However, no conscientious student of the Scriptures, after reviewing the text, could claim that escape from Hell or admission to Paradise is the primary emphasis of the four Gospel accounts or the Epistles of the Apostles.

It appears that Christian preachers need to go back to the Bible, particularly to the Book of Acts, and find out what they are supposed to be preaching.

If escape from Hell and admission to Heaven are not the principal theme of the New Testament, then exactly what is?

After the description of Christ as Savior and Lord there are three emphases in the New Testament that bear on our personal salvation. The three are interrelated. They are as follows:

Our transformation into a new creation in the moral image of Christ, including the forgiveness of our sins.

The pursuit of eternal life, including the redemption of our physical body.

Our entrance into the Kingdom of God.

Our discussion will deal mainly with our transformation and our pursuit of eternal life. Our entrance into the Kingdom of God is associated so closely with our transformation and our gaining of eternal life that a separate examination may not be necessary.

After we think about our transformation and our pursuit of eternal life, which are in actuality the manner in which we enter the Kingdom of God, we will have a look at how our diligence in grasping transformation and eternal life will affect our life in Paradise. This, after all, is the great question: will our life as an individual in Paradise be significantly affected by our perseverance in grasping the mark God has set before us? Will the overcomer and the nonovercomer both receive substantially the same reward?

There is no more important question in the day in which we are living, because countless multitudes of believers are living careless Christian lives, being under the impression that they are saved by grace and that all saved people will experience destinies so similar there is no need to be overly concerned about pressing toward the rest of God, the fullness of God.

If one is to receive a twenty-story mansion, and the other a three-story mansion, who cares? (Carnal Christians would care in that day for they experience jealousy today concerning material riches!) Why not seek enjoyment in the present world? After all, we have our ticket to Paradise, so why go to the trouble of taking up our cross, denying ourselves, and following the Master?

Why wait in the Lord's prison, hungering and thirsting, denying ourselves the desires of our heart and soul, when we can reach forth and take what we want without breaking too many laws? If we are saved by unconditional grace, and all saved people receive approximately the same reward, why should we surrender our Isaacs?

To be continued.