Salvation means to save from sin/evil and its consequences. Salvation is the process of saving man from sin and death (consequence of sin). The salvation process begins with the forgiveness of sins, to attaining holiness and, ends with overcoming the second death at the last judgement. Salvation is in two stages:
1) Salvation from Sin
2) Salvation from Death
Salvation from sin is the justification and sanctification of man.
Justification: This is the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation of man to God by faith in the LORD Jesus. The man who has been reconciled to God is called righteous. The LORD Jesus was punished for the sin of the world. He is the reconciliation between man and God. Man was separated from God and was doomed to die because of sin. For man to reunite with God, sin must be taken away. The LORD received the punishment for us all. In His name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins is preached to all mankind.
Sanctification: Sanctification is the complete restoration of man from sin & the sinful nature. It is the process of changing man’s sinful nature to God’s holy nature. The sinful nature is not taken away at once when we first believe (when we obtain justification), only our past sins are washed away. Our sinful nature is taken off gradually as we walk with Christ and follow Him daily. Those who follow Him receive power to deal away with the sinful nature (Romans 6.12-14). The purpose of sanctification is to make man perfectly holy. The man who has been sanctified is called holy.
The unrighteous and filthy will be punished by death in the lake of fire after the white throne judgement. Only those whose names are found in the book of life will be saved from the second death in the lake of fire. Those whose names are in the book of life are holy and righteous people. Sin leads unto death. To be saved from death, man needs to be saved from sin. The LORD will resurrect to life, the righteous people true to Him. The sinners will die.
By His grace, every believer must fearfully work out his salvation and dominate sin and be victorious over death (Phil 2.12). Believers must put off the old sinful nature and put on the new holy nature. Salvation is guaranteed to the holy.
Believing in the LORD Jesus at one point in your life does not guarantee salvation from death. It is believing in the LORD Jesus till the end that guarantees salvation from death (Mat 11.22).
He who believes in the LORD Jesus has stopped sinning and lives to obey God. If a believer at any time in his life stops believing, that is, he goes back to sinning, he may lose his salvation because his name will be removed from the book of life (Rev 3.7). Yes, God removes names from the book of life. The LORD Jesus will give eternal salvation only to those who obey Him till the end (Hebrews 5.9). We repent from our sins unto holiness that leads to eternal life.
Not all righteous people will be saved but all holy people will be saved.
For it is time for judgement to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? (1 Peter 4.17-18NIV)
Every act of disobedience is a sin. Yet, it is not all sins that lead unto death (1 John 5.15-17). The sins that leads unto death (Rev 21.6-8, 22.15) include:
Refusal to believe in the LORD Jesus (for those who heard of Him)
Sorcery/witchcraft
Murder
Hypocrisy and being untruthful
All sexual sins
Idolatry (includes greed – Col 3.5)
Not all righteous people will inherit salvation, but all holy people will. A believer who has not has not yet attained perfection in holiness can still be saved by the LORD from death if he does not remain in the above deadly sins. A believer who still engages in these filthy practices will die with the unrighteous (Romans 8.12-13). The LORD Jesus will fetch out of His kingdom all righteous people who are bad (Mathew 1.47-50). Yes, a believer can be bad.
A sick believer who has not committed any of these deadly sins can call for the elders of the church to pray for his healing. The LORD God will hear their prayer and he will be well again. However, if a believer has committed a deadly sin, he will not be restored to health no matter the number of petitions made to the LORD except the sinful believer confesses and repents of His sin and is cleansed by the blood of Christ.
The sole purpose of the death of the LORD Jesus was to take away sins. We must be careful to avoid the deadly sins, as well as, pursue complete restoration from sin through obedience. Only those who are completely restored (perfect in holiness) will become the bride of Christ (Eph 5.27).
Believers who continue in filthy sins will have their names removed from the book of life (Rev 3.2-5, Heb 10.26-29).