Only here in New Testament. Derived from aj, not, and felleuv, stony ground. Hence of something simple or plain. The rendering of the A.V. would require the verb to be in the future, whereas it is the present participle. Compare 1 Corinthians i. 18.
Salvation is a thing of the present, as well as of the past and future.
The verb is used in all these senses in the New Testament. Godliness , righteousness , is life , is salvation . And it is hardly necessary to say that the divorce of morality and religion must be fostered and encouraged by failing to note this, and so laying the whole stress either on the past or on the future - on the first call, or on the final change. To the church . See on Matt.