Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation.

In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin. Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death. Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin. We are saved from both the power and penalty of sin.

Romas 5:9- Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:9- For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty.

2 Timothy 1:9- God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

Titus 3:4-5- But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

In the Christian doctrine of salvation, God has rescued us through Jesus Christ. Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation. Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ. 

John 3:17- For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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.

Ephesians 1:7- In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Ephesians 2:5, 8- Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Acts 4:12- And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

We are saved by faith. First, we must hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Then, we must believe—fully trust the Lord Jesus. This involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Christ, and calling on the name of the Lord. A definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “the deliverance, by the grace of God, from eternal punishment for sin that is granted to those who accept by faith God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation is available in Jesus alone and is dependent on God alone for provision and assurance.

Ephesians 1:13- In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Romans 1:16- For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Acts 3:19- Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

Romans 10:9-10, 13- If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 14:6- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.