The New Testament speaks several times of a coming salvation. Why is a plan of redemption, of salvation, necessary? An act of redemption is necessary because in the beginning man forfeited his ability to serve God with a pure heart. The descendants of Adam are born in a state of bondage to sin and self-seeking. Because of the original rebellion we have lost the ability to do God's will and therefore the right to eat of the tree of life.

Notice that we did not lose Heaven! We were not created in Heaven. Heaven is not our home. The earth is our rightful home. We have been created from the dust of the ground.

Mankind lost the ability to serve God with a pure heart. The Divine redemption does not restore Heaven to us. Eternal residence in Heaven is not the goal of redemption. When we point toward Heaven as the goal of salvation we have an unscriptural objective that leads to all sorts of incorrect conclusions and methods.

When the Bible speaks of the coming redemption it is not referring to our going to Heaven but of our being set free from sin and self-will. Once we are set free from sin and rebellion against God we are permitted to eat of the tree of life. We then will be able to successfully enjoy a paradisiacal environment.

Adam and Eve forfeited their ability to serve God in righteousness. Now our Redeemer has come so we may regain the ability to serve God in righteousness. But the enemy will not let us go even though the price of redemption has been paid with the blood of the obedient Jesus. He keeps us in the chains of sin and rebellion against God's will. Therefore we must regain our spiritual freedom by war—a war that proceeds as a judgment against all sin.

Three areas of sin must be dealt with if we are to be redeemed fully. First, the guilt of sin must be removed. Second, the compulsive force of sin must be broken and the very presence of sin removed. Third, the effects of sin must be healed.

When we of today say "my sins are gone," we mean our sins have been forgiven. Perhaps in time past it was not necessary to distinguish between removing the guilt of our sin, and removing the sin itself. But the time has come for sin to be removed, for the enemies of Christ to be made His footstool.

So far, in the history of the Christian Church, the primary emphasis has been on removing the guilt of sin. However, we now are coming to the destroying of the compulsive force of sin and the healing of the effects of sin.

The Apostle Paul was given the understanding of the transition from the Law of Moses to the righteousness that comes from receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. This change was a giant step forward in God's plan of redemption.

Although Paul's doctrine of grace has since been warped to the point that grace has become an alternative to righteous conduct rather than an enabling power to do God's will, the transition from Moses to Christ did occur in God's time. The hundreds of years from Paul to the present have been a season of righteousness by faith in Christ apart from the careful observance of the statutes of the Law of Moses.

To be continued.