This is man-centric. You have man at the center of salvation working out his own salvation. How do you account for that? This is the accusation that you constantly charge us, and yet you have man at the center of salvation. It also seems like a works based salvation "working out your own salvation."
Brother DHK,
The next verse accounts for how one can "work out" their own salvation, but salvation be all of grace,"
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)
As far as what salvation is, Allow me to share a few quotes on an article on the subject from Elder Jim Poole,
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost (Luke 19.10)." We are fully persuaded that Jesus will be thoroughly successful in both His seeking and His saving. He will find all He is seeking, and save all He finds. No exceptions. This is salvation in its most commonly used sense. As none but those that are lost will be sought and saved, we must conclude that none but His chosen family are numbered among the lost. Whom will He then seek and save? The lost. All of them. Thus, we are brought to the unmistakable conclusion that there is no plan of salvation for all the world; only for the ones Jesus finally saves. Salvation then, may be said to be the reconciling of the lost to God. The lost are the elect. As John Newton blissfully put it, "I once was lost, but now am found." The elect being found is salvation.
...There are many well-known texts in the Bible touching on the subject of salvation. Many of these texts make the conclusion to be unmistakable that salvation was accomplished in time past, and yet is to be accomplished. None make this clearer than the following: "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life (Romans 5.9,10).
Being now justified" is clear enough, even to those of us that are not language scholars. "Now," does not mean off in the far distant future. Those "being now justified" are surely now delivered, or presently saved from their culpability. The next expression does place salvation in the future, however. "We shall be saved from wrath." "Shall be" was true when Paul penned it, and it is equally true today. As for the word, wrath, we understand its use in this verse to mean the final doom of the unsaved. We see, then, salvation in verse 9 to be both present and future, yet one whole salvation as described in Matthew 1.21, "He shall save his people from their sins."
Verse 10 of Romans 5 employs a division of present salvation from future salvation as well. "We were reconciled to God" cannot possibly be construed to mean a future salvation any more than "being reconciled" can. In this text reconciliation to God is essentially the same as being saved from enmity, or as it is stated in verse 8, "While we were yet sinners." Again, however, verse 10 shifts from present salvation to future salvation with the following language: "we shall be saved by his life." No one with a grain of honesty could make shall be anything but future
What we have tried to show is that salvation, as used here is what we might call a multi-dimensional work. First, last, and always, "Salvation is of the Lord." Salvation involves His every activity that could be embraced in His words, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God (Hebrews 10.9)." It was for the salvation of the elect when Jesus lived under the law. It was for the salvation of the elect when He died at the hands of sinners. So too was it for their salvation when He came forth from the tomb. He sits at the right hand of the father for the salvation of His family. Surely he will return in glory to finally save His people. In whatever tense the word salvation may be employed, it is of grace. We could safely say that Jesus is our salvation, whenever or wherever salvation takes place.
Probably the most irrefutable text dealing with future salvation is "....for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed (Romans 13.11)." If Paul's, and the Roman's, salvation was nearer than at the time they believed then belief did not accomplish for them that future salvation. They yet awaited it. The belief spoken of is a product of faith, and faith is the gift of God, imparted to us, imputed to us, and worked in us when the Spirit brings forth His fruits.
...All of this leads us to the conclusion that salvation is the whole work of deliverance embracing everything that finally brings us to heaven our home. Salvation embraces all that is past, that is present, and that is to come, which delivers us to our eternal union with the Triune God when time shall be no more.
Were we to confine ourselves to one text that sums up the whole matter of our deliverance it would be the following: "Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us (II Corinthians 1.10)." Past, present, and future deliverance; a whole salvation, and all the work of God."
This is the best article on explaining the terms "saved, save, and salvation" in a short, but concise way I have and I was just within the last couple days blessed to have found and read it. Elder Poole writes , "We cannot possibly, within the limits of this article, examine all the texts in the Bible that pertain to these three words. We shall, therefore, address the matter as fully as possible, and leave it to the readers, to search further. To view the grand business of salvation we shall first seek to learn, "What is salvation?" Second, we shall ask, "When are the subjects of salvation actually saved?" Third, we shall inquire, "Is there more than one salvation?"
If anyone cares to read it the link is here
http://www.asweetsavor.info/ejp/saved.php
I would especially recommend it to you brother DHK.
God bless,
Brother Joe