Salvation

“…salvation is something plainly visible – salvation can be seen by all humans. Salvation is thus not merely a theological concept or something experienced by the heart or mind or even an event to be experienced by the many. Salvation is visible because it is a relationship with the Son of God…everyone in the world can see God’s salvation…And we are always to be seeking and searching for God because with the Lord we have a relationship that never ends, never grows old, never fades. Rather, we continually grow and come to see more and more of the infinite and eternal God.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“Viewed in the light of Christ, beginning with the Savior, creation and salvation are not two distinct actions, but the continual process of God’s activity in his handiwork, bringing the creature, when he allows himself to be skillfully fashioned, to the stature of the Savior, by whom and for whom all creation has come into being. But when one begins with the Savior Jesus Christ as the first principle, the hypothesis, what else can one conclude but that it is by Him and for Him that we have been brought into being?” (Fr. John Behr)

“With a bit more effort, we could see that “success” is equally derived from many sources outside of the self. It should not be surprising then, to see that salvation (and condemnation) are also corporate matters rather than strictly individual. Indeed, the corporate nature of our existence lies at the very heart of the classical doctrine of Christian salvation.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“The salvation of the soul is not stripping off of something but the putting on of Christ. It is… chiefly communion and union with Christ….The Lord desires one man to be saved through another, and in the same way satan strives to destroy one man through another.” (Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, St. John of Karpathos)

“The Holy Spirit came upon Christ’s followers as they were gathered together in obedience to the Lord’s command, and we must never fool ourselves into thinking that the spiritual life is an individualistic endeavor that caters to our preferences, plans, or feelings, no matter how noble we think they are. Pentecost calls us to get over the pride that divided the tongues of humanity in the first place and to gain the humility to find our true personhood as members of the Body of Christ, where the distinctive beauty of our souls will shine evermore brightly as we partake of the same living water as did the Apostles. Instead of fueling our divisions from one another, we must enter into the unity that is truly the gift of God and the salvation of the world.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“…he [St. Paul] uses a classical means of stating truth through the use of opposites. First he says, “Work out your own salvation” and then, although he seems to contradict himself, insists that “it is God who works in you” (Philippians 2:12-13). In actuality, he is demonstrating the fullness of the truth concerning our struggle for salvation. It is useless for us to try to establish who accomplishes the work of salvation, for the apostle speaks as if both God and the Philippians are responsible for their deliverance. In fact, these seeming opposites constitute the fully balanced truth: salvation is a process wherein the relationship of God and man is synergistic. Each person works out his or her salvation while God, quietly and firmly, works with us, encouraging, illumining, and filling us with His grace (vs. 13). We the faithful know full well that the good will of the Holy Trinity yokes us to Christ in the work of salvation. We never struggle alone! We are called into unity with Christ to defeat the demonic powers that divide us from one another.” (Dynamis 11/1/2021)

“It is important to emphasize that salvation is not a solo task we carry out before God. We are children in the family of our Father in heaven. There is a great potential for joy in being members of one another, united under one Head in the Body of Christ. Hence, the salvation of everyone is the concern of the faithful individually. Just as white corpuscles rush to a point of infection inside our bloodstream, so should the prayers of Christians hasten to the Lord on behalf of their brethren in Christ who are in need.” (OCPM 10/12/2015)

“…“salvation” is a process….“The reception of the gift of salvation is not a one-time event, but a lifetime process. St. Paul employs the verb “to save” (sozesthai) in the past tense (‘we have been saved,’) [Rom 8:24; Eph 2:5], in the present tense (‘we are being saved,’) [1 Cor 1:18; 15:2], and in the future tense (‘we will be saved,’) [Rom. 5:10]. He can think even of justification as a future event and part of the final judgment (Rom. 2:13, 16)…” (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Fr. Basil)

“We were saved. We are being saved. We “will be saved. These affirmations can only mean that salvation is not a moment in time but a process that is going on throughout our lives. How do we know this? How do we know it isn’t over yet? Well, the tribulations of the moment are proof enough that we haven’t reached our final deliverance. More than that, these sufferings demonstrate that the Lord isn’t through with us yet. But our sufferings are carrying us forward. By the virtues of perseverance, character, and hope, the Lord’s work in us is being completed, and His promise that “We shall be saved” is coming closer to being fulfilled.” (Fr. Basil)

“Within the writings of the Fathers, the life of salvation is described in three stages: purification, illumination and deification. These steps are not entirely sequential. Some measure of each of them is present in the whole of the Christian life (rightly lived). But their sequence abides: there is no deification without prior purification and illumination. Given the nature of our life in the world, it is almost always the case that purification forms the greater part of our struggle.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“Faith transforms the whole person, heart, soul, mind, and body…Salvation deals with the whole person, for each human being is a unity, body and soul.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 10:5-13, James 5:13-15)

“The Lord’s resurrection reveals the great dignity of the human body, which is destined for heavenly glory. Salvation is not an escape from the physical dimensions of our lives, but their fulfillment by our participation as whole persons in the life of Christ. True faith in the Savior requires that we unite every aspect of our existence to Him for healing and transformation. Even as He healed the sick and fed the hungry, the most obvious practices of faithfulness involve caring for people in their bodily weaknesses and infirmities. By showing tangible signs of care for our neighbors, regardless of who they are, we also touch the wounds of Christ, for He is present to us in everyone in need.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“Christ heals/saves human flesh in the incarnation, and then that salvation becomes ours when we are united to Christ through faith and the sacramental life in the Church, which is Christ’s Body. Salvation is not just God uniting Himself to humanity in Christ in the incarnation, but also is in our participation in this salvation – in our incorporation into Christ and into Christ’s Body. God became human so that humans might become divine. All the dividing walls between humanity and God have been removed so that now humanity can participate in the divine love and divine life.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

 “…when believers are accounted righteous, “God’s righteousness is actually given to mankind by grace”…But this gift is not a one-time event. Being “saved” is not a past event that happened at a certain time and place. “This righteousness transforms the whole person, internally and externally”…Salvation is past, present, and future. It is a process in which the grace of the Holy Spirit restores us to the image of God in which we were made.” (Fr. Basil, Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 4:11, 12). 

“Though Christ has accomplished his victory once and for all, we as human persons come to participate in this victory in time and space. We struggle with sin and repentance and healing in real-time. We continue to draw near to the Triune God in worship, though now with knowledge rather than ignorance (John 4:23-24).” (Father Stephen De Young)

“…salvation is not automatic or universal. It will in some way have to involve the free response of man, by the action of grace, to God's abiding Love…salvation will not be forced upon anyone: each person will turn to God of his own free will when he reaches the state of maturity.” (Archbishop Hilarion, Fr. George Morelli)

“Salvation can be messy. I believe this with all my heart and so I state it at the outset of this article. As such, it marks me as a heretic in Modernity. I not only believe that salvation is messy – I believe that messiness is pretty much inherent to salvation. And along with that, I believe that our aversion to messiness (in all things) is a peculiar affliction of the modern world and a vexation of the spirit.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“And it is concerning this life of the world to come that Christ points his hearers in today's Gospel reading [Luke 20:1-8], in particularly strident and dire terms. While it may seem that there is no purpose in this life but to gratify ones' desires, even at the expense of others, and while it may seem that if one manages to escape negative consequences for one's actions in this life, there will be no such consequences, the truth is that in the end there will be a reckoning. In the end, every one of us will stand before his or her creator and judge to give an account, and all that which has not been corrected, has not been restored, or has not seen justice done in this life will see justice in the next. Those who have received good things in this life at the expense of others will face the loss of everything. Those who wasted their lives chasing after those things which pass away will have nothing to show for themselves. Those who thought they had an unlimited time to repent and make things right will discover, to their sorrow, that their time is up.” (Father Stephen De Young)

“It is interesting that Jesus provides food abundantly for the thousands to eat, yet He is concerned about the leftovers which He doesn’t want to go to waste. So He orders the leftovers be gathered together so nothing is lost (see also John 6:1-14). Will not the Lord, who is concerned that food crumbs not be lost, also be similarly concerned with every human being? We should not be wishing that any are permanently separated from God, but rather should be saddened, as Jesus is, that any might end up separated from God and lost from the Kingdom. He came exactly to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). And He gathers together even the crumbs, the leftovers, the debris, the refuse and saves them too. St Paul identifies himself with the refuse and offscouring of the world (1 Corinthians 4:13) – the world doesn’t want this scrap and sweepings, but Christ does.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“…our salvation lies with our brothers and sisters. The significance of relationships cannot be avoided. Our ability to receive love and to reflect the love of Christ to others is a necessary component of our salvation. We are all presented with Christ’s great command to love our neighbor as ourselves, yet we so often struggle with this command.” (Fr. Joshua Makoul)

“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13)....we work out our own salvation (v. 12) while it is God who works in us to do His will (v. 13).” (Orthodox Study Bible, Philippians 2:12-13)

“We should not suppose, because he said, “For it is God that works in you both the willing and the doing,” that he has taken away free will. For if that were so he would not have said above “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” [Philippians 2:12]. For when he bids them work, it is agreed that they have free will. But they are to work with fear and trembling so that they will not, by attributing the good working to themselves, be elated by the good works as though they were their own.” (St. Augustine)

“Thus, the Apostle writes, “…for it is God who is at work in you to will and to do for His good pleasure” (vs. 13). God is the focus.  He is the one who is active and effective in the work of salvation…Note that the word “you” is singular. The Almighty is active in each believer to fulfill “His own good pleasure.” The term “pleasure” is derived from the root “to satisfy”…The thought is that God is the one who is operating in the believer to accomplish His goal. Therefore, the attainment of salvation is wholly by grace. As we “work out” our salvation, the God of mercy not only gives us the power to do it but the will to achieve it.” (Fr. Basil)

“He who believes from the heart is informed that Christ came not to judge but to save him, and this not by works nor by toil nor by perspiration, but only by faith in Him.” (St. Symeon the New Theologian)

“Salvation demands faith in Jesus Christ. People cannot save themselves by their own good works. Salvation is "faith working through love." It is an ongoing, lifelong process. Salvation is past tense in that, through the death and Resurrection of Christ, we have been saved. It is present tense, for we must also be being saved by our active participation through faith in our union with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is also future tense, for we must yet be saved at His glorious Second Coming.” (Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese)

"We are not given life in order that we may be released from the Judgment that hangs over us from our birth, but in order that we may be perfected in the image of God. None of us can say that we are “saved”, that the job is done and we can relax. Saint Paul speaks of the athlete who must keep on running until the race is over. We trust in the mercy of God, and place our hope in Him alone. But we have a role to play in what God calls us to…Salvation is not a reversal of God’s judgment; it is the process of being restored into His likeness." (Father Spyridon Baily)

"Our task in this short earthly life is to resume the dialogue that was lost with God in Paradise; to learn how to orient the heart, tuning its antennae to the frequency of God’s life and grace. It is in this way we acquire eternal life and our salvation." (Archimandrite Sergius)

“…God gave us “being” (existence), with a view that we should move towards “well-being,” and with the end of “eternal being” (salvation).” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“We should never say that nothing is important. On the contrary, everything is important. Even the smallest of our actions impacts our eternal salvation.” (Elder Sergei of Vanves)

“Christianity is a communal religion, one in which even the concept of salvation is corporate. It is not about being saved in some vacuum, all by yourself. Your salvation and my salvation are connected.” (Abbot Tryphon)

“Godliness is a life-long business. The working out of the salvation that the Lord, himself, works in you is not a matter of certain hours, or of a limited period of life. Salvation is unfolded throughout our entire sojourn here." (Charles Spurgeon)

“There is no more important or pressing issue for each person to consider than that of his own salvation.” (Clark Carlton)

"God desires all to be saved, yet this gift of salvation has to be accepted by the believer, since God will not force salvation on us. As we freely receive the gift of salvation, suffering allows us to remember that this world is transitory and that we need God. When we turn to God during periods of struggle, we grow in our faith, coming one step closer to deification, where we are united in our humanity to God’s divinity. This transformation takes place when we embrace repentance as a way of life, placing ourselves before God’s mercy.” (Abbot Tryphon)

"St. Paul’s statement,"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9), must be read in the context of Christ’s words:"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matt. 7:21–23) (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)

“Even after we are illumined by Christ, we can still lapse or apostatize. Likewise, the one who rejects Him initially may later repent and be saved.” (Dynamis 5/22/2014)

“Salvation is not how to get people like me (or like you) into some place safe from the fires of hell. That is a transportation problem at best, or a legal problem, at worst. The point of salvation is how to change people like me (and you). It is about changing us such that seeing the resurrection becomes possible.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“Matthew 28:17 states of the resurrected Christ and the 11 remaining disciples, ‘When they saw Him, they Worshipped Him; but some still doubted.’ The resurrection was unlike anything they encountered. It defied, and still defies, rationality. Notice the disciples worshipped anyway despite their doubt. Their persistence paid off. They grew in the Holy Spirit until their doubts dissolved and their faith grew even stronger. Their experience is our experience. Our salvation depends on our acceptance and growth in this true reality of the resurrection.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)

“The human race has devoted many hours to finding the key to the ultimate reality – to finding the God from whom comes life. Our human efforts have produced the world’s wide array of religions and philosophies…The gracious acts of Christ our God are the foundation of our proclamation of salvation. They are the essence of the message we call divine revelation…Only when God deliberately reveals Himself to us in human flesh, however, do we find our way into the infallible community that joins humanity to God.” (Dynamis 11/27/14)

“....salvation is more than the mere forgiveness of sins. Ultimately, it consists in the conquering of death and the union of man with God…Our salvation does not depend on our own discipline and rule keeping but on the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.” (Clark Carlton, Life Application Study Bible, Colossians 2:20-23)

"The sole purpose of the Church is the salvation of every human person, whereby we are united to Christ, transformed by Him in all holiness, and prepared for eternal life. This work of salvation is a gradual, lifelong process by which Christians become more and more like Christ. It begins the moment we commit ourselves to Christ, and within the abounding grace of the Holy Spirit, we are ever drawn closer in communion with God.” (Abbott Tryphon)

"...to be saved is to be restored to true spiritual health. It is not God’s attitude toward man that needs to be changed, but rather man’s state.” (Clark Carlton)

“Salvation cannot rest on intellectual knowledge alone. You must repent, follow Christ, and be made a new person by his Holy Spirit.” (Life Application Study Bible, Mark 12:32-24)

"Salvation…does not depend on whether a person says I believe in Jesus and says he is my savior. Jesus said not everyone who calls me Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apostle James tells us faith without works is dead as a body without breath. Our salvation must be active. We must work with the grace of the Holy Spirit to try and live out the lives God has intended for us. An empty confession of faith, a baptismal certificate, a church membership or pledge card, these things cannot save. Rather we must use our faith in Jesus Christ as a cornerstone on which we work by faith to construct a dwelling place worthy of God’s Spirit… (Father Kirrill Gvosde)

“The reality is that it’s harder for religious people to come to Christ than anyone else because they think they are already good to go.” (Jefferson Bethke)

“The world does not consist of 100 per cent Christians and 100 per cent non-Christians. There are people …who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name: some of them are clergymen. There are other people who are slowly becoming Christian though they do not yet call themselves so. There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand. There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Other religions teach, in essence, that we can be saved if we follow their founders’ words. But Christians believe we are saved not primarily by following what Jesus said but by believing in what He did. We are saved not by what we do but by what Jesus has done. It is in His actions— His birth and incarnation as a human being; His miracles and healings; His response to trials, temptations, suffering, and death; and ultimately His resurrection and ascension—that we meet Him, not just as another teacher but as a Savior accomplishing our salvation in our place.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)

“Salvation is a living relationship with God...Salvation must be a free relationship, or it is no relationship at all…Salvation consists in the recovery of communion with God.” (Clark Carlton, Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov)

“Christ has restored the image of God in man, but whether we attain to the likeness of God is up to each one of us. In other words, God can make us immortal, but He cannot make us good and loving.” (Clark Carlton)

"Salvation does not depend on good deeds, but it results in good deeds.” (Life Application Study Bible, 2 Peter 1:9)

“We cannot be saved by seeking just our own individual salvation; we need to look first to the good of others...True freedom and glory come from not being concerned with ourselves." (St. John Chrysostom)

“Salvation, then, is more than forgiveness of sins, more than a mental acceptance of Christ and His teachings. For in salvation we are given union with God through Christ, a right and full relationship with the Holy Trinity, and the restoration of our full humanity. All these things are accomplished through the Incarnation, the union of God and man in the Person of Jesus Christ. Salvation, then, is founded on a substantial union of the believer with Christ in His full humanity..." (Orthodox Study Bible, The New Birth)

“Our ability to attain salvation… is done in response to this freely offered gift of God’s grace through acceptance of this truth of Christ and participating in the sacramental life of His church. In other words, we must have a synergistic and continual effort with God, to the day we die, of striving to be Christ-like.” (Sacramental Living)

“…no good deed or series of good deeds without the acceptance of Christ will earn God’s grace of salvation. Because no matter how good we are, it is never good enough compared to God’s perfect love and goodness. Jesus himself said no one is good except God alone (Matthew 9:17, Mark 10:8, Luke 18:9). [We can] only attain salvation by accepting God’s unmerited gift of grace through Jesus Christ and the synergy of this gift of grace with our efforts. That is why it is never enough just to be a"good person.” We have to make a choice to accept God’s gift of grace. Once accepted, God responds with further and further measures of His grace as we continually respond to Him throughout our lives.” (Sacramental Living)

“Whereas all other major faiths have teachers that show the way to salvation, Christ says He is the way of salvation Himself. These teachers claim to show us the methods to become divine. Christ, as our savior, is the divine who comes to us to do what we cannot do for ourselves.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)

“Salvation is indeed available to all … but it depends on our response to God not His to us.” (Sacramental Living)

“God initiates our salvation with mercy and we respond by faith…Our salvation is a lifelong process of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom.” (Sacramental Living)

“Salvation in Christ is a process, in part toward not sinning." (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 John 1:6- 2)

“Loving each other and salvation cannot be separated. There is not one without the other.” (Sacramental Living)

"...salvation is just reserving your spot in heaven. Salvation is something that exists here on Earth. God has a purpose for us here, today, right now. He wants us to live our lives in the kind of fullness and goodness that glorifies Him.” (Crystal McVea & Alex Tresniowski)

“Because our salvation and even our faith are gifts, we should respond with gratitude, praise, and joy.” (Life Application Study Bible, Ephesians 2:8,9)

"People still try to get closer to God by following rules. While certain disciplines (Bible study, prayer) and service may help us grow, they must not take the place of the Holy Spirit in us or become ends in themselves.” (Life Application Study Bible, Galatians 3:5)

“It is possible to avoid Jesus as Savior as much by keeping all the Biblical rules as by breaking them.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)

"Christians are obligated to obey only one law: the law of Christ, the law of love. This obligates us to what is helpful and edifying to the other's well-being. We therefore continually seek the good of others in every way.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 10:23,24)

“In all your undertakings and in every way of life, whether in outward or in spiritual matters, let this be your rule and practice, to ask yourself: Am I really doing this in accordance with God's will?" (St. John Climacus)

“Human need is more important than human regulations and rules.” (Life Application Study Bible, Luke 6:3-5)

“...salvation is far more than forgiveness of sins. It is new life: our reconciliation to God and our becoming new creatures, participants in the very righteousness of God. This means our salvation is not just juridical (the static, legal pronouncement of a judge), but personal and relational (the dynamic, sacrificial love of a father for his child).” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:1821)

“It is not Christ’s"merit” that saves us, but rather our participation in Him.” (Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick)

“…salvation in Christ includes:...a passage from death to life, from darkness to light..., through repentance, faith, and baptism....a process of spiritual growth and maturation ...through ongoing repentance, faith, and communion...” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:16)

“God’s plan is not for those who try to earn His favor by being good; it is for those who realize that they can never be good enough and so must depend on Christ.” (Life Application Study Bible, Romans 9:31-33)

"…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)

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