(I Corinthians 3:21-23)

If the Divine redemption consisted primarily of escape to the spirit Paradise where we would live in a beautiful mansion with our loved ones, doing nothing of significance for eternity, then the program of salvation might focus on the blood of the Lord Jesus as our ticket that we present to Saint Peter upon our physical death.

The Divine redemption in actuality has to do with the restoration by force of their inheritance to the sons of God, an inheritance presently in the hands of Satan, a rebellious cherub. The Lord Jesus is not going to accomplish the redemption by Himself but rather will make it possible for the sons of God to drive Satan from their inheritance.

Because the Divine redemption has as its purpose the full restoration of our inheritance, the program of salvation only begins with our forgiveness through the atoning blood. After we are forgiven there is a lifetime of lessons, deliverances, tests, sufferings, ministries, discipline, obedience, patience, and sacrificial service, that must be endured.

He who endures to the end shall be saved.

The lukewarm believers, those who have neglected such a great salvation, will be vomited from the Lord's mouth.

If we would understand the Kingdom of God, we must define salvation as our transformation from the image of Satan into the image of Christ, and also our divorce from Satan and our self-will and our entrance into untroubled union with the Father through the Lord Jesus.

Image and union are what salvation is. A transformed personality and restful union in the Lord do not bring us to salvation, they themselves are the Christian salvation.

Salvation makes it possible for us to participate in the several roles and responsibilities desired for His sons by the Father in Heaven. In addition to serving as a member of the Bride of the Lamb we are to become a living stone in the eternal Temple of God. God has been revealed to His creatures through the Lord Jesus. Now God wants to greatly enlarge the revelation of Himself by forming a body for the Lord Jesus.

We cannot serve as a member of the Bride of the Lamb, as a living stone in the eternal Temple of God, or in any of the other roles and responsibilities assigned to the sons of God until we first have been fully redeemed; that is, until we have been transformed in personality and behavior into the image of Christ Jesus and have been brought fully into untroubled rest in the Father.

We are neither eligible nor competent to serve in God's Kingdom until we first have been saved according to the aforementioned standard.

This is not to say that people have to wait until they are perfect before they can serve God. It is our ministry of today that makes us and those who hear us perfect. The purpose of ministry is to bring us to the standard—the standard that is the fullness of Christ. Rather, when referring to eligibility and competence, we are speaking of our eternal service to God in the Kingdom that is coming to the earth.

All of this may sound new to our generation but it is old-fashioned Christianity. The purpose of salvation is to make us like Jesus and bring us to God. Until we are like Jesus and are walking with God we are of little use to God for His future Kingdom purposes.

Let us get with the program. (from The Day of Redemption)