It should seem simple enough to say salvation means to be saved. But sometimes it doesn't seem all that simple. In our day it seems that the most basic Biblical terms and concepts are considered archaic and unacceptable. It is out of fashion to talk about being lost, even in many so-called Christian circles. To speak of such vital Biblical concepts as being saved, converted or born again, is considered inappropriate and even offensive by many in our day of apostasy. One of the most well known television preachers of our era, virtually refuses to use the word sin and prefers to refer to man's sinful condition as a loss of self esteem. Instead of being saved, a man is said to need to discover his self-worth. Such people speak of old-fashioned Christian jargon as negative and counter productive and advocate a complete revamp of the Christian vocabulary.
Those who believe that the Word of God is inspired and absolute authoritative on matters of the soul and spirit, view the situation from God's perspective and give no credence to such contemporary man made nonsense. Statements of Jesus, such as, "The Son of man has come to seek and save those who are lost," or, "Ye must be born again," carry much more weight than the sayings of those who are obviously pandering to the popular press and people with itching ears.
So what does the Bible say about our great salvation? Salvation is a real experience: an actual happening, occurrence and encounter, a sudden, specific, spontaneous, and often traumatic event that occurs in time and space. The simplicity and clarity of the word pictures used by Jesus is intentional. To illustrate the nature of salvation, He spoke of concrete items such as a lost sheep, coin or prodigal, being found, saved, and fully restored to a safe environment and relationship.
The same people who question the validity of such terms and concepts as spiritual salvation, seem to have no difficulty in comprehending what it means for a drowning man, carried out beyond his depth by a surging rip tide, to be saved and snatched from the jaws of death by a heroic life saver. When a frantic woman is plucked at the last moment from a burning roof by a brave fireman, no one seems question that her life was saved. When, against all odds, a little boy lost in the bush, is finally rescued by a brave and exhausted band of volunteers, everyone assumes his salvation is real.
The experience and encounter of salvation are inward but the expression is outward. The expression of our salvation is to be worked out with fear and trembling. Baptism is ordained as the first outward expression of an inward possession. When Paul says that after we are saved by grace through faith that God has ordained that we should walk in good works, I am sure he is referring to all the good and productive things a child of God should focus his life upon after salvation. These things express salvation to a sceptical and unbelieving world.
