The Essence of Salvation



It all started with Socrates. The father of philosophy. Philosophy if you do not know is the love of wisdom. (philo = love & Sophi = wisdom) Socrates desired to live an examined life full of integrety and vertue. He was quoted as saying that an unexamined life is not worth living. I say he is quoted as saying because we do not have any of his writings. Everything we know of him comes from one of his students Plato. Most of Plato's writings are conversations of Socrates mostly about defining of terms. It was important for the truth to be known by knowing what the truth meant to both you and the rest of the world. Discovering the universal truth behind the subjective expression of a word. He would do so by extremes. courage and fear, strength and weakness, joy and sorrow, peace and confusion, are just a few ideas behind the discovery of wisdom. 

So Socrates started it but then Plato ran with it. Plato took the idea of defining a truth to the concept of there being a form of a thing and then the essence of it. In other words we can define something, but no matter how precise our definition, it does not give the true essence of the thing. And then it goes even deeper into the idea that the physical appearance of something is merely its form, whereas its essences is much deeper and separate from the form itself. 

Now before I get anymore confused, and confuse you any further let's get back to the essence of out text. We are talking about salvation. Too often we simply take it for granted that our salvation is simply out ticket into heaven. The truth is as we look deeper that there is so much more available to us in this free gift of God. So the questions that we can hope to answer today is what is salvation, how can we apply salvation to different areas in our lives and finally how can we be sure that this essence of salvation is personally available to us.

Let's start by getting a clear definition of salvation.  Both the Hebrew and Greek words translated salvation imply the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, soundness, prosperity, and so much more. Looking at the Greek word translated salvation which is soteria, we can discover that we can see how it is used to define our rescue, or safety as well as deliverance, healing and protection. Digging deeper we can discover that the root word soter, defines God or Christ Himself, which in turn comes comes from sozo which mean wholeness. 

Looking at that alone we can developed a better understanding of our salvation. Remember how the Word of God tells us that whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. and If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the grave you will be saved. In the knowledge that when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal LORD and Savior you have within you all the redemptive acts and processes as justification, sanctification, redemption, propitiation, imputation, forgiveness, grace, mercy and glorification and more. 

Now I am afraid that before we go any further with our definition we need to go back to philosophy. We talked about Socrates and his student Plato now we move onto the man who is call "The Philosopher" Plato's student, Aristotle. Remember how Plato tried to find the essence behind the form of a thing? Well Aristotle reasoned that if form and essence were separate then the essence of a thing would itself have to have a separate essence and on and on forever. So in order to answer this question of the truth behind truth he proposed that what we can observe is the actual thing and behind it was its potential. Therefore what we have is where we are in actuality and underneath is the true potential that is available to us. Applying that philosophy to our salvation we can see where we are now in Christ and looking beyond that we can see the potential we have in Christ. 

So first we have to have a well grounded definition of salvation, then we need to discover the essence of salvation and apply it to our lives. From there we need to perfect the actual existence of the idea and maximize it to its full potential in our lives. Working our our salvation with fear and trembling in every area of our lives, from the breaking down the strong holds of the enemy to the health of our mind, body and soul to our prosperity and the hope we have of a blessed future. 

Now, let's go back to our original scripture verse in the book of Exodus. We are going to be abel to tie all of this together real quick as we look at the original word transladed as salvation. It is yeshuwah. Does that look or sound fimiluar? It should it is the very name of Jesus. Jesus is the essence of salvation. Jesus is salvation. He is wholeness, healing, deliverance, prosperity, wisdom, safety and security, He is life and life abundantly, He is our all in all. 

Now this is where we can get our breakthrough. Jesus is the essence of salvation and applying His truth and love and putting your total faith in Him and Him alone will give you the answer to every area of your life. He forgives you of your sins, His word guides you in the way of righteousness. That means He will show you the right way to live. He give you a new beginning. Morning by morning new mercies He brings. He provides for our every need. He strengthens and comforts us. He is our mediator. He is life itself. There is nothing which is impossible for Him.

So now we have the definition, we know the true essence, we know the areas in our lives that will benefit from His touch how do we make it personal. How do we access the potential? How do we maximize our faith in Him to the manifestation of the abundant life which He has planned for us.  

We follow Him. We start by getting real with who we are. We are God's Children. We then follow through with that knowledge by putting the old man to death and walking in the newness of life. (Galatians 2:20 KJV) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Once crucified it is then time to rise. It is time for resurrection, it is time for renewal, it is time to get up and let the Spirit of God fill the very core of your being to the overflowing with the goodness of God. It is time to shine. It is time to be that light in the darkness. It is time to put on the garment of praise for that spirit of heaviness has been defeated. It is time to put on that helmet of salvation and know that the victory is yours, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit to the glory of God. It is time for a breakthrough.


If you do not know the depths of salvation that is available to you then right now you have the opportunity to dive in and discover the truth. It is no more a mystery, your salvation is at hand and great is it indeed. Put your hand in His and overcome by the blood of the lamb, and live a life that becomes a living testimony of His love for all the world. From this point forward you can walk in the knowledge that you have the full potential of Christ within you and no weapon formed against you will prosper. The victory is yours today, tomorrow and forever in Jesus name amen