CHAPTER 3
SALVATION OF MAN
DEFINITIONS
The SALVATION of man shall be understood as a REVIVAL OR RESURRECTION (cleansing, deliverance, recreation, perfecting) OF THE ALREADY REDEEMED SOUL OF MAN. It follows the Redemption of man where only his spirit was revived, resurrected by the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Now his soul (heart, mind and will) must follow his spirit.
Furthermore, and most importantly as to the practical side of Salvation, the start of this Salvation process shall be understood as THE START OF MAN’S SEEING AND UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRIT!
When the man in Jn. 9:25b said: “…one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see”, it indicated his seeing as a baby could see. We got our spiritual eyesight at our Redemption when we saw Jesus as Saviour, but not as LORD, though we called Him Lord! Also, we saw and understood nothing else in spirit; this baby eyesight cannot carry us beyond our spiritual crib.
My seeing and understanding in spirit started when it pleased God: “to REVEAL His Son in me”, to show Him to me. (Gal. 1:16a) My SOUL started to see Christ as MY LORD shortly after my water baptism. He had power and authority to direct and rule my life and I had the duty to serve Him and be obedient to Him and to His Word. This was a totally different SEEING, and this seeing must become clearer and deeper as we mature and see OUR responsibilities to God and not only God’s promises to us.
The SALVATION of man shall also be understood as the FINAL MATURING OF THE NEW MAN WITH A NEW SPIRIT, THEN A NEW SOUL AND THEN ALSO A NEW BODY. THIS BELIEVER BECOMES A MATURE SON OF GOD AND THEREBY FULFILS THE FINAL AND ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD FOR MAN.
The process of the Salvation of our soul should begin shortly after our water baptism. When we receive this gift of the Spirit, we receive, as it were, our Captain with Whom we must subdue and eradicate all powers which are enemies of God in our soul, just as Joshua did when he began to occupy the Promised Land and eradicate all the enemy powers therein! (Acts 2:38// Jos. 5:13-15) Note that our Captain (the Holy Spirit) has a sword drawn in His hand, which sword is the Word of God. (Heb. 4:12// Ex. 15:3// Mt. 10:34// Rev. 1:16)
Now, the Promised Land for Israel in the Old Testament is a fore-picture of the Kingdom of God for the believer in the New Testament. The Promised Land was physical; the Kingdom of God is first spiritual and IT IS WITHIN US, within our SPIRIT. (Lk. 17:21) At our Redemption, this Kingdom comes into our spirit with the Spirit of God; then it is to be ENFORCED into our whole SOUL and subdue it and rule therein! We then bring this spiritual Kingdom from our soul into the physical Kingdom on earth, enforce it and rule there together with Christ for 1000 years. (Rev. 20:6) If this Kingdom is not first set-up and ruling in our own soul, we will have nothing to bring to the physical Kingdom of Heaven on earth and we will be unable to rule therein.
If the above were not true then most of the New Testament would lose its meaning, chiefly the Epistles of Paul, Peter and John. The Spirit of the Lord gave them the light and truth about the human, NATURAL SOUL of believers, its depravity, continued sinful nature, continued resistance to the Will of God, its capacity to reject what comes from God and does not satisfy that soul, to even choose death and evil rather than life and good! (Deut. 30:19) Our soul is thus capable of forfeiting that which it may have already received from God… including its own Salvation! Why is it so?
OUR FREE WILL AND ITS DECISIONS ARE NEVER TAKEN FROM US BY GOD, WHO GAVE IT. OUR NATURAL WILL RETAINS ITS POWER TO OPPOSE GOD AT ANY TIME, ANY PLACE AND UNDER ANY CONDITIONS! IT IS QUITE ABLE TO OPPOSE OR NEGLECT THE WORD OF GOD AND ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS!
Our free will can take our natural life and destiny very lightly; it can also keep us from seeking first the Lord, His truth and His righteousness. If our free will had no such power to reject what God offers or gives or requires from man, then pagans and carnal Christians could not exist! Numerous passages in the Scripture could not exist as well, such as Jer. 6:16,17; 18:11-13// Mt. 25:41-46// 1Cor. 2:14,15; 3:1-3// 2Pet. 3:9 and many, many others. Do we SEE this fact? Do we believe it in our heart and mind? Really?
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To be continued next week in chapter 3 – part 2
brother Hanola
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