Today the Lord Jesus is waiting until His enemies have been made His footstool. To forgive an individual is not to make the enemies of Christ His footstool. The enemies of Christ are made His footstool only when Satan has been overcome and driven from the personality of the individual—and this by the believer's own choice.

It was man who allowed Satan to enter the earth. It has been given to man to drive Satan out of the earth. Man can do this only by his union with Christ.

If the Christian redemption primarily is forgiveness, then the new covenant is no more effective than the old covenant. Also, Christ is portrayed as the one who excuses the sins of his disciples. If such is the case, then God did not send Christ into the world so through him the world may be delivered from sin but so man may continue without penalty as a sinful creature. That would be a doing away with the law of sowing and reaping. It would become true that the soul that sinned would not die. We could continue in our sins because of God's "love" expressed through Christ.

If the Christian redemption primarily is the forgiving of man with the intent of bringing him to Heaven when he dies, the Christian redemption is useless as far as establishing God's Kingdom in the earth is concerned. It would mean that Jesus is not King of kings and Lord of lords over the earth; that the kingdoms of the world never will come under the rulership of Christ; that the Glory of God never will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea; that the words of the Hebrew Prophets never will be fulfilled.

If the Christian salvation primarily is the forgiving of man so he can go to Heaven, there to live without temptation, the saints never will reign over the earth. The saved would live a new kind of life in Heaven—a life about which the Scriptures say virtually nothing. The description of the Kingdom of God by the Hebrew Prophets would contain little of interest to the Christian because his future would be in the spirit realm with the angels. The return of Christ would mean no more to him than the opportunity to escape to the spirit Paradise.

If the Christian salvation primarily is the forgiving of man so he can go to a sin-free environment, it is not reasonable he should spend his life learning stern obedience to the Spirit of God. There would be no need for him to master the lessons of patience, of faithfulness, of love, of diligence. He would not need a transformed character in Heaven. Since all believers would receive the same reward, why should the Christian seek the face of Jesus? Why should he endure year after year the painful self-denial that is such a vital part of the victorious life, of gaining the Kingdom of God? (James 1:4; Revelation 1:9.)

To be continued.