The fifth word in my disappearing vocabulary series may sound out of place at first, because it is a word that is commonly used in most churches still today. It is a most common word in the pages of Scripture, being found 170 times in our English translations of the Bible. It is a word that is not only commonly used in the church through preaching and teaching, but one that is quite often heard in general conversation among professing believers. The word to which I refer is salvation.

The reason I am including this word in my disappearing vocabulary series is not because it is no longer heard, but because it is, very often, totally misunderstood. So, to begin this blog I would like to strive to explain why the word is so vitally important for us to understand.

From the creation of humans – Adam and Eve specifically – God initiated a set of parameters which would give clear guidance for the behavior of the human family. He placed the first created couple in a perfect environment, gave them everything they would ever need to live fulfilling lives, and even fellowshipped with them personally in the beautiful garden paradise He created for their enjoyment. Life could not possibly have been better than that.

However, they decided to disobey God and go outside those parameters He had established for them. Because of their act of sin, they were banned from the garden, and the sentence of death was carried out. They would no longer enjoy the bounty and blessing of the garden paradise, but far worse than that, they would no longer enjoy the fellowship with God. Their sin had severed that beautiful relationship.

God was not caught off guard by their act of rebellion. The Bible makes it clear that He had already – even before He created anything – preordained a plan by which sinful man could be saved from his fallen state. That plan was His plan of salvation, which would be secured through the propitiatory sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus Christ. John, in the book of Revelation, refers to Jesus as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”, thus establishing the fact that God’s plan of salvation was established before Adam and Eve were created. The reason being that God, in His ability to know all things, knew that Adam and Eve would sin before the act ever occurred.

Paul presents his argument most eloquently in his masterpiece, his letter to the Romans:

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23

And are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. Romans 3:24-25, ESV

Based on the clear teachings of the Bible, the desperate need of salvation is due to the fact that we are separated from God because of our sin. Thus the need for Jesus Christ to obey the Father’s will to be that Lamb who would be slain to take away the sin of the world.

Jesus Christ is the one and only means of salvation for sinful man. And this is the reason I am including this word in this series of blogs on disappearing vocabulary. It is not because the word is no longer used, but because it is so often misused. In a quite often quoted statement by Jesus we see clearly the importance of understanding this word correctly:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

And Peter, in the Book of Acts, makes the following assertion:

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Salvation is provided through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He gave His life in total surrender to His Father’s will so that through His death we might have life. However, the word ‘salvation’ is often used to describe other means and methods of attaining a relationship with God. We need to make sure that in this world of confusion as to what certain words mean, we give careful consideration to the true meaning of important theological words such as salvation. We must not allow ourselves to be forced into silent submission from the pressures of the world to change the clear Biblical meaning of this word.

Salvation is the means through which God the Father provides salvation for lost humans so that they might be reconciled to a holy God. It is through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, through the foreordained plan of salvation, that we must be saved. There is no other way.

Until next time:

Blessings!