What is salvation? What does it mean to be saved?

I would like to define it this way: salvation is our life with God.

Before we walked in our salvation, we were separated from God.

Colossians 1:21 (NLT) This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

That word reconciled means that we made our peace with God. We were enemies. Now we are friends. To be reconciled with God is to be brought back into fellowship with God.

There is a moment when we pass from death to life, from being apart from God to coming into His presence, but that’s just the beginning of our salvation, not the end of it. We will walk in it for eternity.

Colossians 1:23a (NLT) But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

Salvation is something we continue in.

Hebrews 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

While these verses are all true, I do firmly believe we can be sure we’re going to heaven. We’ll look at Scriptures about that in the lesson on assurance of salvation.

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

No one, including the devil, can snatch you away from God. Only you can make the choice to be with God or to walk away from God. Salvation is God’s work, but our choice. We can give our lives to Him, or not. We can continue to walk with Him, or not.

Lesson Point: Salvation is our eternal life lived with God that begins on earth and continues forever if we continue in our salvation.

Challenge Question: Do you know you are living with God? Do you have experiences of knowing His presence with you? How are you choosing each day to continue in the faith?