It would be difficult to find a concept which is richer and more varied in meaning than the biblical concept of salvation. The breadth of salvation is so sweeping and its intended aim so magnificent that in many contexts the words used defy precise definition. Yet these difficulties have not thwarted numerous interpreters from assuming, often without any contextual justification, that the words used invariably mean “deliverance from hell” or “go to heaven when you die.” It may come as a surprise to many that this usage of “salvation” (Gk. Soteria) would have been the least likely meaning to come to mind of a reader of the Bible in the first century. Indeed, in 812 usages of the various Hebrew words translated “to save” or “salvation” in the Old Testament, only 58 (7.1%) refer to eternal salvation.
Unfortunately, the tendency to assume that salvation always refers to final deliverance from hell has led many to interpret certain passages incorrectly. When James, for example, says, “Can faith alone save a man,” the Experimental Predestinarians understandably are perplexed about the apparent conflict with Paul. However, if salvation means something other than “go to heaven when you die,” the apparent conflict evaporates.
In order to completely understand the meaning of salvation in various passages we must learn more about the Greek verb sozo (“to save”), and the noun soteria, particularly as they were used in secular Greek and in the Old Testament. Then we must consider the references of these words in the New Testament (over 150 references). Much of the time their meanings are other than “final deliverance from hell.” This is precisely the case in Romans 10.
In Romans 10:1-14, the usage of the word “salvation” seams to equate it with deliverance from the enemies of the people of God in the present. Old Testament prophecy has a wonderful richness. Couched in oriental thought, it is often mystifying to Western man. We can see that God is fulfilling His promises in many individual historical events which will finally culminate in a complete fulfillment. There is a long line of fulfillment of many predictions. Paul refers to the Old Testament doctrine of the salvation of the remnant through many individual historical events in Romans 9 and 10.
Romans 10:1 states, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
But what salvation is in view? To answer that, we must turn to the preceding and following contexts. In the preceding context we discover that a deliverance from temporal devastation was his meaning. Quoting Isaiah 1:9, the apostle directs our attention to the Assyrian invasion (ca. 722 b.c.). Unless the Lord leaves some survivors, the nation will end up being completely destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah (see Romans 9:29). But a remnant did survive the Assyrian invasion. And this remnant becomes a fulfillment of the promise that a remnant would one day return to the Lord. Paul refers to this in Romans 9:27 and 28. There he quotes Isaiah 10:22-23 and refers to the remnant that will be saved (Romans 9:27). The salvation in view is not deliverance from hell but the fulfillment of the promise to Israel that she would one day be resorted to Palestine. Israel once again faces temporal destruction. The Lord announced it in His predictions of the total devastation of the temple and the people of Israel that occurred in A.D. 70. Because He knew Jerusalem would become desolate, the Lord wept for their failure.
The fact that Paul quotes Scripture related to Israel’s temporal destruction and the certain knowledge he had of the Lord’s prophecy surely suggests that, when he says he desires Israel’s “salvation,” he refers to the line of cumulative fulfillment of the remnant doctrine. The terrible devastation that would come upon Israel in A.D. 70 was their judgment for rejecting the free gift of the righteousness of God in Christ, their Messiah (Rom. 10:2-4).
The following context (10:2-8) does not define the salvation of vs. 1 (as Experimental Predestinarians teach) but explains why they cannot experience this salvation in daily life. It is because they had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God and therefore woud not receive His free righteousness (10:2). We conclude then that being “saved” in v. 1 refers to God’s promise of divine aid to His people in time. It is His provision for victory over their enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Passing over the next few verses for the moment, we come to an unusual confession:
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom 10:9 NASB).
This confession is unusual because it is the only place in the New Testament where a condition in addition to faith is added for salvation. The Gospel of John, which was written expressly for the purpose that we might believe and as a result be saved (Jn. 20:30-31), never mentions confession of Christ as Lord as a condition. If we must confess Jesus as Lord in order to be saved, then a man would not be saved by reading John’s gospel.
A very simple solution to this difficulty is to return to the definition of salvation in the immediate context. This salvation is not deliverance from hell but is the same salvation mentioned in vs. 1, divine aid to the believer as he struggles against his temporal enemies. This was the deliverance Israel failed to enjoy. Only one thing is necessary, according to the book of Romans, for salvation from hell: belief. But two things are necessary for us to enjoy the full salvation spoken of in this context which includes God’s blessing, His individual and spiritual salvation in this life: (1) faith in Christ and (2) submission to His Lordship. Furthermore, it is not inevitable that a man who believes in Christ will also confess Him as Lord. Paul makes this plain in the next verse: “For with the heart man believes, resulting in the righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Rom. 10:10 NASB).
Salvation in this verse has the same meaning it did in vs. 1 and vs. 9, God’s divine aid to his people in time. Believing with the heart results in deliverance from hell, but confession of the lordship of Christ is necessary for the kind of salvation mentioned here, salvation form present enemies. Instead of confession of Jesus as Lord being the inevitable result of salvation as the Experimental Predestinarians teach, Paul, to the contrary, says that salvation is the inevitable result of confessing Jesus as Lord! But this is not a salvation from hell. Just as confession of Jesus as Lord results in salvation , so calling upon the name of the Lord has the same effect: “For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13 NASB).
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