(tm) Can you imagine?
Back to The First and Second Resurrection
The new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, consisting of Jews who are not saved because they were not part of the first resurrection (according to our traditions), is on the new earth in splendor beyond the mind of men to imagine. God and the Lamb are dwelling in unconcealed glory within the marvelous walls of the new Jerusalem. We "saved Gentiles" are residing in Heaven in golden mansions—although the Lord has promised us we would be with Him forever. This is what we mean by stating the current teachings are a maze of contradictions and fables.
The concept that only those who participate in the first resurrection will be saved is founded on the belief that only those who are members of the Body of Christ will be saved. This is the result of preaching Heaven as the goal of redemption and belief in Christ as an escape from Hell; instead of preaching the subject of the Gospels and the Epistles, which is the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
Whenever we leave the Scriptures we enter doctrinal confusion and spiritual trouble. Let us preach and teach what the Scriptures state, not the traditions of men.
In the day in which we are living, membership in the Church and salvation from wrath are synonymous.
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47)
This is because the purpose of the present age is the creation of the Church, the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb. The royal priesthood itself is divided into various levels of calling, anointing, and fervency. It is obvious to an observant person that among the saved there are widely differing callings and stations.
To assume that all saved people after their death, or in the Day of the Lord, will be one undifferentiated group of glorified beings is without foundation in the Scriptures. The Scriptures do not teach or imply this.
The opposite is taught. Notice how levels of glory and holiness are expressed.
David’s mighty men.
The three on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord.
Gideon’s three hundred.
The thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and one hundredfold of the parable of the sower.
The division of Israel, the royal priesthood, into the High Priest, the priests, the Levites, and the remainder of Israel.
The few of Sardis who will walk in white with the Lord.
The Lord’s own statement concerning greatest and least in the Kingdom.
The scriptural concept clearly is that of differing ranks among the elect.
As we have mentioned, the Old Testament teaches that the nations of the saved will bring their wealth and minister to God’s priesthood. This represents another division among saved people—the nations of the saved and the royal priesthood.
Having your conversation [behavior] honest among the Gentiles [nations]: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. (I Peter 2:12)
To maintain there are only two groups, those who sit on the highest throne with Jesus (governing whom we have no idea), and those who are in torment forever in the Lake of Fire, is to embrace the current fables and to ignore the Old and New Testaments.
The model of salvation that gives rise to such doctrinal confusion is the concept of salvation as an invisible, abstract, legal state of amnesty that qualifies the individual for Paradise after physical death. When we "make a decision for Christ" we have a ticket to Paradise whether or not we live righteously. Those who never have heard the Gospel do not have a ticket and therefore they are assigned to the Lake of Fire for eternity.
It also is true that no person can come to Christ except the Father draw him. This would mean God gives the ticket to some people and not to others, a grossly unjust state of affairs. If you are not given your ticket you will be tormented forever. This Christian concept is so unrighteous, unscriptural, and outrageous (in terms of the Nature of our righteous God) it should never be preached again. It is an abomination!
The truth is, salvation is a transformation of the believer, a new creation. Such salvation comes to us as we are called by the Spirit and then respond diligently. The Divine salvation produces tangible changes in moral behavior and an ever-increasing knowledge of God and His holiness.
Rank in the Kingdom can be observed among the elect in the present hour.
As soon as the Church has been brought to the maturity and unity of Christ, the Head will appear from Heaven. This is the time of the first resurrection from among the dead. At this point the Body will be joined to the Head.
Then the Head and Body of Christ will go forth to bring salvation to whoever will believe of the nations of the earth. This is the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is good news for the meek of the earth. It is bad news for the wicked.
And the Gentiles [nations] shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (Isaiah 60:3,4)
It is obvious that the nations that come to the elect in the day of the glorification of the saints will be saved, not lost. Yet, they do not become part of the Israel of God.
From the standpoint of many of the people of the earth, the opportunity for salvation will not end with the first resurrection from the dead, with the resurrection of God’s royal priesthood. Rather, it will begin at that time. The greatest revival of all time will take place at the coming of the Lord.
As soon as we understand that God has created the Church for the purpose of judging, ruling, and blessing the nations of the earth, and that it is through the Church the nations will learn of God, then the Kingdom of God and the plan of salvation will become clear to us. Many passages of the Old Testament that formerly did not seem to apply to us will become understandable and relevant (Isaiah 2:2-4).
We have stated that membership in the Church, and salvation, are synonymous now, but that after the Church has been formed, God will turn His attention to the salvation and rulership of the remaining peoples of the earth.
First will come Christ and those who belong to Christ. After that will appear the Kingdom of God—the putting down of all opposing rule.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. (I Corinthians 15:23-25)
The "end" will not come, it appears, until the conclusion of the thousand-year reign of Christ and His saints.
We are not implying by our reasoning that every individual ultimately will be saved. This is not true. Some will reject salvation when it is presented to them and thus be lost to God and His anointed servants forever.
Let us return now to the conflicts with the Scripture that are occasioned when we state that only the royal priesthood of Revelation 20:4-6 is saved, and that every individual who is raised in the second resurrection is doomed to eternal torment in the Lake of Fire.
It is scriptural that weak believers can be saved; but it is not in accordance with the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation that they will be kings over the earth and judges of nations, as is true of those who rise in the first resurrection.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (I Corinthians 3:15)
Here is a Christian who has built wood, hay, and straw on the foundation of Christ. Have his works been found perfect before God? Is he an overcomer? Most certainly he is not an overcomer.