What is Salvation?

Lesson 3
Begging the Question: What is Salvation?

Salvation (noun): 
1. Preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil.
2. A source, means, or cause of such preservation or deliverance.
3. Deliverance from the power or penalty of sin; redemption. 

Definition

Source

By definition, "salvation" is the favorable rendered condition of someone, or something having been "saved" from a pre-existing, adverse condition. Examples: a drowning child pulled from a deep swimming pool; a small pet clutched from the jaws of an intruding predator; a backup parachute employed following the failure of a primary chute; a discarded piece of furniture restored for usage; a rebellious individual rejecting requirements for entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, accepting God's plan for "salvation". Regardless of the object of "salvation" there must be a source of its provision. To be "saved" from peril requires a source to achieve it. What or who is that source when we address "eternal life" beyond our years on earth? Specifically, how can we be "clutched" from the jaws of death?

Throughout history there has been a struggle, manifested in sinful human reliance on our own efforts to elevate our adverse fallen condition above God's promises and provisions. In the Bible, over thousands of years, continuing today in modern society, mankind, rebellious and prideful, exerts onerous self-reliant intentions and endeavors to achieve "salvation" in defiance of God. This is never good and leads to death and eternal separation from God.

Incomplete Source: Man's Efforts

It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Isaiah 59:2

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Romans 5:12

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
Hebrews 9:27

They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.
2 Thessalonians 1:9

Complete Source: God's Grace and Provision

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
Colossians 2:13

Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
1 Corinthians 15:22

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