Salvation Through Redemption

"God’s work as Creator (whether recognized or not) actually and always precedes God’s work as Redeemer. Moreover, God’s redemptive work does not put an end to God’s creative work; God’s work as Creator continues through and beyond such historical redemptive actions. The language of ‘salvation’ has reference to both the effects of redemptive actions as well as to the effects of distinguishable acts of continuing creation (e.g., healing; gifts of food and water in the wilderness). Redemption does not do away with the life-giving effects of the Creator but stands in the service of them. The objective of God’s work in redemption is to free people to be what they were created to be, the effect of which is named salvation."

Terence E. Fretheim, God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation (Abingdon Press, 2005), 10.