[Greetings friends and listeners!]

In the Christian world, there is a subject which has created great confusion and controversy and debate, yet it is one of the most important themes and subjects in Christianity. And this subject has to do with salvation. It's one of the biggest things that preachers and evangelists continually talk about. They talk about salvation. But do you know what this really means? Many people mouth the word salvation. But do you really know what salvation means?

Now what do you mean salvation? There are many things that will surprise you. Did you know first of all, that the very first time salvation was ever mentioned in the Bible, did not have to do with Jesus Christ's sacrifice or His death and His resurrection? Salvation was first mentioned in Genesis. Actually you will be surprised that the very first time that salvation was ever mentioned was in Genesis 49:18. In fact, it is something that was prophesying for a future event. Let us read Genesis 49:18, "I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!" And this is in the context of the patriarch Jacob or Israel who was beginning to give blessings to his twelve sons. And referring to the tribe of Dan, he made this prophecy.

Now, in the King James Version, the word salvation has been mentioned 164 times and it is found in 158 verses. In the New International Version, this word occurs 122 times and found in 118 verses. Why the discrepancy between the King James Version and the New International Version? Some of the word salvation, as translated in the New International Version, has the word victory for salvation, or something like overcoming, being successful in other words.

Another verse that will give us enlightenment here is Exodus 14:13. "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD which He you will show you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more." Now, the context here is when the Israelites left Egypt by night and they were stranded eventually at the edge of the Red Sea, and at the side is the mountain and behind them were the pursuing Egyptian army. And the people panicked, and Moses said these words: "Fear you not, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD." Now is this talking of going to heaven? Of course not! It was simply talking of being rescued from the pursuing Egyptian army.

So we see here that salvation is a big word. It has to do with being rescued. It talks about victory. It talks about saving life. You would notice that in the entire more than 50 chapters of Genesis, we see that the word salvation has been used only once. Does that surprise you?

Now, the very next occurrence of the word salvation is what we read in Exodus 14:13, at the time of the Red Sea crossing incident. The very third time that salvation is used in the Bible is when they reached the other side of the Red Sea. And what was the context where salvation has been used? It was in the context of celebrating their crossing the Red Sea.

I'd like you to look with me (if you have your Bibles with you) in Exodus 15:2. It says here, "The Lord is my strength and soul, and He is become my salvation, He is my God and I will prepare Him an habitation my father's God and I will exalt Him." So it's talking here again of physical salvation. That was the immediate context and these are the only two words in which salvation was used in the entire book of Exodus.

The very next verse where we find salvation is not even in the third book of the Bible. Nothing in Leviticus. And nothing in the fourth book of the Bible. The next place where we find the word salvation is found in Deuteronomy (the fifth book of the Bible) chapter 32, verse 15. Deuteronomy 32:15. Let's notice again how it was used in this passage: "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: you are waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." And that is the fourth time that the word salvation has been used. And it is referring to the 'Rock of his salvation.' Now in the King James, the word Rock here starts with the capital letter "R" and of course this is referring to Jesus Christ, who is the Rock in the wilderness. Now how do we know that? Let us not interpret the Bible but we need to let the Bible interpret itself. Who is this Rock mentioned in the Old Testament? I'd like you to open with me to 1 Corinthians 10:4. It says here, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." So we see here that Jesus Christ was the Rock that followed them in the Old Testament times. He was the God of Israel, He was the God leading them, He was the God known by the Israelites at that time, the most Holy One of Israel.

Now, there's nothing more about salvation after Deuteronomy. The next that we find is in Samuel. In 1 Samuel 2:1, we find here that it is contained in one prayer here. "And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in your salvation." This is the prayer of Hannah and this Hannah here was the mother of Samuel who became prophet. Now, I've just pointed this out so we get the perspective about salvation. Now you would be surprised again because in the New Testament, the very first time that salvation again is mentioned, salvation is not mentioned in the first book of the New Testament which is Matthew, nothing in Mark. But the very first time that we find the word is in Luke. Let's look at this passage here in Luke (the third book of the New Testament), Luke 1:69. And here even we find that it is not the words of Christ but rather it is one of the songs of praise from Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. It says, "And had raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David." So here it is talking about the horn of salvation.

Now we see here that many people make so much sentimental, emotional innuendo about salvation. They talk about giving your heart to the Lord, and many other emotional pleas. But here, the Bible talks about practical terms when it comes to salvation. And we need to realize and realigned our minds, our thoughts, our hearts and our words according to the Biblical expression.

Then the very next time that this word salvation was used in the New Testament is in Luke 2:30, and can you guess who mentioned these words? This is from Simeon, not even Christ. And this was in the context of Jesus Christ as an infant being brought to the temple. And this Simeon who had been waiting for the appearance of the Messiah, in his adoration and prayer, said in Luke 2:30, "For mine eyes have seen your salvation." And of course, he was quoting from a prophecy in the Old Testament. Continuing here in verse 31, "Which you prepare before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel." And Joseph and His mother Mary, of course, marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him. Even Joseph and Mary were surprised at what they were hearing other people talk about their son, Jesus Christ. But let's notice here the context in which the word salvation has occurred in both in the Old Testament and New Testament. And this should be surprising to you.

What about the next one that we will find the word salvation? It is found in Luke 19:9. This now is spoken by Jesus Christ and this is in the context of His visiting the home of Zachaeus, one of the tax collectors of his day. "Jesus said to him, This day is salvation come to your house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham." Jesus Christ was showing here that even if Zachaeus was among the most despised, considered a publican and sinner among the Jewish community, but here we find that Zachaeus had a noble heart that is repentant toward God.

Now that was all in that passage, the next that we'll come to is in the book of John, and you will be surprised that it starts in John 4:22. I'm here to show things that you never heard expounded or explained in the past. Jesus Christ, talking to the woman at the well in Samaria said, "You worship, you know not what: we, (now when He uses the word 'you' and 'we', when he said 'you' or 'ye', that was talking to the Samaritans, and when He said 'we', He was referring to the Jews which included Himself because Jesus Christ was a Jew. So He said), "You worship not what you don't know, but we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." And that is what Jesus Christ said. It has not yet been offered to the Gentile world at that time.

In fact, you would be surprised that salvation is not offered even to this world in a general way. Does that surprise you? Well, it should surprise you because you have been taught by many preachers and teachers who don't really know their Bible that well. Do you know about salvation enough? Do you think that the whole world will be saved this time? Do you think that if all Christianity will bond themselves together, the whole world will be saved? What I can tell you based on the Bible, is that salvation of this world will not occur by the power and the will of man. Salvation of this world will only be done by the power of God. And it will take Jesus Christ to come down and save this world. Does that surprise you?

I'd like you to open with me to certain passages, which should give you key understanding on this very vital and important subject, yet a subject which has been very much maligned, twisted, misunderstood and misrepresented. John 6:44. He said, "No man can come to Me, (meaning, to Jesus Christ) except the Father which has sent Me draw: and I will raise him up at the last day." Now we ask the question, how many people in all of Jerusalem went to Jesus Christ during His day? Yet He was the very Son of God, the Representative from heaven, the Horn of salvation. How many people came to Him? At the end of His ministry, after His death, and after His ministry of three and a half years, there were only one hundred twenty that received the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. And of course, we read that in the account in the early chapter in the book of Acts.

Now lest people will say, "Well, maybe Jesus Christ did not mean what He was saying. Maybe He made a mistake in saying that." But make no mistake about it, you should rather believe the Bible rather than preachers talking to you. I would like you to open with me to John 6:65, because Jesus Christ had to reiterate, had to emphasize, had to say this verse again. And what do we read? John 6:65 said, "And He, (that is, Jesus Christ said) therefore said I unto you, (in other words, "I already told you before") that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father." In other words, what we are reading here is that, it's not even Jesus Christ who does the calling! Many people think that they can call people to salvation. No. Many evangelists think that they can call people to salvation. No. Even Jesus Christ said, He, Himself as the Son of God, cannot call people to salvation. It is only the Father, the will of the Father. And what we should do, of course, is to preach the gospel, and it is God who does the calling. And that is something that we need to realize. That is something we need to understand because there is so much deception in this world.

You would ask, "How about those people who claim to have been saved?" Well, there is what we call 'spiritual deception' and there is also what we call 'false conversion, false salvation'; people thinking that they have been saved when all along they have not been saved; people thinking that they have baptized, but all that happened to them was getting wet in water. So when we really look at the Bible, it means something else, because real salvation has to do with a real transformation in one's heart, mind, soul and life itself. You cannot come to Christ as you are. And that is another fallacy. That's another deception, that people, preachers and evangelists have been telling people--"Just come to Christ as you are!" No. Christ does not accept you as you are. You need to change. You need to repent. You need to come to God's standards, not bringing your own standards, not bringing you own ways, and your old evil ways to Him. You need to reform yourself. That is something that we all need to understand.

[Advertisement]

Now let's move on in this subject of salvation.

There is another great confusion of people. Popular among people is the statement that 'once saved, always saved.' Is that biblical, that once you are saved you are always saved? Well, many people believe that statement. But first of all, I'll ask that question: where do you find that verse in the Bible? Obviously, that verse does not exist in the Bible. It's just in the opinion and in the theories of men that 'once saved always saved.' And the Bible does not support that doctrinal statement or that belief or that pronouncement. Maybe it's just the pronouncement of the preacher or preachers mentioning it.

To give you the first challenge to that statement, what about the statement made by Jesus Christ Himself? I'd like to refer you to Matthew 24. I would like to show you that there is something wrong with that statement which is not biblical, which did not come from the words of Christ or from the mouth of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24:13. The context here, Jesus Christ talks about the many problems and difficulties and prophesied events that will come upon this earth. In fact Matthew 24 is a prophetic chapter talking about the many stages and developments that will come to pass in this world and heading to the very last days, (He said in verse 13 of Matthew 24), Jesus Christ said, "But he that shall endure unto the end (now remember, it uses the future tense shall), the same shall be saved.” In other words, he is not referring to somebody who claimed he has been saved in the past. You need to endure to the end. You need to prove that you will endure to the end. You need to prove that you will not quit. In fact there is a statement, 'the quitter never wins and the winner never quits.' So you need to stick on, to overcome until the end. So the statement being made by many people about 'once saved, always saved' does not hold water when put in the light of biblical teaching and principle.

Now that's not all. Let's open to the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation chapter 2, and I'm going to show several verses here which show that that theory, that misunderstood teaching, that misinterpretation of 'once saved, always saved' is not biblical. Revelation 2. Here is the message of Jesus Christ to the seven churches in Asia Minor at that time. Revelation 2:7, it says, "He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (plural) to him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." So it's talking about those who overcome, which is future tense. And what else that it say? He said in verse 10, "Fear none of those things which you will suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, and that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be you faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of Life. He that has an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches… he that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death." Now it's talking here of second death, which means there is a first death, and there is a first life and there is a next life after that. So here it talks again, "he that overcomes" and overcoming is until the end of our life. Now here is another message in verse 17 of Revelation 2. It says here, "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no man knows except he which receives it." So it's talking again about the future event. And in verse 26, it says here, "And he that overcomes, and keeps My works unto the end, (so God is watching us; God is watching us from a distance as the song says; He is watching us unto to the end) to him that overcomes to the end, (does not quit, does not fail) to him will I give the power over the nations." So we see again a qualifying statement here. Chapter 3 verse 5 of Revelation: "He that overcomes the same will be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." Therefore, what we see here is that it is possible for our name to be blotted out of the Book of Life. So it shows here many passages. And going on, He said in verse 11, "Behold, I come quickly; hold fast that which you have, that no man takes your crown." So we need to hold fast. Hold fast, because otherwise if we do not hold fast, somebody else will take our crown. Verse 21 of Revelation 3, He said, "To him that overcomes, will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." So we see here continually the teaching that the statement 'once saved, always saved' does not have water when put in the light of Biblical teachings.

What many people don't know is that salvation comes in three tenses: the past tense, the present tense and the future tense. To simplify the subject, it's important for us to understand. Or using biblical terminologies, the past tense here has to do with redemption and justification of the past, and the present has to do with sanctification, and the future has to do with glorification. In other words, what we see here is that salvation is not a one-time deal. It's not a magic word. It's not a preacher saying, "Okay, you pray after me, and after this prayer, you're saved, my brother!" And the brother will say, "What will I do, pastor (or evangelist)?" "Nothing more." "Well, what am I now?" "Well, you're saved!" That does not hold water. Salvation is a process and God is watching, God is observing us.

Now concerning the past, what do we read here in the Bible about justification and redemption of the past? I'd like us to turn to Romans 4:25. What does it say? It says, "who (meaning Jesus Christ) was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." So He was killed (the previous verses mention about that). In chapter 5 verse 1, "Therefore being justified by faith, (we need to be justified by faith) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And that's the first step, to be justified. How is that possible? Let's open to Colossians 1:14. It said, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." In other words, it was His blood which gave us redemption. He paid for our sins. And when our sins were forgiven and paid for, we have justification in His blood.

Now, what's the next step after that? Well, now that we have been forgiven and cleansed, we don't go back sinning, we don't go back breaking His laws again, we need to keep His laws; we need to remain in the clean state or in biblical language, the sanctified state. Where do we find a verse that supports that? Let's open to 2 Thessalonians 2:13. We read here, it says, "But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." It means that we have to be in a sanctified state, in a state where we don't go back to sin, in a state where we don't participate in sin, and continuing in the belief of the truth and living by the truth.

Now, what's the third step after redemption and justification, and sanctification? We find this next step as the glorified state or glorification, which still will happen in the future. I'd like us to turn to 1 Corinthians 15:41-43. Starting in verse 41, it says here, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory." So it's talking about the analogy of glory or glorification. And applying that glory of the heavenly bodies, in verse 42, He said, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption." He is talking about the glorified state.  Verse 43, " It is sown in dishonor, (meaning, talking about physical bodies) it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power."

This is something that we all need to understand. That salvation is not a one-time event, it is a process. And this process is guided by the Holy Spirit of God who leads us and guides us and puts us in the sanctified state.

It is very important, radio listerners, that we understand the true meaning of Biblical verses and not get carried by sanctimonious, syrupy sweet statements, which don't have any biblical basis.

Now this is a subject which needs further study, I would like to offer you the booklet entitled, The Road to Eternal Life. It gives you a greater understanding on this. This is a 32-page booklet which we will send to you free of charge. Simply listen for the contact address at the end of this program, and we will send to you this booklet, The Road to Eternal Life.

[So until next time, same station, this is your broadcaster in behalf of the Good News of the World Tomorrow, saying thank you for listening!]