We know there is no sin in Heaven or in the new world of righteousness that is to come. But at what point is sin removed? Does God have a specific plan for removing sin or does it just "happen"? If He does have a specific plan, when, where, and how will sin be removed from the Kingdom of God?

Salvation is past, present, and future.

If we are a believer in Christ there was a specific point at which we turned away from the world and entered the Kingdom of God through Christ. This for us is the past salvation.

If we are abiding in Christ today, then we currently are working out our salvation with fear and trembling. This is the present salvation.

We hope for salvation in the future. Usually we think of our future salvation as being the time we die and go to Heaven. There is nothing "wrong" with such a point of view. The hope of Heaven has served the saints well for two thousand years. However, the idea of eternal residence in the spirit Paradise is a limited view of what salvation is. Now that we are drawing close to the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth our understanding of salvation will be increased.

The present article will emphasize the future aspect of salvation.

It will be impossible for us to understand the future aspect of salvation until we define salvation correctly.

When we of today think of being "saved" we picture our entrance into Paradise when we die. We Christians have a strong tradition of Heaven. There have been countless glimpses of the spirit Paradise by people who have died and been resuscitated; or have nearly died; or have been approaching death; or who have seen a loved one after he or she has passed away.

The general vision is one of a garden or park, sometimes with beautiful homes. Often deceased loved ones and friends are present. There is great joy, peace, and love and an absence of pain, dread, and fear. Sometimes there are angels in sight or even the Lord Jesus.

This is Heaven as we view it, and the vision is probably accurate even though it is based on experiences of people and not the Scriptures.

Paul tells us we should set our affections on things above. Since we cannot actually see into Heaven we have to use our imagination, and there is nothing wrong with this. Thinking about the things of Heaven may be the best possible use of our God-given imagination. It is a joy we can choose to set before us.

There is one problem with this hope, this vision of the future of the godly. It is a problem that is being addressed now by the Spirit of God because the Kingdom of God is at hand.

When we envision Heaven we do not see the presence of sin there. Somehow we know there is no sin in the Paradise of God now that Paradise has been lifted from the earth and placed in the third heaven.

To be continued.