We do not keep our body under control in order that God may consider our old personality as being a new personality but in order that Christ may make us literally new creatures. The death of the old man, while it begins as a state that we "reckon" to be a fact, becomes reality as God brings us into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, into the likeness of His death (Philippians 3:10).

The physical body and the soul dominate the first man. The mind operates to obtain security, pleasure, and achievement for the body and soul. The mind cannot see God through the human eye and puts its trust in what it can see.

As the mind is given information it becomes arrogant, supposing all that is of worth is what it can behold through the eye and define with its ability to reason. Soon we have the ridiculous spectacle of a human being strutting about on the skin of the earth like a peacock. Truly, it is the fool who has said in his heart, there is no God.

The first man is both willing and—to an extremely limited extent—able to function temporarily apart from God. (As long as he doesn't swallow a gnat and choke to death.)

The Gospel of the Kingdom is presented to the first man because there is no second man at this point. The human being is confronted with the choice of living forever in Paradise or being hurled into fiery torment.

The first man upon hearing the Gospel may decide (since his eye cannot see much of what is being told him) that it is so much foolishness. He then turns away and pursues his animal existence of eating, sleeping, working, playing, and reproducing, searing his conscience in the meantime and making himself the prey of the demons.

Since he has disobeyed God he remains under condemnation. Because there is nothing of the Kingdom in him, and the first creation is destined to pass away, his future is bleak indeed. In addition, all that is evil in him must be judged and punished; for God has determined that Satan, his angels, and all their works shall be cast into the Lake of Fire—there to be tormented for eternity.

Or, the first man may decide to do what the witness of God is declaring and his conscience and the Holy Spirit are verifying. He may decide to ease the conviction weighing on him and secure his future by receiving Christ.

Let us say the individual decides to receive Christ.

Now he, the first man, is "saved." At this point he is without condemnation in the sight of his Creator and has been pointed toward the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our newly saved believer then sets out to attempt to do whatever it is Christians do to please God. He hopes to live forever after he dies in another place—perhaps on another planet, as he reasons—where there is love, joy, and peace.

It appears that such is the scope of understanding of the majority of Christian believers. They think of the Christian salvation as the forgiving of the human being, and hopefully some reforming of him so God will not be overly displeased with him, and then the transporting of him to Heaven when he dies.

To be continued.