Salvation
~
When speaking about
Jesus Christ, God's Word says,
Ephesians 1:13,14
"In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory."
Notice the last
part...it says that our being "sealed with the Holy
Spirit" is the "earnest"
of our inheritance. This word "earnest" means
the same as "pledge"
or "deposit". Like when a down payment is
made on
something we are buying...
In this verse (as
in other places in the Bible) God calls our salvation
an "inheritance". (see
Romans 8:15-17 and additional verses)
This is because when we are united
with Christ we become a "joint-heir"
with Him of the Father's kingdom.
But just as an earthly heir, who has
not yet received his father's
inheritance...even so we, as heirs with
Christ, have not yet fully entered
into OUR inheritance...that will come when
we physically die or if we are
present at Christ's coming when He
raptures the remaining saints
who are still physically on this earth.
Although an earthly heir has not
yet been given his inheritance, does he
still own it? the answer
is YES. It is in his account until the time appointed for
him
to receive his inheritance.
Christ has fully
paid the price for our salvation and purchased for us
the right to be heirs of God.
(Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 1:18,19)
As heirs of God we already own
the treasures of the Father's kingdom.
We have not yet, however, entered
into that kingdom with our whole being.
We can begin to experience some
of those treasures now though-- through
God's Spirit -- which He has given
us as a deposit upon us guaranteeing our
inheritance to come. Just
as Ephesians 1:14 explains that the Spirit is the
pledge (or guarantee) of our inheritance
"until the redemption of the purchased possession".
We are the possessions God has
in view. And although Christ has already
paid for us in full...and we are
His, belonging to him completely (1
Corinthians 6:19,20)
and can never be parted from Him...(Romans 8:38,39; John 10:27-30; Hebrews 13:5)
the Bible is also clear that to
be present in the body is to be "absent from the Lord".
2 Corinthians 5:1-8
"For we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building
of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with
our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed
we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened: not
for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us
for the selfsame thing is God, who
also hath given unto us the
earnest of the Spirit.
(here's that word
"earnest" again --meaning
"pledge")
6 Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that, whilst we are at
home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not
by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with
the Lord."
We walk by "faith"
trusting that God will carry out this aspect of our
salvation and give us a new body
or in the sense this passage speaks "a
new house" (vs1)
We are with the Lord in Spirit now presently...but not in body.
(2
Corinthians 5:6) That will occur when He brings us to be
with Him in Heaven.
(1
Corinthians 15:51-53; Philippians
3:21) This is our hope as believers, what we
are trusting God will do for us,
and one aspect of our salvation. But
"hope that is seen is not
hope" as Romans
8:24 says -- so although we do not
yet see this aspect of our salvation
fulfilled yet, we know that IT WILL HAPPEN
because Jesus already purchased
for us this right. Until then we patiently wait for the
"redemption of our body"
Romans 8:23.
The Bible says,
1 Corinthians 15:44
"It is sown a natural body;
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body."
We are physical beings and spiritual
beings. The moment we truly believe
we are saved in our spirit and
soul and body. (John 5:24)
But only our spirit
becomes regenerated (or changed)
for now. (John 3:5-8; Romans
7:14-25; 8:10)
Our body will be changed when
we leave this world. In the mean time we have
to wrestle with it's continuing
sinful desires...
The apostle Paul mentions this
in Romans 7 and says,
Romans 7:22-25
"For I delight in the law
of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.
24 O wretched man that I am!
who shall deliver me from the body of
this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. So then with the mind
I myself serve the law of God;
but with the flesh the law of sin."
Who shall deliver
us from the body of this death? Our Savior who has
already purchase for us our deliverance...THANKS
BE TO GOD!
In the mean time,
we have to be careful to be fed by God's Spirit through
His Word, prayer and fellowship
-- because ONLY then will we find the
strength to stand against the
lusts of the flesh.
Galations 5:16-18
"This I say then, Walk
in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh: and these are contrary
the one to the other: so that ye cannot
do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law".
We have to be careful,
not because we might somehow lose our
salvation....
but because we cannot be an effective
witness if we gratify the desires
of the flesh, and this is our
main purpose as believers in this life -- to be God's
instruments in the salvation of
others.
The Bible mentions that
we need to be on our guard because Satan
"walks about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8)
Well, he cannot take away our
salvation, but he can render our life
ineffective if we neglect our
relationship with the Lord. This would
bring immense grief to the true
believer...but the Lord promises to
chastise those He loves, and correct
us and not let us wander away from
Him. (Hebrews
12:6; 1 Peter 1:17-19) He will keep us unto the end!
Philippians
1:6
"Being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a
good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
Hebrews
12:2
"Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God."
1
Peter 1:3-5
"Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time."
Philippians
3:20,21
"For our conversation (Old English for "citizenship")
is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."
If you should have questions or comments about what is said
or have need for additional verses, please send an e-mail by Clicking Here
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