What is spiritual salvation?

Israel’s inheritance depended upon their conduct, if they were willing and obedient, they were to eat the good of the land. Do you think—does anyone here think—that his obedience could get him to heaven; that his obedience would secure for him that inheritance that is reserved in heaven for believers? If he does, he is very greatly mistaken, and in having such a thought he is not obeying God but only disobeying Him, for the one who is trusting to his own obedience or faithfulness is not trusting Christ at all; he is not really believing the Gospel. But here it is, “To an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” for a certain class of people. “For you, who are kept by the power of God.” You are not thrown upon your own resources at all; you are kept by the power of God, and through faith, not through works, but through faith, and unto a salvation ready to be revealed, a salvation that is not yet revealed. Your salvation is not yet revealed. I may tell a man I am saved; he doubts it very much; perhaps he does not know what I mean by saying I am saved until I explain it, but what evidence is there that I am saved? The only evidence that I am saved at all is that I act as one that is subject to God, and as one that is not dominated by the evil that dominates the world, by selfishness, which is sin. Our salvation will be revealed when the Lord comes, but it is not revealed yet.

Verse 9, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” Take the salvation that was accorded to Israel at the Red Sea; they were to stand still on the Egyptian side of those impassable waters and see the salvation of God. Moses lifted up his rod and the sea was divided, and Israel marched over to the other side on dry land. That was a salvation the whole earth heard of. Rahab told the spies that went into the land not long after that the report of them had reached the land of Canaan, and they were all trembling because of the God of Israel; that salvation was a public thing; it was a salvation that men could take account of; they could see it with their eyes, and it was a temporal salvation. But here is a salvation that Peter calls “The salvation of the soul.” That is not a temporal salvation at all, but a spiritual one. A man might be in the worst of circumstances imaginable, but the word of God reaches him, the Gospel comes to him and he believes it, and by it he is saved, but the next day his circumstances are just the same as they were the day before; they are not altered. The salvation does not refer to his circumstances at all. There is no outward evidence that there is any intervention by God at all; his circumstances are just as wretched as they were before, but the man is different, his soul is emancipated. His soul is delivered from sin and lust and self dependence, and for ever saved from the power of the devil and the power of death. He is delivered from evil, from spiritual forces, from spiritual evils, but he is not delivered from his hard circumstances yet; his salvation is not revealed; it has not come to light; it is not manifested—it will be by-and-by. When he enters the inheritance in heaven he will be like Christ. But, you say, Scriptures say we hope to be saved, “In hope of salvation.” Yes, that is perfectly true, but that has reference to our bodies; they are to be changed, but our souls are saved. We are emancipated from the powers of evil that hold this world, and the people of this world in bonds. If a man who professes to be a believer is dominated by the lust and pride of this world, then whatever he may say about himself he is not delivered; he is still under the power of sin.

To be saved, then, is to be brought consciously in the faith of the soul on to the ground of accomplished redemption through believing the glad tidings of the remission of sins. And this is accompanied by the Holy Ghost taking up His dwelling-place in the forgiven person.

The great thought in salvation is that the soul is rescued from destruction and recovered for God. In Mark 16 it is put in contrast with judgment, and in 1 Corinthians with perishing, and with the latter it is usually contrasted in Scripture. In James 4:12 we have “One Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy;” and in Luke 19:10 we have the Son of Man come to seek and to “save that which was lost;” and in 2 Corinthians 2:15 we have the apostles a sweet savour of Christ to God, “in them that are saved and in them that perish;” and in all these places the word in the original for “destroy,” “lost,” “perish” is the same. The thought therefore connected with salvation in Scripture is easily laid hold of. The idea being that the soul is rescued from destruction, and recovered to God in new relationships, life, power, and blessing. I have said it is complete in a moral and spiritual sense in quickening with Christ, and in association with Him beyond Jordan. When we have come to this in the apprehension of our souls we can put on the helmet of salvation, we are in the enjoyment of an accomplished salvation, and have it as armour for our heads in battle; and to this Peter would have the babes grow up.

Now, for us there is soul salvation, as Cornelius and his company that day learnt. Life the centurion had already possessed - eternal life really. But salvation he had never known. Deliverance from the just consequences of his sins he had not previously enjoyed. So we see in him illustrated the salvation of the soul, of which Peter writes (1 Peter 1:9), before receiving full salvation of the person, which will come at a future day (1 Peter 1:5). Soul salvation, then, apart from final deliverance in the last time, is New Testament doctrine, and in its fulness and freeness is Christian doctrine. Prophets of old, we are taught by the same Apostle, learnt that they ministered really to coming generations, writing of that which was not in their own day to be enjoyed. At Pentecost the time had come for the salvation of the soul to be known by the believer. We say at Pentecost, because during the Lord's life on earth that blessing, like forgiveness of sins, was not preached nor generally dispensed. A woman in the Pharisee's house learnt that her sins were forgiven (Luke 7:48). To the house of the publican Zacchæus salvation came when the Lord entered under his roof (Luke 19:9). But these were exceptional cases, like drops of rain the prelude to a great shower. Now, however, consequent on the death and resurrection of the Lord, a great change was introduced: forgiveness of sins was to be preached and by consequence soul salvation was to be enjoyed. So the Apostle Paul could write of this dispensation as "the day of salvation" (2 Cor.6:2). Then, addressing the company in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, he declared, "To you is the word of this salvation sent" (Acts 13:26). And when the Jews at Rome refused the truth, he told them, "This salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it" (28:28). It was present salvation; so he could say to Timothy, "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling" (2 Tim.1:9). To the Ephesians he could write, "By grace are ye saved through faith," for they had received the Gospel of their salvation (Eph.2:8). Deliverance from the consequences of their sins they enjoyed, and knew it. So was it with Cornelius when he had heard the words whereby he could be saved. So is it with every one who rests on the Divine testimony of forgiveness of sins through the precious blood of Christ. To have spiritual life is one thing, to be saved is another. Not that God will stop short of perfecting His work in the soul; but He desires that the individual should believe the message of forgiveness and know that he is saved.

She must be exposed in the presence of God. She must see that she is nothing but a poor corrupt sinner, and that only mercy can save her from the judgment to which her guilty life had made her liable. It is in the light that we get salvation; and in one sense salvation is by the light, for salvation lies in the knowledge of God. The word to Christ is: “I have set Thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that Thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). Salvation, as known at this present time, is the emancipation of the soul from every evil thing that held it in bondage, so that the subjects of salvation may be at liberty to serve the living God. “Let My son go, that he may serve Me,” was the word of God that was sent by Moses to Pharaoh. This salvation was realized by the people at the Red Sea, when the proud host of Egypt was overwhelmed by the waters, and Israel was brought to God in the wilderness. But that salvation was temporal and governmental, and was a deliverance of flesh and blood from the domination of flesh and blood, whereas our salvation is the salvation of the soul, and is spiritual and eternal. The work of the cross is, I need scarcely say, the foundation of all God’s dealings with us in grace, but practical salvation lies in the knowledge of God; and therefore is Christ both light and salvation.

Those to whom Peter wrote were quite familiar with the idea of a salvation which consisted of temporal deliverance, such as the deliverance of their fathers from Egypt, and they had expected a supreme salvation of that kind at the advent of their Messiah, as promised through the prophets; but by faith in the risen Christ (verse 3) a salvation of a spiritual sort affecting their souls had reached them, though they were externally still under the iron heel of Rome. Of this salvation the prophets had also spoken, for the theme of their testimony was twofold — first, the sufferings of the Christ, and second, the glories that were to follow. As the immediate result of His first advent to suffer there is a soul-salvation for those who believe. As the direct result of His second advent to reign in glory the bodies of the saints will be saved from the power of death and public and universal salvation will be established for those who enter His kingdom.

It will be seen from what we have said, that soul-salvation in these scriptures necessarily includes the judicial salvation, which is ours when we believe; when we receive the forgiveness of sins, and are justified on the principle of faith; but in its positive aspect it embraces the present enjoyment in the soul, of that salvation, which, in its fullness, is ready to be revealed. It is ours in this world now, because it is “in Christ.”

There is far more in the expression “the saving of the soul” than safety from the eternal judgment of God, which must surely be meted out to the wicked. Salvation in that sense of it is a very great matter indeed; and it belongs to all those who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot thank God too much for His great mercy to us in this respect; for truly, we richly deserved His judgment.

T. The emancipation of the soul from the whole power of evil, by which it was held in bondage in the fallen condition in which man is by nature. In this also is included deliverance from the consequences of our sins, and being reconciled to God. Peter speaks of it in contrast with the temporal deliverance accorded to Israel when they were brought out of the grasp of the oppressor to God in the wilderness. This was a salvation which was open and manifest to the nations of the earth (Josh. 2:10); but the salvation of the soul of which the Apostle speaks, and which is accorded to us, is not yet revealed. Outwardly there is no alteration in our circumstances. As far as the human eye can see there has been no deliverance effected for us. Our salvation has not yet come to light. It still awaits its manifestation. When Christ appears we shall appear with Him in glory, and then shall our salvation be revealed.

In connection with the above subject the question to consider in the first place is what is involved in salvation, or what it really consists in. What I understand by it is that the soul is delivered from that ruinous and destructive power under which it was held, and also from any evil to which it may be liable. The latter was exemplified in Noah and his house, and the former in the deliverance accorded to the children of Israel at the Red Sea. As to Noah and Israel, their salvation was temporal and did not necessarily involve new and eternal relationships with God as the salvation of our souls does, but to my mind the salvation that was accorded to them illustrates the two-fold character of the salvation which is ours in Christ Jesus. There may be other aspects of salvation, but they do not occur to me at this moment. I desire to look at the salvation under these two aspects.