Salvation

In your conversations with other Christians, you may

sometimes be asked, “Have you been saved?” Those who ask

this question usually refer to the act of sincerely confessing,

or declaring, that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your

personal Lord and Savior. In asking the question, they show

their faith in the following words, written by the Apostle Paul:

“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. For with the heart man believeth

unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made

unto salvation” (Romans 10:9–10).

Answering the Question “Have You Been Saved?”

In Romans 10:9–10, the words saved and salvation signify a

covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. Through this

covenant relationship, we are assured salvation from the

eternal consequences of sin if we are obedient. Every faithful

Latter-day Saint is saved according to this meaning. We have

been converted to the restored gospel. Through the ordinance

of baptism, we have entered into a covenant relationship

with the Savior, taking His name upon ourselves. We renew

our baptismal covenant by partaking of the sacrament.

Different Meanings of the Word Salvation

In the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday

Saints, the terms saved and salvation have various

meanings. According to these meanings, your answer to the

question “Have you been saved?” will be either “Yes” or

“Yes, but with conditions.” The following explanations

outline six different meanings of the word salvation.

Salvation from Physical Death. All people eventually die.

But through the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ,

all people will be resurrected—saved from physical death.

Paul testified, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all

be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Salvation from Sin. To be cleansed from sin through the

Savior’s Atonement, you must exercise faith in Jesus Christ,

repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

(see Acts 2:37–38). If you have been baptized and have received

the Holy Ghost through the proper priesthood authority, you

have already been conditionally saved from sin. You will not

be completely saved from sin until you have finished your

life on the earth, having faithfully endured to the end.

Note that you cannot be saved in your sins; you cannot

receive unconditional salvation simply by declaring your

belief in Christ with the understanding that you will

inevitably commit sins throughout the rest of your life (see

Alma 11:36–37). Through the grace of God, you can be saved

from your sins (see Helaman 5:10–11). To receive this blessing,

you must exercise faith in Jesus Christ, strive to keep the

commandments, forsake sin, and renew your repentance and

cleansing through the ordinance of the sacrament.

Being Born Again. You may sometimes be asked if you

have been born again. The principle of spiritual rebirth

appears frequently in the scriptures. The New Testament

contains Jesus’s teaching that we must be “born again” and

that unless we are “born of water and of the Spirit, [we]

cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). This

teaching is affirmed in the Book of Mormon: “All mankind,

yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and

people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from

their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being

redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; and

thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they

can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God” (Mosiah

27:25–26).

This rebirth is a process that occurs after we have been

baptized and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. It

comes as a result of our willingness “to enter into a covenant

with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his

commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the

remainder of our days” (Mosiah 5:5). Then our “hearts are

changed through faith on his name; therefore, [we] are born

of him” (Mosiah 5:7). If you have been baptized and have

received the gift of the Holy Ghost, with the covenant to take

upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, you can say that you

have been born again. And you can renew that rebirth each

Sabbath when you partake of the sacrament.

Salvation from Ignorance. Many people live in a state of

darkness, not knowing the light of the restored gospel. They

are “only kept from the truth because they know not where to

find it” (D&C 123:12). As a member of the Lord’s Church, you

are saved from this condition. You have a knowledge of God

the Father, Jesus Christ, the purpose of life, the plan of

salvation, and your eternal potential. You can live as a disciple

of the Savior, who declared, “I am the light of the world: he

that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have

the light of life” ( John 8:12).

Salvation from the Second Death. The scriptures sometimes

speak of salvation from the second death. The second death

is the final spiritual death—being cut off from righteousness

and denied a place in any kingdom of glory (see Alma 12:32;

D&C 88:24). This second death will not come until the Final

Judgment, and it will come to very few (see D&C 76:31–37).

Almost every person who has ever lived on the earth is

assured salvation from the second death (see D&C 76:40–45).

Eternal Life, or Exaltation. In the scriptures, the words

saved and salvation often refer to eternal life, or exaltation (see

Abraham 2:11). Eternal life is to know Heavenly Father and

Jesus Christ and dwell with Them forever—to inherit a place

in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom (see John 17:3;

D&C 131:1–4; 132:21–24). To receive this great gift, we must

do more than repent of our sins and be baptized and

confirmed by appropriate priesthood authority. Men must

receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, and all Church members

must make and keep sacred covenants in the temple,

including eternal marriage.

If we use the word salvation to mean eternal life, none of

us can say that we have been saved in mortality. That

glorious gift can come only after the Final Judgment.

Additional references: Matthew 10:22; Mark 16:16; Ephesians 2:8–10;

James 2:14–18; 2 Nephi 25:23, 26; Mosiah 5:8–15; 3 Nephi 9:21–22;

Moroni 10:32–33; Articles of Faith 1:3

See also Atonement of Jesus Christ; Baptism; Eternal Life; Grace;

Kingdoms of Glory; Plan of Salvation