I do not think we are going against the Scripture or even fundamental Evangelical beliefs when we maintain that other kinds of spiritual growth (other than the development of kings) must always be continuing in the Kingdom of God, such as deliverance from sin and coming to maturity in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God until we arrive at the stature of the fullness of Christ.

After all, the Kingdom is as a seed, Jesus told us. Possibly in this article we have gone against some traditions that have not really been thought through sufficiently.

There is one widely held Evangelical belief that we must oppose. It is the teaching that people will be cast into the Lake of Fire because they have not believed in Christ even though they have never heard the Gospel. Some go so far as to say that if a baby dies and has never heard the Gospel it will go to Hell.

Can't you just imagine our righteous God saying, "I am casting you into the Lake of Fire because you have not received Christ although I know you have never heard of Christ." Such a statement would, of course, be unreasonable. Where in the Bible does God speak or act in an unreasonable manner?

My position is that you cannot reject Christ until you have been presented with Christ, whether in this world or the next, and that this is true of all points along the way of spiritual growth. For we continually are being presented with Christ as He invites us to take a step forward in spiritual growth. Most believers die before they really are challenged beyond the very elements of salvation, before they have taken more than a few baby steps toward their Father.

In our day God is giving wonderful revelations of His Word and opportunities to come to maturity in Christ through the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit, spiritual understanding and opportunities not always available to people in time past or even to everyone today. Is it reasonable that they will never have the chance to grow that we have had, even though the Book of Hebrews states that we all will come to perfection together? This seems to me to be an unscriptural position to take.

But could a believer have a sinful nature after he or she dies? Why not? The cleansing comes only through Jesus Christ, not by virtue of dying or by entering the spirit realm. Sin began in the highest Heaven around the Throne of God. How is it different now? What we are we are, until we interact with the Lord Jesus Christ in such a manner that we are set free from Satan and enter rest in the center of God's will.

People on earth can come to Christ and be forgiven through the blood atonement. This must be true also in the spirit realm or else how could the saints of God who lived before Calvary receive the blood atonement?

People on earth can come to Christ, receive God's Holy Spirit, and be born again of the Divine Seed. This must be true also in the spirit realm or else how could the saints of God who lived before the resurrection of Jesus Christ or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit be born again or receive the Holy Spirit?

To be continued.