Multitudes of Christians are acquainted with the first work of grace, that is, basic salvation through the blood of the cross. A smaller number have received basic salvation and also a second work of grace, the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Now God is ready to bring us through the third work of grace. The third work of grace may be referred to as the rest of God.

The blood of the cross gives us the authority to enter the purpose of God. The Holy Spirit gives us the power and wisdom to accomplish the purpose of God. The authority, the power, and the wisdom of God enable us to enter the purpose of God, which is the third work or area of grace. The third work of grace is the creation, through Christ, of a living house for God in which He can rest for eternity.

Introduction

Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? (Acts 7:49)

In my Father's house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)

What you are about to read suggests that we have come to an epochal change in our understanding of the Christian salvation. It is not a "new revelation." The Lord gave the Apostles of the first century the full revelation of salvation.

It appears the Spirit of wisdom and revelation departed with the death of the early Apostles and the human mind took over the task of explaining the new covenant. The Church fathers began to write books about redemption and the Kingdom of God, and the writing of commentaries continues until the present hour.

While commentaries on the Bible can be helpful to the student they usually do not reflect the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17)

At some early point in the Christian Era the spirit Paradise, Heaven, became the goal of salvation. Perhaps this was because human reasoning had replaced the Spirit of revelation. We are saved to go to Heaven it was stated. To this day in Christian thinking the blood of the Lord Jesus is viewed as our ticket to Heaven.

Because it is not true that eternal residence in the spirit Paradise is the goal of salvation, our understanding of the process of redemption and our response to that understanding misses the Divine mark. We are looking toward the wrong goal and so our efforts are often misdirected. Christian thinking is not in accord with the mind of God.

To be continued.