Salvation & Conversion

Are you saved? Is it the same thing as conversion? Many are asked that question as if the two things are the same! No one in the Bible ever spoke of the day that they "got saved" as so many people do in this time. What does the Bible say about the subjects of salvation and being saved?

Jesus said that he who endures to the end will be saved. Paul wrote of the "hope of salvation" and Peter spoke of salvation being the end of our faith to be revealed in the latter time. What is the truth? Are you already saved, or not?

Study this page to learn the truth about Salvation. There are also audio clips taken from the What Must I Do to be Saved CD teaching series. Click on an article title in the box in the right column to read from a range of articles covering different aspects of the truth about salvation.

What Must I Do to be Saved CD Set

What Must I Do to be Saved? examines an issue that everyone needs to understand. Confusion and error are everywhere on this subject and your eternal fate depends on understanding these things. Learn about salvation, being saved and the things you must do to be saved. This 4 CD set available at cost price from our eBay store

. This is vital understanding for walking with the Lord.

Thought for Today
May. 15

MUCH MORE

"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

Please note that in the verses above, the apostle Paul (1) refers to "being saved" as a future event and (2) teaches that being saved is "much more" than being justified by the blood of Christ and that it is "much more" than being reconciled to God. Being "justified by the blood of Christ" and being "reconciled to God" are other ways of saying "born again" or "converted". So, what Paul is teaching in these verses is that being saved is "much more" than being converted. Then, it logically follows that if salvation is "much more" than conversion, then salvation cannot be the same thing as conversion.

When we are born of the Spirit, we obtain the hope of salvation. Sinners have no hope of salvation, but saints do, because we are reconciled to God. And if we who are reconciled to God are faithful to Him, then when Jesus returns, He will bring salvation to us. This reward for obedience, the salvation of our souls, is "much more" than merely being born again. Some people who are born again will not be saved in the end because their deeds displeased God after their conversion. This is why Paul taught that being saved is a greater blessing than being born again.

In the two verses above, taken from Romans 5:9-10, Paul is teaching this simple truth: SALVATION IS BETTER THAN CONVERSION. Salvation is "much more" of a blessing than conversion is, and so, it is to be "much more" desired. Being justified by the blood of Christ is good, but being found worthy of salvation by Jesus when he returns will be much better.

NOT THE SAME THING

It is important for the saints to know that Paul understood salvation to be different from conversion (otherwise, salvation could not be "much more" than conversion). Conversion is an experience of "new birth" available now; salvation is in the future. Salvation is the reward for faithful saints who Jesus will bring with him when he returns, as the Scripture says, "Behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him" (Isa. 62:11).

Carefully consider the words Paul uses to describe salvation. His words reveal to us his understanding of what salvation is and when it will be given to the saints. He wrote in this same letter to the saints in Rome, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (13:11). Paul eagerly looked to the future for his salvation, and he labored to be found worthy to be saved when he stood before the Lord. If we think differently, we need to change our doctrine. Paul received his from God.