One of the main reasons for evangelizing is to spread Jesus’s message to God’s children so that they may achieve eternal salvation. In the Bible, eternal salvation is mentioned many times, primarily in the New Testament:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” - John 5:24
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” - John 5:11-13
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” - John 10:28-29
While these passages demonstrate Jesus and his disciples discussing eternal life and eternal salvation, they don’t explicitly state what they mean. So what does eternal salvation actually mean?
What Is Eternal Salvation in Christianity?
First, let’s look at what the two words in that phrase actually mean. “Eternal” means forever. And “salvation” means being saved or redeemed. In order to be saved, there must be something threatening us. So what are we being saved from? The answer is sin.
Similar to what many of the Bible passages have mentioned above, eternal salvation is the protection from sin for all eternity. After the rapture, we are either saved or damned based on our actions during our life and whether or not we followed the teachings of Jesus, loved God, and embraced the Holy Spirit. If we are saved, we will spend eternal life in heaven with Jesus, free of sin.
