Initial salvation
The Bible shows us that all humanity has sin and because of this sin we were deserving of death (Rom 3:23, 6:23). However, because of God’s great love, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross and pay the penalty of Sin on our behalf (Rom 5:8; Rom 3:25). All we need to do is believe in this fact and receive this free gift of salvation from God (Eph 2:8).
But what happens AFTER we believe?
The Bible shows us that this is just the beginning of our life as Christians and salvation needs to continue!
“He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25)
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18)
“I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:1)
These verses, and many others, show us that after we receive Jesus as our saviour and put our faith in Him, we still need to grow spritually, to learn to walk according to the new life of Christ, and be saved from our old self. Salvation doesn’t stop when we receive Christ — we need salvation constantly.
This may seem confusing (or even heretical) because we all think we’re already saved, so what does it mean that we need more salvation?
Conformed to His Image
To understand this we need to know what God’s goal is for us individually. God’s intention is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ.
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)
Since God, our Heavenly Father, is holy, and Jesus is holy, it makes sense that God’s whole family is holy. Jesus said: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:48)
We are made of three parts
To also understand salvation, we need to see that we are made of three parts — spirit, soul, and body (1 Thess. 5:23) and our salvation involves each of these three parts.
Salvation of our spirit
Our human spirit was saved when we first believed in Jesus, our initial salvation. We were formerly spiritually dead in sin but by faith we were made alive in Christ (Eph 2:5). This salvation guarantees us deliverance from eternal death and punishment in hell. It is a full reconciliation with God, making us His child. It is completely free and does not involve any works on our part and only faith. It was completely accomplished by Christ: He died for us on the cross and bore our sins (1 Pet 2:24); His death destroyed the devil, who had the power of death (Heb 2:14); He delivered us from the power of darkness (Col 1:13), and made us pass from death into life (John 5:24). By His resurrection, we’re born again, received eternal life, and became children of God (1 Pet 1:3; John 12:24). This salvation can never be lost because it was accomplished by Christ, whose works are perfect and unchangeable.
Salvation of our body
The Bible tells us that our physical body, which is imperfect and gets old and sick, will be changed and conformed to Christ’s perfect and glorious body when Christ returns (Phil 3:21). This is also referred to as “salvation” in the Bible: “… even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption [salvation] of our body.” (Rom 8:23). Although our spirit is saved and renewed, our body is still corrupted and old, but we have hope and believe that it will be saved in the future at Christ’s second coming.
Salvation of our soul
Probably the most time consuming and challenging part of our being to save is our soul. The soul is composed of our mind, emotions, and will. It’s our self and our identity. We use the soul to think, feel, and decide. Even after receiving initial salvation, we still live for ourselves and pursue our own interests. We still sin, disobey God, and love the world. We lose our temper, our thoughts wander, we dislike or even hate others. There are too many problems to list. Not everything we do is “bad”, however. Even “good” things, if they’re not done according to In other words, we still live in our flesh and the old man (Gal 5:16-21).
Jesus said “Whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25). This “save” is not the free gift of salvation that we received when we first believed. This salvation involves a cost: losing the soul and giving up the soul in order to gain the soul. It involves a Christian, someone who’s saved, being willing to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ. He gladly desires to sacrifice his own soul to follow the Lord, enduring the suffering and giving up passing pleasures for the Lord. By doing so, we gain the reward of the Kingdom in the future. (Matt 25:21, 23).
However, if we want to preserve our soul we will lose it (Luke 16:33). We humans don’t like change and want to enjoy the pleasures of this life. We don’t like inconvenience or making sacrifices unless we can see a benefit for ourselves. We are happy that we’re Christians but we also want to achieve success in this world. We avoid any chance of being persecuted for Christ. Some of us even shrink back and become no different than an unsaved person. “To be a completely consecrated follower of Christ is for others, but not for me. I’m content to just ‘go to Church on Sundays.’”
Here are more verses that speak of the salvation of our soul:
“He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matt 10:22)
This again implies suffering and sacrifice, which requires endurance, and giving up of ourselves in order to be saved. This is not speaking about our initial salvation, being made alive in our spirit, because it has already taken place and is freely received by faith. This verse refers to something in the future-tense — a salvation that WILL take place only with endurance.
“But we are not of those who draw back to perdition (destruction), but are those who believe to the saving of the soul.” (Heb 10:39)
This is not speaking of the belief at the start of our Christian life, the faith of initial salvation, but belief and faith that we need day-to-day in our Christian life. This is the faith that grows in us and keeps us running this race that we’re in, running toward the goal of the inheritance of the Kingdom (Heb 12:1,2). It’s by this endurance and perseverance that will result in the salvation of our souls.
“…receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls.” (1 Pet 1:9).
The “end”, in the original language, also means the conclusion, or the goal. This tells us the faith that we need in our daily life to follow Christ, which helps us to overcome sin, trials, suffering, and our flesh, will lead us to the salvation of the soul.
“Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)
Remember this refers to the transformation or perfecting of our soul. For salvation of the spirit, we only need to believe and receive the free gift of God, but salvation of the soul requires putting aside filthiness and wickness, and receiving the implanted word in humility. This more than simply believing, it requires action on our part.
We need to be fully saved
The dictionary definition of the word “conformed” used in Romans 8:29 means to become similar in form, nature, or character. This means our thinking, our will, our goals, our feelings — our soul, needs to change and become like Christ. He’s our standard and our example.
Our day-to-day life is a constant training and struggle between the new life of Christ that we received when we believed and our old self and flesh (Gal 5:17). On one hand the Spirit within us is trying to lead us to holiness but our flesh is stubborn and wants to go its own way. The Holy Spirit teaches, speaks to us, and guides us through our life and Christ, our High Priest, always lives to intercede for us before God (Heb 7:25).
As we diligently follow His leading, He leads us to perfection, and we have the confidence and faith that Christ, who’s in us, is our hope of glory! (Col 1:27)