Paul said he would receive a crown of righteousness in the Day of the Lord, not when he died. We think Paul is with Moses, Elijah, and others who are serving the Lord in the spirit realm. But can we have confidence that this is true of all who have made a profession of faith in Christ?

So we see our terminology is quite misleading. We should be saying if we do thus and so we will be saved when the Lord appears.

Let us discuss for a minute what salvation actually is.

Our idea of what salvation is, is in great need of an overhaul. We are not scriptural in our understanding.

Salvation is transformation. In many instances, where the term salvation is employed in the scriptures we can substitute the word transformation. This will give us a much clearer picture of what salvation actually is and will put an end to vain arguments about whether we can be "lost" once we are "saved."

There are a few instances in the New Testament where the term "saved" means primarily preservation in the Day of Wrath: that is, our spirit, soul, and body are not cast away from the Presence of God in the Day of the Lord. We are permitted to enter the new heaven and earth reign of Jesus Christ.

But mere preservation, as desirable as this is, is a "Rahab" type salvation. That is to say it is not the salvation of the royal priesthood, of those who are being trained by the Lord to invade and occupy the land of promise.

The full salvation of the royal priesthood is indicated by the Apostle Paul who, toward the end of his life, was pressing forward toward the resurrection out from among the dead. Paul was not seeking to escape wrath at this point but to be prepared to return with Christ in the fullness of resurrection glory when it is time for the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The full salvation of the royal priesthood is emphasized by the writer of the Book of Hebrews, who exhorted the Christian Jews to press into the rest of God. The writer was not speaking here of basic salvation from wrath.

By full salvation we mean change into the moral image of Jesus Christ and entrance into untroubled union with the Father through Christ.

Such change and such union are not frills we add to basic salvation. They are what salvation is for those who are called to be the brothers of Christ.

Salvation is our change and our union with God. The change and the union are not so we can go to Heaven but so we can abide in the bosom of the Father where Christ dwells.

In order to dwell in God we must be transformed in personality. Rahab and her family were covered by the blood, so to speak, as portrayed by the scarlet cord used to identify her house. But Rahab was not a member of the royal priesthood of God. She was not a partaker of the Law, of the Tabernacle, of the sacrifices.

Rahab is a type of those who are saved as they respond to the testimony of God's witnesses, His priesthood.

To be continued.