What Does Salvation Really Mean? (Part Two)
In part one of this study on salvation, I wrote about the confusion that we 21 st century folks run into when we read the Bible. We often read meanings into words that are really not there in the original languages. Even when we do understand the original meanings of the words, we often add meanings from our 21 st century Christian traditions that the author of those words never intended to convey. We do this so easily that we are not even aware of it. The word “salvation” is a prime example. When many Christians hear the word salvation, they tend to think of God’s actions in forgiving our sins, giving us His Divine life and placing us in his family. While it is true that God does all these things for us, the Biblical word salvation in both the Old and New Testaments simply means “rescue.” I think it is important to reclaim the true Biblical definitions of words like “salvation”, “repentance” and “kingdom” to help us remove the layers of religious tradition that cov