What does the word salvation mean in the Bible?
In Scripture, salvation is the all-inclusive word implying everything God does on behalf of the believer who cries out as a sinner and believes Christ died for him. God then imputes righteousness, forgives, cleanses, baptizes him into the body, and does everything that needs to be done.
Les explains that salvation is that all-inclusive word: it covers everything God does for the believer who calls out, 'I'm a sinner, I'm in need of salvation, I believe that Christ died for me.' In Romans 1:16 Paul writes that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation—not church membership, baptism, or a work. After the sinner believes, God imputes righteousness, forgives, cleanses, baptizes the believer into the body, and does all that needs to be done. We know this by faith, not by feeling or sight, because the book says so. Les also points to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 as the Gospel, noting that John 3:16 by itself is not the Gospel.