KEEP YOUR "HOPE OF SALVATION" BRIGHT! Deliverance From Oppression

What Is Salvation?

In the Hebrew Scriptures "salvation" usually means rescue or deliverance from oppression or from a violent, untimely death. For instance, calling Jehovah "the Provider of escape," David said: "My God is my rock . . . My place for flight, my Savior; from violence you save me. On the One to be praised,Jehovah, I shall call, and from my enemies I shall be saved." (2 Samuel 22:2-4) David knew that Jehovah listens when His faithful servants cry for help. -Psalm 31P:22, 23; 145:19.

Pre-Christian servants of Jehovah also entertained the hope of a future life. (Job 14:13-15; Isaiah 25:8; Daniel 12:13) In fact, many of the promises of rescue found in the Hebrew Scriptures were prophetic of a greater salvation-one leading to everlasting life. (Isaiah 49:6, 8; Acts 13:47; 2 Corinthians 6:2) In Jesus' day, many Jews hoped for everlasting life, but they refused to accept Jesus as the key to realizing their hope. Jesus told the religious leaders of his time: "You are searching the Scriptures, because you think that by means of them you will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me." -John 5:39.

Through Jesus, God revealed the full scope of the meaning of salvation. It includes release from the rulership of sin, from bondage to false religion, from the world under Satan's control, from the fear of man, and even from the fear of death. (John 17:16; Romans 8:2; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 18:2, 4) Ultimately, for God's faithful servant, salvation by God means not only deliverance from oppression and distress but also the opportunity to have everlasting life. (John 6:40; 17:3) Jesus taught that for a "little flock," salvation means their being resurrected to heavenly life to share with Christ in Kingdom rule. (Luke 12:32) For the rest of mankind, salvation means a restoration to the perfect life and relationship with God that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden of Eden before they sinned. (Acts 3:21; Ephesians 1:10) Everlasting life under such paradisaic conditions was God's original purpose for mankind. (Genesis 1:28; Mark 10:30) How, though, is a restoration to such conditions possible?

Next time: The Basis for Salvation - The Ransom

Watchtower, 2000