When Is Salvation?

Christianity universally teaches that salvation is at the beginning of a believer’s faith, received upon initially believing on Jesus. Does that make it so? Why don’t we just let the scriptures themselves be the measuring stick and answer to that question? Let’s see now, where would be a good place for us to start? Let’s try here: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls" (I Pet. 1:7-9). So Peter says that salvation is not attained to until we have endured trials faithfully in true holiness unto the coming, or appearing, of Jesus Christ. So what if we do NOT endure trials faithfully in holiness until the coming of the Lord? Well, the prospect of that is what inspired the following admonition from the apostle Paul: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philip. 2:12). Who was he saying these things to? Born again believers in Philippi, who also had to endure in holiness in order to be saved. To these things Peter also agreed: "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear" (I Pet. 1:17). Fear about what, one may ask? Of not being found in true holiness at the Lord’s coming, "without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). And we really need to know whether Jesus agreed with these things, so let’s take a look: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved” (Mat. 24:12,13). Jude also profoundly joined unison with these statements: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:5,6).

The scripture plainly states that there is “one hope” of the Gospel (Eph. 4:4). And what is that hope? “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation" (I Thess. 5:8). Now let’s follow that theme just a little further in the scriptures: "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (Rom. 8:24,25). So we are being saved by the hope of salvation, because by means of this hope we "purify [ourselves], even as he is pure,” that we “may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless" (I Jn. 3:3; II Pet. 3:14). In reference to waiting on our salvation with patience, as Paul stated above, Jesus said, "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Lk. 21:19). If that statement sounds familiar to something already quoted here, it is from the same sermon as Mat. 24, and is in fact the exact same statement that Matthew phrased as, "He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.” So if we have salvation at the beginning of our faith, that means that we have a hope that is seen now, contrary to the scripture noted from Rom.8:24, 25. That also means it is not a hope, which is also contrary to the noted scripture. Not to mention that this modern Christian school of thought is contrary to everything in the Bible in regard to salvation. Or do you believe that other writers of the Bible disagree with the sound doctrine that we have already noted from the scriptures, by the apostles and Jesus as well? No friend, the Spirit of God inspired all the scriptures, and the Spirit is the one mind of Christ, and of the Father (II Tim. 3:16: I Cor. 1:10; Jn. 17:22; I Cor. 2:16). Salvation is, as Peter said, at the “end of our faith.” ude was not entertaining the believers that he wrote to, by warning them about God destroying those whom he delivered from Egypt, after they discontinued the faith that they began in. Same about his warning of everlasting destruction in reference to the angels “who kept not their first estate.” He was speaking these things to Spirit baptized souls, whom he knew needed very much, as do we, to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.” If we are doing that then the following statement by Paul applies: “for now is our salvation nearer than when we [first] believed" (Rom. 13:11). Amen and God bless.