What do (or should) Christians mean by the word “Salvation”?
The Christian definition for salvation is deliverance from wrath of God brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation is a process which Witherington describes as: “one believe in ones heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, He died and rose up from the dead and then confess with ones lips” (325).
Salvation comes through forgiveness of sin by Jesus Christ after a Christian has confessed to his/her sins. In accordance to Romans 6:23, it is believed by Christians that salvation brings about a right standing with God and thus an eternal life in Christ Jesus (Holy Bible 784).
A person who is saved is the one who has entrusted to Jesus his/her life after making a decision to believe in Jesus Christ (Holy Bible 769), and express the decision in prayer. Salvation is believed to have a power to deliver one from hell, control from the bad habits, self-centeredness, and addictions to bad habits and from the control of Satan and his helpers.
What gets saved, in the end?
The heart, soul and mind make the entire being get saved in the end. The heart, as per the Christian definition, is where the thinking and planning happens – the human brain. Matthew 15:19 described the heart as the place where evil thoughts of murder, adulteries, fornication, theft, false witnessing and blasphemy originate from (Holy Bible 680).
Jeremiah 4:14 instructed the Israelites to wash their hearts from wickedness so that they may be saved (Holy Bible 528). When salvation comes to somebody’s heart, the person is able to overcome the evil thoughts and instead the person, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will choose to do the right things.
The soul is the spiritual person in a human being. It is the eternal part of a being. It is the part that needs to be protected from the eternal fire in hell. The soul exists after the physical death. The soul gets saved to protect it from the eternal fire that is described to be so fierce and that will burn forever. Job 12:10 described God as the one who has the soul of every being and the breath in his hands (Holy Bible 359).
Mind, as per the understanding of Romans 8:27, is the thinking faculty of the soul. It sets information to the soul. The mind, therefore, gets saved to set the right massages to the soul. It plays an important part in facilitating the eternal destiny of the soul (Holy Bible 785). As per Rom. 8:27, the three are different but are in one being. They all get saved since one cannot do without the other supporting it (Holy Bible 785).
God’s intent for his creation
According to Conrad, God’s intent for the creation was to glorify God, to reflect His glory and man was to praise His glory (Conrad 1). It was God’s plan to restore the Garden of Eden fellowship through Jesus Christ as atonement for sin of His creation where He would visit and talk to them and they would not run away from Him.
Works Cited
Conrad, Decapolis. “What was God’s Mission and Purpose for Creation?” Decapolis, 2011. Web. \
Holy Bible. The Holy Bible. New York: International Bible Society, 1983. Print.
Witherington, Ben. The indelible image: the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament. New York: Intervarsity Press, 2010. Print.