There are three dimensions of God's redemptive work among mankind. The first dimension of redemption is salvation—preservation to eternal life in the world of righteousness that is coming. The second is the creating and perfecting of the Church. The third is the bringing of the nations of the earth under Kingdom law, which is the eternal moral law of God.

There are two factors essential to the accomplishment of the three parts of the Divine plan: one, that the Lord Jesus Christ hold all authority and power in Heaven and on earth, and two, that Christ abide with His servants and work with them and through them.

Preservation to eternal life.

Creating and perfecting the Church.

Bringing the nations under Kingdom law.

Based on:

Christ possessing all authority and power in Heaven and on the earth.

Christ being with His servants at all times, working with and through them.

A key statement concerning salvation is as follows:

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned [condemned]. (Mark 16:15,16)

A key statement concerning the creating of the Church is as follows:

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)

Membership in the Church, the Bride of the Lamb, the royal priesthood, is by Divine election.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)

A key statement concerning the bringing the nations under Kingdom law is as follows:

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment [justice] in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)

Salvation has to do with our not being destroyed in the Day of Judgment, with our being brought over into life lived in the glory of the new heaven and earth reign of Christ.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:9)

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (I Thessalonians 1:10)

The Apostles of Christ always pointed toward the Day of Christ, which will be the spiritual fulfillment of the Levitical Day of Atonement, the Day of Reconciliation (Leviticus, Chapter 16). The Day of the Lord will begin on a kingdom-wide basis with the return of Christ to the earth. It will last a thousand years, concluding with the final judgment of mankind.

In its primary sense, salvation is Christ' acceptance of us as candidates for eternal life on the new earth. The forgiveness of our sins is the first step in this acceptance.

We will be saved in the Day of the Lord if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are baptized in water.

The creating of the Church may be studied as a separate issue from salvation. Of the many concepts that must be brought to the attention of the Lord's people in the present hour, the difference between basic salvation and the creation of the Church, the Body of Christ, may be one of the more essential.

To be continued.