Derived from the Latin word salvare, salvation refers to any act of saving something from ruin or destruction. In Christian parlance it refers most of all to the gracious acts of God in saving humans from the ruins of their own sin, the climax of which is the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross. An act is, therefore, salvific if it results in the redemption of something/someone from ruin and destruction. Within the evangelical world—and particularly visible in the manner of our evangelism—salvation has usually been understood as the individual privilege, gifted by trust in Jesus, of spending eternity in heaven. This is too narrow and myopic and does no justice to what Scriptures teach about it. Set within the broader story of the Kingdom of God salvation is about allegiance to Jesus, the King in and of the Kingdom of God, and participation in all that the Kingdom involves. Largely because of our flawed understanding of salvation (and, therefore, our flawed evangelism) the disastrous lack of radical discipleship has become such a visible feature of most of our churches' life.
The noun 'salvation' () appears less than two dozen times in the NT. This figure is betrayed by the fact that it is the heart of everything that the NT says.
Recommended Readings:
Matthew W. Bates, Salvation by Allegiance Alone. Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2017.
Matthew W. Bates, Gospel Allegiance: What Faith in Jesus Misses for Salvation in Christ. :Brazos, 2019.
N. T. Wright, How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. New York: HarperOne, 2016.
Scot McKnight, The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016. Click here to listen to an audio review of this book.
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