Did you notice the sequence? First the weeds were pulled up and burned in the fire. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of God. Does that sound to you like the believers are going to be "raptured" into Heaven while the wicked are free to inherit the earth?

I think we see, then, that God has a plan for removing sin from His Church. The removal will take place at the end of the Church Age. Where the deliverance will take place is not clearly described. I prefer to follow the Apostle Peter in the idea that God will judge the living and the dead at the same time. Even so it is difficult to imagine the messengers of God going to those who are dead and yet in the Kingdom of God, pulling them from their placement in the spirit realm and throwing them into the fire. But this seems to me the most likely scenario.

If this is not true, then the judgment and deliverance will take place on the earth.

You know, salvation takes place at three times, you might say. First, there is some point in our life when we specifically receive Christ into our life. We are saved.

Next, we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling throughout our lifetime. It always is possible to fall away, according to the New Testament, and we are warned about this. The believer who does not bear the fruit of righteousness is cut out of the Vine, out of Christ. Our teaching today often is abysmal when dealing with the passages of the New Testament that warn Christians about falling back into sin.

Finally, there are several passages that tell us our salvation is in the future. For example, "he who endures to the end shall be saved."

Our passage in Matthew that we are studying is another one of these that points to a future determination of our salvation. At the end of the age some of those in the Kingdom are removed and cast into the fires of Divine judgment.

Salvation is never static. The day of salvation always is today. There is no such thing as being saved yesterday. Either we are abiding in Christ right now or we are dying spiritually. Salvation is never a ticket that we hold waiting until we die. Salvation is a narrow, compressed way that leads to life. Salvation is a process that removes us from the death of Satan and brings us into the Life of Jesus Christ. Our redemption has not been completed until we are in the image of Christ and dwelling in untroubled rest through Christ in the Person of our Father in Heaven.

God continually is challenging us to take a step forward, to abide in Christ in a greater way than ever before. Is this true in your life? The step is a step forward in your salvation. To not take that step is to draw back to destruction. You cannot go around any step that God places before you.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (Hebrews 10:39 NIV)

To be continued.