We climb still further and labor to enter the rest of God, the place where our will and God's will are working together instead of being in conflict.

We keep climbing and come back to basic salvation as we ascend the spiral. We are facing the original direction but at a higher level. Now the atonement, especially the body and blood of the Lord, becomes more meaningful to us. We find as we are pressed out of measure we can look to the Lord for "hidden manna," for His body and blood to nourish and strengthen us and enable us to overcome evil with good.

Climbing further we find it is the Life of the Spirit that enables us to bear witness, to lead a holy life, and to do all else required of us in the present life.

Further upward and the rest of God is much more in our possession because we are much more in God's possession.

Still we climb toward the light and receive a fuller understanding of basic salvation. Around and around we go, continually coming back to the same place but at a higher level.

We receive all that there is of God and of salvation when we first receive the Lord Jesus, for all the Fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. But as we "climb the spiral staircase" the Divine Virtue that is in Christ begins to unfold in us. If we do not climb the spiral staircase of faith, the fullness of Divine grace contained in the salvation that is in Christ will never be experienced by us.

Doing the job. Another interesting way of viewing the three works of grace is in terms of an individual being employed by a factory. In order to enter the factory he must have a badge, an authorization that permits him or her to enter through the gates onto the grounds and into the factory buildings. The "badge" is the first work of grace, particularly the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power [authority] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)

After the new employee is authorized to enter the plant he then might go to the tool crib and become equipped with the tools necessary to perform the job he has been hired to do. The tools refer to the second work of grace, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to bear witness of the Lord Jesus.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

The Holy Spirit gives us also the ability to overcome sin.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter who provides us with the wisdom and power to bear witness of the Lord Jesus and also to overcome the world, the lusts of our flesh, and our self-will and rebellion.

The worker now is authorized to do the job and he has the tools. So it is that when we are saved we are authorized to do the job. When we receive the Holy Spirit we possess the wisdom and power to perform the tasks required by the company.

Now we have come to the job. The job is to make our personality the house of God, to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus, to abide in untroubled rest in the Father through the Lord Jesus. When the job has been finished we are ready to enter all the roles and responsibilities that will be ours throughout eternity.

To be continued.