What does it mean to be saved?

jehoiakim

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yes, saved from inevitable eternal separation from a perfect, just and Holy God which is the natural consequence of our sinful nature. If God is perfect and God is just he cannot tolerate any fault because then he would cease to be perfect... but God is love so he had a plan to "redeem us" or "save us"
 
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Ken-1122

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I'm sure there'll be a lot of legnthy replies, so I'll try to make it quick:

Saved: from spiritual death into eternal life
Saved: from bondage to sin into freedom in Christ


What does spiritual death mean? That you no longer have a soul?

Also if you are saved from the bondage of sin, does that mean you will never sin again?

K
 
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Ken-1122

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yes, saved from inevitable eternal separation from a perfect, just and Holy God which is the natural consequence of our sinful nature. If God is perfect and God is just he cannot tolerate any fault because then he would cease to be perfect... but God is love so he had a plan to "redeem us" or "save us"

But what does saved mean?

K
 
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razeontherock

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What does spiritual death mean? That you no longer have a soul?

This is a difficult question! The story of Adam and Eve in the garden serves us well to have insight here. satan told Eve she would not die. G-d told Adam they would. They both ate, and did not die physically only because G-d intervened, initiating the first step of His Covenant with mankind.

They still dies Spiritually, and were cut off from the full Presence of G-d, and "kicked out of Eden." No, we don't really know what this means, never having "been there."

They both continued to have a soul, but trying to distinguish between soul and spirit is more tricky than we can do well.

Also if you are saved from the bondage of sin, does that mean you will never sin again?

K

We all wish ^_^ No. It does mean that our sin does not necessarily have to result in our own death, of any sort, as that burden has been borne by Jesus. So in the immediate sense, that is the best definition of Salvation, like so:

"And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. (Isaiah 12:2) Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this [is] known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."

(One of the shorter chapters in the Bible.)
 
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Ken-1122

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I will add that Salvation is both instantaneous, and progressive; so that ultimately it is "he who shall endure to the end shall be saved." Which in no way minimizes the reality our Lord can have in the here and now.

Again; what does it mean to be saved?

K
 
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razeontherock

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Again; what does it mean to be saved?

K

Let's see what Saint Peter had to say about it:

"Simeon [fn] Peter, a servant [fn] and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to [fn] his own glory and excellence, [fn] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, [fn] and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities [fn] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, [fn] be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

(2 Peter 1:11) For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

(From the ESV) [ETA: notice how Ortho furnished the short version of this ;)
 
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Ken-1122

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Razontherock (quote) “It does mean that our sin does not necessarily have to result in our own death, of any sort,”

(reply) so are you saying that if you are saved and you die, you won’t die as a result of sinning? Can’t the same be said for the unsaved? I mean if a saved person and an unsaved person both get hit by a truck and die, where is the sin in that? Or am I misunderstanding you; if so please explain

K
 
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drich0150

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What does spiritual death mean?
The description of Hell is synonymous with Spiritual death.

That you no longer have a soul?
Perhaps it is better stated that the control over it will no long be offered to you. Curious as to what that might mean? Ask yourself what does it look like when those of us loose control over our minds?

Also if you are saved from the bondage of sin, does that mean you will never sin again?
It means we are free from the wage of sin.
 
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Ken-1122

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Salvation is participation in the Divine Life of the Holy Trinity by becoming united with the God-man, Jesus Christ.


So being saved means you can participate in the "devine life"? Can you say that in english please? I mean, what does it mean to participate in a devine life?

K
 
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razeontherock

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Razontherock (quote) “It does mean that our sin does not necessarily have to result in our own death, of any sort,”

(reply) so are you saying that if you are saved and you die, you won’t die as a result of sinning? Can’t the same be said for the unsaved? I mean if a saved person and an unsaved person both get hit by a truck and die, where is the sin in that? Or am I misunderstanding you; if so please explain

K

Hmmm. Sin is a cumulative thing. If you and/or I were to get hit by a truck and killed, I don't think G-d would hold that against us if it were an accident. Of course I would likely hold a stupid mistake like that against myself, but that's different ^_^

My sins, having been "laid on Jesus" by Faith, are atoned for, forgiven, and cleansed. You ... do you have any precious Faith to do any such thing?

IMHO this puts the following verse in it's proper perspective:

"and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 1:3)
 
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Ken-1122

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The description of Hell is synonymous with Spiritual death.

Perhaps it is better stated that the control over it will no long be offered to you. Curious as to what that might mean? Ask yourself what does it look like when those of us loose control over our minds?


It means we are free from the wage of sin.

So if you get saved, it means you will become free from the wages of sin?
Again; what does that mean? do you become perfect? sinless? exactly what happens when you get saved?


Ken
 
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Ken-1122

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Hmmm. Sin is a cumulative thing. If you and/or I were to get hit by a truck and killed, I don't think G-d would hold that against us if it were an accident. Of course I would likely hold a stupid mistake like that against myself, but that's different ^_^

My sins, having been "laid on Jesus" by Faith, are atoned for, forgiven, and cleansed. You ... do you have any precious Faith to do any such thing?

IMHO this puts the following verse in it's proper perspective:

"and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 1:3)


So if I am understanding you correctly, if you are saved, you can sin as much as you want, and just lay them on Jesus and all is forgiven; but if you are not saved you don't have that option; is that correct?

Ken
 
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jehoiakim

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Paul tells us we should NOT keep going on in sin, he actually says God forbid we do that. We cannot be perfect, but as long as we place our faith and Christ and make a serious commitment to follow him then we have a promise to receive salvation, where we are given new perfect sinless bodies when Christ comes back. Of course we will make mistakes, although we should be trying our best not to and if it happens we are required to repent and refocus... of course christ says there will be some who come to him who say Lord, Lord din't we prohecy in your name etc... and he will say away from me, I never knew you. God is the ultimate authority of who was genuinely committed and who was abusing the get out of hell free card
 
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razeontherock

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So if I am understanding you correctly, if you are saved, you can sin as much as you want, and just lay them on Jesus and all is forgiven; but if you are not saved you don't have that option; is that correct?

Ken

No. This is a possible misunderstanding, and IMHO it shows having "head knowledge" that has not penetrated the heart:

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
(Romans 6:2) By no means!
How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self [fn] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free [fn] from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions."

One of the best things I've heard was linked on CF, expounding this passage. Apparently the verbiage is quite military.
 
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Ken-1122

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Paul tells us we should NOT keep going on in sin, he actually says God forbid we do that. We cannot be perfect, but as long as we place our faith and Christ and make a serious commitment to follow him then we have a promise to receive salvation, where we are given new perfect sinless bodies when Christ comes back. Of course we will make mistakes, although we should be trying our best not to and if it happens we are required to repent and refocus... of course christ says there will be some who come to him who say Lord, Lord din't we prohecy in your name etc... and he will say away from me, I never knew you. God is the ultimate authority of who was genuinely committed and who was abusing the get out of hell free card

So getting saved means you should try not to sin? But can't that be accomplished without getting saved?

K
 
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