Dying to self

[AdHoc]

29 minutes ago, Indentured Servant said:

Quite so, soteria is the word often translated as 'salvation/deliverance.'

I'm wondering how one "works out" [Greek: katergazomai, 'work out,' 'accomplish.'] their own salvation/deliverance... How does one "accomplish" their own soteria?

If salvation is free, without works, why are we told to "accomplish our own salvation?"

The answer is easy. The word "saved" must mean what the context shows.

The rich man fell into the raging torrent and began to drown. A poor man saw his plight and threw him a flotation ring. The rich man was saved. Later he learned that the poor man's business was failing. He invested in the poor man's business and the poor man was saved from bankruptcy. Even a boy with highschool English knows that saved in these two cases are different.

By FAITH in Christ's Work you are saved from the Lake of Fire, born again to become a son of God and Heir, made partaker of the divine life and become the abode of the Triune God. Also accomplished by the Works of Jesus is your resurrection where your body is saved. Whether you BELIEVE this or NOT, you will be saved from death. By fiery trials you will be saved from an evil disposition (1st Pet.1:9). But you must actively study Christ to replace the evil disposition by Him (2nd Cor.3:18). That is why women are saved by child-raising (1 Tim.2:15). Child-raising refines her character but it does not save her from the Lake of Fire.

The rich man in Matthew 19 wanted to POSSESS LIFE. Jesus answered that the rich man already had it because he had recognized who Jesus was. What he needed was to ENTER LIFE. This was achieved under God's Old Testament economy by Law. But the man was caught at the change of God's economy to grace and the Kingdom. The Lord uses "Life" and the "Kingdom" interchangeably. And His disciples, who had had three years teaching from Jesus, said that failing to ENTER LIFE - the Millennial Kingdom - was to not be "saved" (Matt.19:25). By FAITH you are saved from the second death (The Lake of Fire). Whether you believe or not, you will be saved from death (1st Cor.15:22). If you are not prepared to pay the price and be obedient to Christ your Head, you will miss the Kingdom.

Christianity defines salvation as a place - heaven. The Bible defines "saved" by each context. Eight souls were "saved" FROM water (by the Ark), but the same eight souls were saved BY the same water (2nd Pet.3:20).