When Jesus returns He will complete our redemption by clothing our resurrected (or still living) flesh and bones with a body fashioned from the Life of God rather than from the dust of the ground.

If we have not walked in fellowship with Jesus such that we have been delivered from unrighteousness, uncleanness, and disobedience, if we have not allowed Jesus to save us, to deliver us from the works of Satan, then, when Jesus returns, we will receive an outer form that corresponds to our unchanged inner nature. We will reap corruption.

The unrighteous will receive the reward of unrighteousness.

The unclean will receive the reward of uncleanness.

The disobedient will receive the reward of disobedience.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (II Corinthians 5:10)

Spiritual death is the separation from God of the spirit, the soul, and the body of man.

The "second death" is eternal spiritual death in an area of torment.

Wherever God is not present in the spirit realm there is an absence of love, of joy, of peace, of vitality, of wisdom, of knowledge, of hope, of growth.

Wherever God is not present in the material realm there is decay and finally ruin.

The most elementary definition of salvation is, to be spared the sentence of the second death.

To be "saved," in this rudimentary sense, says nothing about what we are. It speaks only of what we will not experience.

The fullest definition of salvation is: perfect, complete deliverance from all unrighteousness, all spiritual uncleanness, and all disobedience to God, the full growth of Christ in us, and eternal union with God through Christ.

It is important for the Christian to understand he cannot settle for elementary salvation. If God has called him to the royal priesthood he will be judged according to his high calling. He cannot live his life in the world in the hope he can neglect the fullness of the inheritance and still escape severe punishment.

God cannot be mocked. He understands the human tendency to "deal." He knows that some will choose to attempt to follow their course in the world and plan to make a "deathbed confession." This might work if salvation were obtained by following a set of rules. Unfortunately for the scheming individual, we are not dealing with rules but with a Judge who knows every detail of our thoughts, words, and actions.

Christ showed plainly in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Matthew that the servant who does not use the talent that has been given him will be cast into outer darkness.

In the Kingdom of God, much is required of those to whom much has been entrusted. In the Kingdom we are judged not only in terms of universal laws but also in terms of our individual calling, gifts, and the light we have been given.

To be continued.