life so that we can become children of God. Thus, we have a life relationship with Him, an eternal relationship (John 3:16; 1 John 3:1). A life relationship can never be broken, and since we have the eternal life of God within us, we shall never perish (John 10:28).
God never changes, and with Him there is no shadow cast by turning (James 1:17; Mal. 3:6). How can the salvation we received from such a God ever change?
The Lord has become the source of eternal salvation unto us (Heb. 5:9). “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (10:14). What the Lord accomplished is eternal; therefore, our salvation is also eternal. Because of this accomplished fact, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:34). No one can negate the Lord’s redemption which He accomplished for us by His death and resurrection, and no one can condemn us. Therefore, our salvation is eternally secure.
“And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28). The Lord and God are one. He is equal with God; therefore, His hand is as powerful as God’s hand. No one can snatch us out of the Lord’s hand. His mighty hand makes our salvation eternally secure.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and him who comes to Me I shall by no means cast out” (John 6:37). The Lord has promised that He will never cast out those who come to Him. Based on this promise, we have the assurance that our salvation is eternally secure.
“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). The salvation spoken of in this verse does not refer to eternal salvation, because the verse continues to say, “But he who does not believe shall be condemned.” Since the first part says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved,” we may wonder why the second part does not say, “He who does not believe and is not baptized shall be condemned.” When the second part speaks of condemnation, it puts aside the matter of being baptized. This explains why “shall be saved” in the first part is not equal to “shall [not] be condemned” in the second part. Not being condemned is totally a matter of believing. Being saved requires us to believe and be baptized. Therefore, the salvation in Mark 16:16 does not refer to eternal salvation, which saves one from condemnation. What then does it refer to? It refers to the salvation before men. If a person only believes but is not baptized, he is not known in the eyes of men as a saved person, even though he may have the eternal life within him. He must rise up and be baptized, proclaiming to men that his sins have been forgiven and that he belongs to the Lord. Then men will know that he is saved. Baptism separates him from the worldly people. Therefore, the salvation of being baptized refers to the salvation before men.
“So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). We cannot work out our salvation by ourselves. By God’s grace we freely received our salvation. But this verse says, “Work out your own salvation.” Although we have been saved, in our daily living we must still live out the salvation that we have received. As soon as we believed in the Lord, we received the life of God. God is dwelling within us through the Holy Spirit. “For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure” (v. 13). In our daily living we must live out the life of God. Day by day, moment by moment, we must live by obeying God who is operating within us. This cannot be accomplished quickly, but day after day we must live out our salvation with fear and trembling.
“Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them” (Heb. 7:25). This also speaks of the Lord’s saving us in our daily living. The Lord is now interceding before God for us, keeping us, and saving us until the day He comes.
In the matter of daily salvation, we should also be aware that the Lord wants us to pray daily, petitioning God to deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13). Day by day and moment by moment, Satan is tempting us, luring us, attacking us, and trapping us. Therefore, we need to pray that the Lord would deliver us from Satan day by day and moment by moment.
There is another kind of salvation, in which God saves us out of tribulation. Paul said, “Who has delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver us; in whom we have hoped that He will also yet deliver us” (2 Cor. 1:10). Deliverance does not refer to eternal salvation before God. The deliverance spoken of in this verse is a continuation of the preceding verses. In verses 8 and 9, Paul said that trouble came to him and his co-workers in Asia, so that they were excessively burdened, beyond their power, so that they despaired even of living. They even had the response of death in themselves. Yet God delivered them out from so great a trouble and so great a death. God had delivered them in the past, He was delivering them then, and they expected that He would deliver them in the future. God would deliver them from all the troubles in their circumstances.
“The angel of the Lord encamps/Around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psa. 34:7). God will send His angel to encamp round about those who fear Him to deliver them out of the troubles in their environment.
“For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19). “And I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will deliver me from every evil work” (2 Tim. 4:17-18). This salvation also refers to salvation in troubled times. The Lord will deliver us from troubles and evil works.
At the second coming of the Lord, our body will be redeemed, transformed, and conformed to His glorious body (Phil. 3:21). This too is called salvation in the Bible. It is the salvation of the body. “But we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). Verse 24 says, “For we were saved in hope.” “Saved” refers to “the redemption of our body” in verse 23. The redemption of our body will be achieved only at the time the Lord comes again. We must hope for this. At the time we believed in the Lord, we received eternal salvation; our spirit was made alive, but our body is still in the old creation groaning, laboring, restrained by corruption, and suffering illness and oldness. When the Lord comes, He will redeem and transform our body, the body that is restrained by the old creation, and He will bring it into the glorious freedom of the new creation.
“For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11). This also refers to the salvation of the body. We received the salvation of our spirit at the moment we believed. Our body will be saved in the future. Therefore, after we believe, the salvation of our body draws nearer and nearer.
Since our whole being is composed of three parts—spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23), our salvation involves the salvation of these three parts. The salvation of our spirit occurred at the time we believed in the Lord, when we were regenerated by the Holy Spirit. When God forgave all our sins, the Holy Spirit entered into us and enlivened our deadened spirit. The salvation of our body will occur at the coming of the Lord. By His power the Lord will change our vile body into a glorious body. In addition to these two parts, our soul also needs to be saved. The salvation of our soul relates to entering into the millennial kingdom and reigning with the Lord. The Lord will reward us, and our soul will enjoy with Him the joy of the kingdom.
“For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:25). “Save” in this verse does not refer to eternal salvation, which is received freely by believing. The salvation referred to here requires a price; one has to lose the soul and sacrifice the soul in order to gain the soul. This speaks of a person who, having been saved by the Lord, is willing to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow the Lord. He sacrifices his own soul for the Lord’s sake, and by doing so, will enter into the millennial kingdom and participate in the joy of the Lord (25:21, 23). The soul is the part of our being where we perceive joy and sorrow. If we can endure the suffering and sacrifice temporary joy for the Lord’s sake, when He comes we shall enter into the joy of the Lord. Man’s soul is also his self. If we deny the self today for the Lord’s sake, the Lord will give us something that is truly our own in the future (Luke 16:11-12).
“But whoever will lose his soul-life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (Mark 8:35). The Lord’s sake and the gospel’s sake always go together and are inseparable. Whether it is for the Lord or for the gospel, if we sacrifice the soul and its pleasure in this age, our soul will gain special joy in the coming kingdom age; that is, we will reign with the Lord and enjoy the joy of the Lord in glory.
“Whoever seeks to preserve his soul-life will lose it, and whoever loses it will preserve it alive” (Luke 17:33). Believers who preserve their soul and the pleasure of their soul in this age will lose the joy during the kingdom age. Whosoever will lose his soul and its pleasure in this age, will save his soul and have the enjoyment in the coming kingdom.
“But he who has endured to the end, this one shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22). “In your endurance you will possess your souls” (Luke 21:19). If believers can endure to the end in persecution, they will gain the reward from the Lord. By then, their souls will not suffer but will participate in joy.
“But we are not of those who shrink back to ruin but of them who have faith to the gaining of the soul” (Heb. 10:39). The faith spoken of in this verse is the faith we receive after we are saved. It is not the initial faith but the faith by which we walk. It is not faith for life, but faith for our living. If we can walk the Lord’s way by faith and live a victorious life after being saved, our soul will be saved in the future, and we will have a portion in the glory and joy of the kingdom.
“Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1:9). This “faith” is also the faith which we receive and live by after we are saved. This faith enables us to be kept by God and overcomes difficulties and trials. It will bring about the salvation that God has prepared and will be manifested when the Lord comes back. This is to be delivered from all sufferings and enjoy the joy of glory.
“Therefore putting away all filthiness and the abundance of malice, receive in meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). The salvation of the soul is not the same as the salvation of the spirit. For the salvation of the spirit, we do not need to do anything; just by believing and receiving, we obtain it. However, the salvation of the soul requires that we put away all filthiness and malice in our conduct and receive the implanted word in meekness.
“The Lord…will save me into His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18). “For doing these things you shall by no means ever stumble. For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you” (2 Pet. 1:10-11). The salvation of the soul is the salvation into the kingdom of the heavens— the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
