Salvation = Eternal life with God

For thirty years I was taught that "salvation" was two-fold...the general resurrection and those who receive eternal life with God or "Heavenly Father".  So, I was told "saved by grace" meant everyone would be resurrected by the grace of God...but that in order to live with Heavenly Father, one must accomplish self-righteousness...that we cannot be in God's presence by God's grace alone (we must perform a long list of "to do's" to prove our self-worthiness to God and then hope it's good enough when we stand before Him so that Christ's atonement will "make up the difference.")

For the past year and a half, God has opened my eyes to His Truth through the Bible.  When the Bible speaks of "salvation", "saved", "eternal life", etc...it all means living with God after this life.  There is never a double meaning.

Acts 24:15 Paul says: " ...there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked."

Peter 4:18 says: "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

Revelation talks about the second death for resurrected bodies who are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

So, since the righteous and wicked are both resurrected and only the righteous will be saved, then being resurrected is not the same as being "saved by grace" or the same thing as "salvation" or "eternal life".  A resurrected body cast into hell is the second death...not salvation.  Jesus said "it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  A whole, resurrected body anywhere but with God is death, not salvation and the Bible only speaks of Heaven and Hell...nothing in between. (side note: 2 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 15 aren't talking about different levels of heaven either...something I was also taught growing up that I later found out was completely wrong after reading the Bible in context).

How are the righteous made righteous then?  "For he hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

So, when we stand before God as true believers in Jesus Christ, He won't recognize all the "good works" we've done (since they're dirty rags to him...Isaiah 64:6)...he'll see all the good works His Son did and that's how we'll be justified.  It's not about us and what we've done, it's about Him and what He did.  Praise God and let all the glory be His.