Season 2: Ep. 2- What is the Biblical Understanding of Salvation?
When we hear the term “salvation” what comes to our mind? Often our view has only been informed by half the Scriptures. In today’s episode we will look at the grand narrative of salvation.
Episode covers Old Testament & New Testament concepts.
Podcast Transcript - What is the Biblical Understanding of Salvation?
In our first lesson we talked about how important it is that we know what “the gospel” is for ourselves. The problem is that most of us have heard the terms, we just don't understand the definitions. So we need to start where all Christians faith starts, with scripture. We're going to walk through just a little bit of what we can discern and understand about Salvation. We're going to do it from both the Old Testament and the New Testament and try to bring a few things together in this particular lesson.
When we look back through the Old Testament and we see the word “Salvation” it is most often in the context of deliverance or freedom. Also, it is translated regularly as redemption. By and large the greatest Hebrew word that uses the word yeshua, it's the word that we get Jesus from, but it also means specifically salvation.
In Exodus 14 in the middle of this whole exodus, this deliverance from bondage, freedom from slavery, redemption from being lost from the land that they had been given to their forefathers, we see in Chapter 14:13 –“But Moses said to the people do not fear, stand by and see the Salvation, the yeshua of the Lord which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today you will never see them again. Forever the Lord will fight for you while you keep silent or be still.” That concept of salvation being primarily from God alone is essential to the whole Old Testament understanding of salvation. It's that it's God's work primarily and firstly. He's the one who sets His people free and in the Old Testament the writers regularly refer to salvation as this very physical experience.
Most of us when we think of salvation, we think of it as this spiritual thing, that the “I” my soul has been saved. But to the Jews of the Old Testament time they saw it much more physical than spiritual and more social than individual. God was saving His people not just a person. Now although God is at work and He brings His people to Himself as He's going to say just a few chapters later in Exodus chapter 19 that “He has brought his people to Him.” Now He's going to go ahead and say in Exodus chapter 20 we're going to run into the ten commandments. The ten commandments are essentially the peoples’ way to maintain that relationship, to maintain those boundaries so that they don't step back into slavery, they don't slip step back into brokenness. It helps to protect them and keep them safe in this journey with God and for His Kingdom purposes that He's brought them to Himself. To be His nations set apart from all of the rest.
Now that concept of salvation that we find in the Old Testament has a little bit of a shift when we get to the New Testament. When I say it makes a shift it doesn't mean that it's completely different it just has a different kind of emphasis, different kind of angles to it that are highlighted by the particular words in the culture in which these terms are used. When it's used in the New Testament it's the Greek word soteria and it usually is used throughout kind of just regular Greek writing to talk about doctors and the healing that they do. It's used in the New Testament writings as a way to bring a much more medical holistic healing feel to salvation. It often is translated as wholeness, or soundness or health. When we turn to Mark chapter 2 and we find the man whose let down through the roof by his friends it talks about not only are his sins forgiven but his he's able to take up his bed and walk again. The New Testament seems to work from the inside out and that’s what God's work at the at the depths of the human heart accomplishes, it moves its way out into our lives literally to where people can see, to where they can talk. And also works its way out into their relationships and the world around them. This soteria, this salvation is going to save it's going to heal absolutely everything.
What biblical Salvation shows us is it shows us that it is both physical and spiritual. Most of us grown up inside the Christian Church we see it is almost only primarily spiritual but it's also about being healed physically. In Isaiah chapter 61 Jesus is going to have this prophecy that He's going to apply to Himself in Luke chapter 4:18 & 19 when He says “the Spirit of the Lord God is Me because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted,” right we're talking about the gospel “He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to prisoners to proclaim the favorable year of our Lord the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all those who mourn to grant those who mourn in Zion giving them a Garland instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of fainting so they will be called Oaks of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified.
Not only is it spiritual it's physical. Then the other thing that we see is that it's not only God's work it's ours. That the whole book of Leviticus makes this point is that God's people have been saved in redeemed by His miraculous work then get to work out their salvation. By that working out it's literally maintaining living in working from that salvation that is already been accomplished for them.
Paul is going to make almost the exact same point in Philippians chapter 2 when he says those really famous words in verse 12 “Now work out your Salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work where within you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” So, God's work has begun within and now it's going to work itself out. It's a both and in this process, and if we miss that aspect of salvation, we're going to miss the gospel. We're going to make it God has to do all this stuff or man I better put my life together and make things right. No, it's both and in Him we're going to need to wrestle with that a little bit deeper.
The last thing that I want to highlight is that biblical salvation is not only from something it is also to something. Most regularly inside the Christian church we talk about being set free from sin, from guilt, from estrangement from God, from others, from bondage to sin, from demonic oppression, from death, from hell. And those are all incredible things that God has done in His saving and his deliverance of us and also his healing of us. But not only is it from, it is to. We are through God Salvation reconnected to life, we now have peace with God, access to God, we now have entrance into hope to love to joy, we’re empowered by his grace, have a freedom to be the people He's called us to be and we've been brought into eternal life. When we miss those aspects, we miss the fullness of what God has to offer us in biblical salvation.
There's a whole lot more it's incredibly comprehensive and that's where we'll turn next in our discussion of salvation. So, can you be saved have eternal life in heaven enter the Kingdom of God and not be a disciple?
If you enjoyed listening, please subscribe to our podcast and if you'd like more information please visit us at drjasonlanker.com
May you go in the grace of God and may you not just understand the Christian faith but live it more fully this week.
