What Is the Meaning of Salvation in the Bible? How Can We Gain End-Time Salvation?

What is salvation? With regards to this question, many believers in the Lord will say, “Through the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion, we are redeemed and forgiven of our sins. This is what salvation means.” However, do you realize the biblical prophecy says, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5)? We can see from this that in the last days, God’s salvation will come to us mankind. This proves that salvation not solely means the Lord Jesus’ salvation. So just what is salvation, and how can we gain God’s salvation in the last days? These issues are directly linked to the important matter of our gaining salvation and entering the kingdom of heaven, so let us fellowship and explore them now together.

What Is Salvation?

To understand what salvation is, we must first know salvation comes from God and that it is the work carried out by God for the sake of saving mankind, corrupted by Satan, so that in the end we can gain salvation in God’s word and work—acting and conducting ourselves in accordance with God’s requirements, living within His care and protection and winning His approval and blessing. This is what the salvation of God means. Now, let’s come to understand its details from God’s work.

As we all know, in the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, and they were without sin and unsullied. After they listened to Satan’s words and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, people began to have sin and became more and more corrupt. When mankind fell into evil and depravity to a certain degree, God had to use a great flood to destroy mankind who had been profoundly corrupted, only allowing eight members of Noah’s family to be saved and survive. Humanity therefore continued to reproduce on the earth. But the people of the time knew only to eat, drink and enjoy the material things God bestowed upon them, but they did not know how to worship God or how to live on the earth. This is why God initiated His work of management for mankind’s salvation. God, in accord with people’s needs, specified many commandments, laws and rules to guide their lives on earth. For example, observing the Sabbath, honoring one’s parents, not worshiping idols, and not stealing or committing adultery. There were also rules about the offering of sacrifices, the eating of food, compensation for stealing, as well as killing cattle and sheep, etc. Those who abided by God’s laws and commandments would receive God’s blessing, and those who violated God’s laws and commandments would be punished. Through the laws, Jehovah God led, restrained and taught man, allowing them to live normally on the earth and know how to worship God—this was the salvation brought to mankind by God in the Age of Law. At that time, by heeding Jehovah God’s words, and upholding His laws and commandments, people could be protected and blessed by God, and they could gain God’s salvation in the Age of Law.

Late in the Age of Law, people were corrupted ever more deeply by Satan. None could keep the law or commandments, so much so that no offering could redeem their sins. They all faced the risk of being condemned and put to death by the law. In order to save mankind—to redeem them from the condemnation of the law—God personally incarnated and began the Age of Grace. He expressed the truth and gave people the way of repentance, showing them the way of practice in the new age. He taught people to be tolerant and patient, love others as themselves, be the salt and the light of the earth, forgive others seventy times seven times, pray for those who persecuted them, and bear the cross and follow the Lord. Ultimately, He was nailed to the cross as an eternal sin offering for mankind, taking on humanity’s sins. This was the salvation brought to mankind by God in the Age of Grace. Anyone who accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior would no longer be condemned by the law and would survive. Whenever someone sinned, they had only to confess and repent their sins to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord would absolve them of their sins and bestow rich grace and blessings upon them. This was the salvation people gained in the Age of Grace.

The Salvation God Has Prepared for Man in the Last Days

The Lord Jesus redeemed us mankind. Although our sins are forgiven through our belief in the Lord, our satanic dispositions such as being arrogant, conceited, crooked, deceitful, selfish, despicable and profit-driven, are still rooted deeply within us. Dominated by these corrupt dispositions, we often sin and resist God in spite of ourselves. For example, though we believe in and follow the Lord, we often long for the trends of the world, pursue an extravagant life, crave fame, fortune and status. In our interactions with others, the moment something begins to infringe upon our own interests, we can still tell lies and deceive others. When we have some theological knowledge, we are high and mighty and look down on others, and while working we can often show off to make others look up to and worship us. When faced with setbacks, failures, or trials and tribulations, we complain to God, and even go so far as to betray Him. God says, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). “Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant stays not in the house for ever: but the son stays ever” (John 8:34–35). “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26–27). We can see from this that with sin and filth, man is unqualified to enter the kingdom of heaven, which is decided by God’s holy and righteous disposition. If we are never able to cast off the shackles and strictures of sin and continue to frequently sin and oppose God, we will end up being eliminated and punished. Therefore, in order to completely save man from Satan’s grasp, and enable us to cast off the bonds and constraints of sin and be purified, God will do a stage of work of salvation in the last days. This is the salvation that God has prepared for us in the last days. Just as the Bible says, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin to salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).

How to Gain God’s Salvation of the Last Days

So, how can we gain God’s salvation of the last days? The Lord Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12–13). “And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:47–48). 1 Peter 4:17 says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” And John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth.” These verses tell us that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will express the truth and perform the work of judgment beginning with God’s house. With the truth, He will judge and purify our corrupt dispositions, thereby allowing us to thoroughly cast off the bonds of sin, attain purification, and no longer resist and rebel against Him.

The Lord Jesus has told us long ago, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). “Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). So when we hear someone bear witness that the Lord Jesus has already returned, and that He is doing the work of judgment beginning with God’s house, we should do as the Lord says and proactively seek and investigate it to see if that way really is God’s work, and if it contains expressions of the truth. This is the only way we can welcome the second coming of the Lord Jesus and gain God’s salvation of the last days.

Editor’s Note: From reading this article, we trust that you have now understood what salvation is and the path to receiving God’s salvation in the last days. If you’ve found this article to be helpful for you, please share it with others. Should you have any further problems or difficulties, please leave a comment, or get in touch with us through the chat and messenger options on our site.