Word studies · Greek · Strong's G4991
σωτηρία · sōtēría · appears 51 times in the New Testament
In one line: Being rescued and brought to safety through Christ.
Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Salvation is rescue and deliverance — being brought from danger, sin, and death into safety and life through Christ.
Sōtēria describes God's comprehensive rescue of people from sin's guilt and power and ultimately from death itself, accomplished through Christ's death and resurrection. It covers both present deliverance and a future, final rescue yet to be completed.
Sōtēria comes from sōtēr, “savior” or “deliverer,” a title used in the wider Greco-Roman world for rulers and gods claimed to rescue people from danger. The New Testament applies the whole word family to Jesus as the true and ultimate sōtēr.
Because sōtēria carried everyday meanings of physical rescue — safe passage, healing, deliverance from an enemy — its New Testament use keeps that concreteness; salvation isn't an abstract transaction only, but a real rescue applied to the whole person.
Sōtēria (G4991) shares its root with the name “Jesus” (Yeshua/Iesous), which itself means “the LORD saves.”
Salvation is the New Testament's central claim about what Christ accomplished: “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name... by which we must be saved.” It encompasses forgiveness, new life, and the hope of final restoration.
Rest in salvation as something already accomplished for you in Christ rather than a status you must maintain by your own effort. Thank God specifically today for one aspect of the rescue He's already carried out in your life.
rescue or safety (physically or morally)
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
Luke 1:69You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
John 4:22I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
Romans 1:16If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.
2 Corinthians 1:6And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 1:13Press and hold salvation in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.