*[[Eph 2:8-10]] KJV*
8 gift(by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
*[[Heb 7:25]] KJV* Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
*[[Rom 10:8-11]] KJV*
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That 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.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Most Christians when they hear the word saved automatically go to our deliverance from hell and our gaining of eternal life. Yet at times the Scriptures are speaking of a specific salvation from a trial, or tribulation, or stronghold. So it is that at times, if we automatically think of it in the whole, it can make our understanding of Scripture clouded. This can cause us to be waiting to receive on some future day what God is trying to form in us today.
Another word that is similar to this is grace; it is used both as an all inclusive word of God's work in and through us and also as a specific gift that is given. It has been my experience that understanding the difference and applying it in context can help open up what God is saying to us.
Here are some words in their specific usage: remember that in the general sense of these words you received it, you are living it out, and one day you will experience its culmination. In the specific use of the words it is a now thing, no past, no future, only the now you are experiencing.
1) mercy: a payment, or extension of time for payment
2) justification: a judges declaration of the innocence of one being judged
3) grace: an undeserved gift ( "fear not Abraham I am thy shield and exceeding great reward", we have become partakers of the promises of Abraham, Jesus said if you believe in him he and his Father will abide in you) we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.
4)deliverance/saved: external/internal change of situation or thinking that is harmful and destructive to the individual
5) righteousness: act and character that is generated by the life of God - so as we trust Christ to live through us his righteousness is revealed in us.
So how are we saved...through faith, and what is faith? Faith is a trust in, reliance upon, and complete dependence on the redemption and life Jesus has provided us.
