Salvation

Saved through the death of Jesus from the penalty and power of sin. Often in the Old Testament, salvation referred to a person or a group being saved from physical danger. When the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea in their escape from Egypt and the pharaoh’s army was close behind them, Moses told them that they would see the “salvation” of God. This meant their rescue when the Egyptian army was destroyed in the Red Sea.

The New Testament records only one time when Jesus used the word salvation. He told Zacchaeus the tax collector that salvation had come to his house. Jesus meant a spiritual salvation, for Zacchaeus was not in any physical danger.

The apostle Paul makes it clear that spiritual salvation means being freed from sin—both its power over our lives and the judgment it brings from God. This kind of salvation comes through faith in Jesus, who gave His life so we could enter into the new life He made possible.