SINCE the Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour, the salvation He has wrought must be worthy of Himself, hence its completeness, its absolute perfectness.
He is the only Saviour; For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12.) The word of this salvation was sent first to the Jews (Acts 13:26); they turned from the message, and the apostle then said, "The Lord commanded us, saying, I have set Thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that Thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth" (v. 47). We read also the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16); but as the Jews have shut themselves up in unbelief, this solemn word has gone out to them," Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it." (Acts 28:28.)
Now when Paul and his companions brought the gospel of God to heathen Europe, then under the unchallenged power of Satan, the damsel who was possessed with the spirit of divination followed them, crying out, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, which spew unto us the way of salvation." (Acts 16:17.) The demon acknowledged God to be the Most High, and owned that He had salvation for men! And His salvation is for time and for eternity, and from Satan, from the craft of demons, from sin, and from wrath—and for God, for peace, and heaven. Were we heathens, and did we hear for the first time such words of grace, oh! how would our hearts leap for joy! And shall our gratitude be less because our mercies are so manifold? Well indeed may those who have often heard, but only heard, the gospel inquire, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb. 2:3.)
Saved means saved. Not half or part saved, but wholly and absolutely saved. When the ship in which Paul was, had been caught in the tempest, "all hope that we should be saved was then taken away," St. Luke says (Acts 27:20); and when at length the crew and passengers were "escaped all safe to land" (ver. 44), they had salvation from the storm and the wreck. So we who believe are saved from our peril and from our ruin.
“By grace ye are saved" (Eph. 2:5, 8), says the Scriptures. And again, "Who hath saved us" (2 Tim. 1: 9), and again, "according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5), and again, "unto us who are saved" (1 Cor. 1:18); which words show plainly that the believer is saved now, this moment. And, indeed, we must start with this great truth, before we go on to consider the passages which treat of salvation as that which is to be had by the believer in the future.
When God sent the angel to bid Cornelius send for the apostle Peter who should tell him words, whereby he and all his house should be saved (Acts 11:14.), it was God's salvation that Cornelius received; life, salvation and the gift of the Holy Ghost were therefore his. So when we read, " If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved," and" Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Rom. 10:9, 13.) Saved means saved. A true believer is as safe now as if he were already in heaven, for his salvation is God's, and his Saviour is the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Spirit, speaking through the apostle Paul, says of the unbelieving and rebellious Jews, "They please not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved" (1 Thess. 2:15, 16), and when he speaks of such as hear, but "received not the love of the truth that they might be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10), the terrible end of the disobedient is brought before us. For lost means lost.