Salvation: One (excerpt of Three Deaths and Three Resurrections: Volume One)

SALVATION: ONE (EXCERPT OF THREE DEATHS AND THREE RESURRECTIONS: VOLUME ONE)

Definition of Salvation
Salvation, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation
The Gate of the Courtyard
The Courtyard of the Tabernacle
The Altar of Burnt Offering
The Laver, and water baptism
The Linen Fence
Lighted by the Sun

“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.”
“The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Definition of Salvation

We have employed the term salvation to denote the first area of redemption because of the familiarity and acceptability of the word to so many Christian people of various doctrinal beliefs and denominational affiliations. Salvation is the part of our redemption that has to do with survival and preservation in the Day of Judgment that is coming.

Being saved means we shall pass into the realms of light when we die physically; that we shall escape from the wrath of God, from Hell, from the Lake of Fire; that we shall live forever in the new heaven and earth reign of Christ.

The “amazing grace” of salvation is the song of Christians at every level of spiritual maturity. God is good, and it is His desire that every person on earth have the maximum opportunity to receive His forgiveness and blessing. Once we were prodigals but now we are back at the Father’s house. This is what salvation is all about.

The first area of redemption has its counterpart in the history of the children of Israel. When we are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, Christ, we escape from slavery to the “pharaoh” of the world. Salvation is our covering with the Passover blood, our “crossing through the Red Sea” (water baptism), our readiness to begin our “journey through the wilderness” (the tribulations and testing that take place in the present life).

Important to our salvation are the imputing, the assigning, of righteousness to us on the basis of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; our ceasing to attempt to find favor with God by our own schemes for righteous living; our identification with Christ’s death and resurrection, and the birth of Christ in our heart.

Let us look at some of the statements the Scriptures make concerning the first area of redemption. These statements are in the form of Old Testament illustration—types, as they are called. An example is the Ark of Noah, as we shall see presently.

Salvation, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation

One of the greatest—if not the greatest—of the types of Scripture is the Tabernacle of the Congregation (Exodus, Chapters 25-40). The three areas of redemption can be seen clearly in the Tabernacle.

The three areas of the Tabernacle correspond to the three areas of redemption. They are as follows: (1) the Courtyard; (2) the Holy Place; and (3) the Most Holy Place.

The Courtyard portrays the initial salvation experience—the first area of redemption.
The Holy Place is the second area, the realm of the working of the Holy Spirit in the Church, the Body of Christ.
The Most Holy Place is the area of the conquering Christian discipleship where the saint battles his way into the Presence of God. The Most Holy Place represents the fullness of glory, the spiritual “rest” that results from obtaining victory over the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes (covetousness), and the pride of life (self-love and self-will).

There was a hanging of cloth located at the entrance of each of the three areas of the Tabernacle. The first hanging was the gate of the Courtyard. The second hanging was the door of the Holy Place. The third hanging was the ornate veil that opened into the Most Holy Place.

The hangings were of dyed linen. The colors were the same on all three hangings. Each hanging was dyed blue, purple, and crimson on a background of pure white linen. The colors were blended artistically and intricately.

The blue symbolizes the fact that redemption comes down to us from Heaven.

The purple portrays the Divine royalty of the Lord Jesus Christ; and also that He combines in Himself the blue of Heaven and the red of humanity—being both Son of God and Son of Man (blue and red make purple).

The crimson speaks of the blood of God’s Lamb that paid for our redemption.

The white reveals the righteousness that is both imputed (ascribed) to and prepared in the believer by the redemption God has provided in Christ.

The Gate of the Courtyard

The first of the three hangings was the gate that led into the Courtyard.

“For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. (Exodus 27:16)

The gate was about thirty feet wide and seven and one-half feet in height. In order to come into the Tabernacle area an Israelite had to go through the gate. The Courtyard of the Tabernacle represents the domain of the Kingdom of God, the realm of the saved of the earth.

Outside the Courtyard of the Tabernacle is outer darkness, symbolically speaking. Inside is salvation, acceptance by the Lord, redemption, righteousness, justification—everything that is pure, beautiful, lovely, desirable.

If a person desires the blessing of God he must go through the gate. The gate of the Courtyard represents the first death. The Courtyard of the Tabernacle represents the first resurrection.

The Courtyard of the Tabernacle

The large area (about 75 feet wide and 150 feet long) surrounding the Tabernacle building (Exodus 27:9-18) represents, as we have said, the first realm of redemption. Placed inside this area, and in line with the door leading into the Holy Place, were the Altar of Burnt Offering and the bronze Laver.

The Altar of Burnt Offering portrays Christ on the cross of Calvary.

The bronze Laver typifies water baptism and also the washing of water by the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26).

We see then, in terms of this major type of the salvation experience, that we must come through the death of the gate in order to receive the atonement, the reconciliation to the Father.

The atonement has been made for us by the offering of the blood of the Lamb, Christ. The washing of water baptism signifies our sincere repentance and death to the world. The corresponding resurrection is to God’s forgiveness and the assigning of righteousness to us on the basis of the atoning blood of Christ.

The Altar of Burnt Offering

The Courtyard typifies the first work of salvation in us, the beginning of our redemption from slavery to the gods of the present evil age. The bronze Altar of Burnt Offering, by its large size and the sights, sounds, and smells that surrounded it continually, dominated the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, just as Calvary dominates the salvation God has given to us.

“You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its height shall be three cubits. (Exodus 27:1)

The bronze Altar was the largest of the seven pieces of furniture of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, being about seven and one half-feet square and four and one-half feet high. It was constructed of acacia wood covered with bronze. All the animal sacrifices of Israel were offered here (Leviticus, Chapters One through Seven).

When an Israelite went through the gate of the Courtyard, the first thing he encountered was the Altar of Burnt Offering. God always meets man at the cross. There is no way into the acceptance of God other than through the blood of the cross of Christ. The bronze Altar represents the beginning of our redemption, made possible for us only by our acceptance by faith of the atonement (reconciliation) made for us at Calvary.

When we come to the cross of Christ we signify that we have come to the end of our self-righteousness and now are ready to receive the righteousness of God through Christ. We cannot please God in our own moral strength. By accepting God’s atonement for our sin we receive full and complete forgiveness for all we ever have done that was out of keeping with God’s standards of righteousness and holiness.

being justified [declared righteous] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation [appeasement] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (Romans 3:24,25)

When we receive by faith the blood of the cross we acquire a full pardon for all transgressions. We receive an imputed righteousness, a righteousness assigned to our account on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. We then are perfectly justified (declared to be righteous) in the sight of God.

just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; (Romans 4:6,7)

The Laver, and Water Baptism

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
“You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, (Exodus 30:17,18)

The Laver was a basin made from the bronze of the looking glasses of the women who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle. Less is said about the Laver than any of the other holy furnishings of the Tabernacle. The Laver was fairly small and may have been carried on the march with the Altar of Burnt Offering.

The Laver was to be used by Aaron and his sons. Each priest was required to wash his hands and his feet before entering the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. The Laver was placed between the Altar of Burnt Offering and the door of the Tabernacle, in line with them.

It is easy to see that the bronze Laver represents water baptism and the spiritual realities that water baptism portrays. Water baptism is an important aspect of the beginning work of salvation.

“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.”

“Arise, and wash away your sins.”

“Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Water baptism is an act of obedience toward God. For this reason we must be baptized in water as soon as we receive Christ—just as soon as possible.

The water, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, represents death to the gods of the world, death to the first creation, death to our own past life and personality. The water is the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary, and through the act of water baptism we become identified with His death and participate in it. Our coming up out of the water is our participation in His glorious resurrection. It is our entrance to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

If the believer understands he is entering the death and resurrection of Christ he is ready to be baptized. A child can learn this in three minutes. If we will believe and be baptized we will be saved in the Day of Wrath (Mark 16:16).

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3,4)
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, (Romans 6:5)

From now on we are determined that the “glory of the Father” shall be the source of our life. We will choose not to walk in the old ways of lust, malice, and wickedness but in “newness of life”—in a life that is showing forth the praises of God because of His love toward us through Christ.

Christ’s death was a cruel scene to behold. He suffered three years of persecution and perversity climaxed by the physical pain of crucifixion—this in addition to the spiritual agony of becoming sin for us, with the resulting separation from His Father!

Well may we shrink from such a death! But we are to enter Christ’s death willingly, suffering the persecution, perversity, harassment, and physical pain the Spirit of God brings our way. The glory of Christ’s resurrection more than compensates for the pain of His crucifixion (Romans 8:18; II Corinthians 4:17).

Before we were baptized in water our old nature often was successful in making us accept slavery to sin. We had no new nature, no Glory of God in Christ, to help us behave any differently.

Now we possess the Spirit of life from God and His blessing on us. We are without condemnation in the sight of God. By continually availing ourselves of the grace of God we can refuse to obey the dictates of our old nature—the old self that is being cast aside as the shell of a peanut is cast aside when the meat of the nut has been obtained.

For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (Romans 6:7-9)

As soon as we come up out of the water of baptism we are alive in Christ. We are on our way toward the fullness of eternal life, a fullness of redemption that eventually will include our mortal body. Our new personality is married to Christ. Our new man is alive forevermore, being free from the guilt and power of sin (I John 3:9).

Christ lives before God in righteousness. By faith in Him we share in that righteousness. God beholds us in Christ as we take our stand on resurrection ground.

For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:10,11)

Our goal now becomes to be transformed fully into Christ’s image. The transformation will take place as we walk in the Spirit of God. When we first receive Jesus we are immature in godliness. The devil, taking advantage of the weakness of our flesh, constantly is challenging the truth of what was declared to be true in our water baptism. And so by faith, as long as we live, we keep on asserting that we have died in Christ and have been raised in Christ.

We overcome by placing resolute faith in what the Scriptures state God has accomplished through Christ. We are not baptized in water again each time our faith is challenged. God does not lie.

When God tells us to regard ourselves as dead to sin He is not directing us to assure ourselves that the wrong things that we do are not sin. Rather, He is inviting us to lay hold on His grace—on His power that now is available to us—in order to stop sinning.

Because we have accepted Christ, been baptized in water into His death, and been raised with Him in newness of life, we have a choice. Before we received the Lord we were members of the kingdom of darkness. Our souls were lost in sin. Our bodies were bound in sin. The Holy Spirit was not guiding our spirit. Only our conscience prevented us from giving ourselves over to the deepest sins of the flesh.

Now that we have passed from death to life, Christ has been planted in our heart. Our spirit is being moved by the Holy Spirit of God. We have the authority and the power to choose to learn to live in righteousness, in holiness, in obedience to God. We possess the authority and power to choose to resist our fleshly nature, our self-love and self-seeking, and the wicked spirits of the kingdom of darkness.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (Romans 6:12)

If we draw near to God and submit to Him we can resist Satan and he will flee from us. We possess eternal life and the authority to be children of God. We have assurance that when we die physically we shall be received into the spirit realms of light. We are known of the holy angels of God. When Christ appears we shall appear with Him in glory.

Therefore we can say to the tempter, “Get behind me.”

When we cry, “Father,” God answers, “Here I am!”

We have the grace of God in Christ, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, to help us conquer the lusts of our flesh. Our past is clean and we have been accepted of God. Are we then to creep into a cocoon and wait for Christ to appear?

We must continue working, speaking, thinking, imagining. Little by little, as we are able to profit from the process, the indwelling Holy Spirit gently and powerfully enables us to rise above the bondages of our flesh and spirit.

Water baptism represents an instant death and an instant resurrection and ascension. Our redemption cost the Lord Jesus a price we never will comprehend fully, but it is given to us as a gift, offered in love and joy. Let us, therefore, receive the gift of God in the loving, joyful spirit in which it is given. Then let us follow on to know Him—to grow in the grace and the knowledge of God.

The Linen Fence

“You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long [45 meters] for one side. (Exodus 27:9)
“All the pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze.
“The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. (Exodus 27:17-18)

The Courtyard of the Tabernacle of the Congregation was a large area, rectangular in shape, enclosed by the linen fence described in the preceding passage. The material of the fence was white linen.

The impression of the Tabernacle area, whether the viewer was standing outside or inside the fence, was one of whiteness—some fifteen hundred square cubits of white linen. Each of the sixty posts holding up the linen was capped with silver, and it appears there was a silver rod running through the posts from post to post (“filleted with silver”). The posts were set in sockets of “brass” (probably bronze).

What a picture of the redeemed of the Lord the Courtyard is!

The fine-twined (fine twisted) linen portrays the righteousness of Christ that is given freely to every human being who believes in Christ and receives Him. The righteousness is first assigned to us, and then created in our personality.

The silver typifies redemption—the price paid for our release from the kingdom of darkness.

The bronze sockets placed on the desert ground, and on which the posts stood, speak symbolically of God’s judgment. Righteousness is always based on Divine judgment. God must test by fire every word, every thought, and every action before righteousness can be established.

Every man, woman, boy, and girl who receives Christ is saved from wrath and comes through the gate into the courtyard of righteousness and redemption. Every person outside the linen fence is lost in outer darkness.

Lighted By the Sun

The Courtyard of the Tabernacle was lighted by the sunlight. The Holy Place was lighted (at night) by the golden Lampstand. The Most Holy Place was lighted by the Shechinah (Glory of God) shining from the Mercy Seat. The three different sources of light have spiritual significance.

The first area of redemption, that of guiltlessness before God, is lighted by natural light, figuratively speaking. Calvary is for all the world to see. It is needful that Christ be lifted up in the clear view of all people so they may see, believe, and be saved (John 3:14).

Christ was not crucified in the Most Holy Place of the Temple of Herod so no one could observe what happened except the high priest of Israel. Christ was led outside the city of Jerusalem and there hung up high on a cross so that all people, young and old, Jewish and Gentile, could behold the judgment of God on the sin offering. The crucifixion of Christ did not occur in secret but out in the open for all to see.

The Altar of Burnt Offering was five cubits square and three cubits high. The slain animals were lifted up in the sight of all and placed on the dirt with which, apparently, the bronze Altar was filled. The Holy Spirit of God reveals Christ so that the unsaved can “behold the Lamb of God.”

Therefore, Christ is to be preached in every place: from cathedral to theater, in the home and on the beach, by all the communication media from magazine to satellite.

It does not matter, as Paul says, whether Christ is preached in sincerity or in insincerity provided Christ is preached. The Holy Spirit guides us into the lifting up of Christ, and when He is lifted up, all people are drawn to Him.

(“Salvation: One”, 3362-1)