The Scripture Teaches That Salvation, or Redemption
The Scripture Teaches That Salvation, or Redemption, Will Come at the End of the Age.
Now here is a concept that should be given considerable thought. There are several verses of the New Testament stating that salvation is in the future.
Look at the following verses carefully and I think you will agree they point to a salvation in the future.
But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28—NASB)
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11—NIV)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30—NIV)
Who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:5—NIV)
"He who endures to the end shall be saved." "We are the house of Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first."
The following passage is particularly significant. It shows that the sacrifice of Christ took away our sins, and in the future He will return to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
"He who endures to the end shall be saved." "We are the house of Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first."
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27,28—NIV)
Two comments are to be made. First, we know it was the guilt of our sins that was removed. It is obvious from the writings of Paul, John, Peter, James, and Jude, that while the guilt of sin had been removed from the believers there was widespread sin among them. The presence of sinful behavior had not been removed in many instances.
Our second comment is in the form of a question: "Precisely what is the salvation that is to come to us in the last days?"
We know the promised salvation is not to go to Heaven. People go to Heaven when they die, not at the coming of the Lord. The majority of God's elect, from Abel forward, already are in the spirit Paradise. Therefore the statement "to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him" cannot possibly be referring to going to Heaven.
A related thought is expressed in the following:
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39,40—NIV)
Those who "were all commended for their faith" are the heroes of faith of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews. We have no doubt most if not all of them are in the spirit Paradise above. I think you would agree with this.
But notice that "none of them received what had been promised." They are in Heaven but they have not received the promise. Therefore residence in Heaven is not the promise. Obviously, from the two verses, the promised salvation is to come in the future.
We submit that the promised salvation is deliverance from sin. The Lord Jesus will come in the last days to remove sin from His people in Heaven and on the earth.
We are not qualified to comment on the manner in which judgment takes place in the spirit realm. We do know from the fourth chapter of First Peter that we are in the last days and that judgment has begun in the household of God. Also that God is judging the living and the dead. How God judges the dead we have no idea.
We do not believe the heroes of faith are sinning in Heaven. It is our point of view that the Presence of God is so strong that sin is prevented even if it is latent in the personality.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to behave righteously when you are in church and the Spirit of God is present in power? You are lifted out of yourself. You are carried on eagles' wings. You love everybody. You are ready to repent of all your sins.
But in the cold, gray light of Monday morning you begin to yell at your wife and children. You weren't delivered from anger just by being in a glorious service.
The sin was present in your personality while you were in church but the Presence of God overrode it in some manner. Is this a fact with you?
The Presence and Glory of God will be a hundred times as strong in the spirit Paradise in Heaven above as it is in our church services at their best!
We know most believers die with numerous aspects of their personality unjudged. They die filled with bitterness, hate, a tendency to gossip and slander, jealousy, and every evil work.
It is our personal opinion that there are all sorts of lashes and prisons, apart from Hell and the Lake of Fire, that await the sinning believer when he or she dies. Why shouldn't there be? Doesn't the Lord in the Gospels say that His servants who are cruel to their fellow servants will suffer? Whether such punishment takes place in the spirit realm after death or on the earth for those who are alive when the Lord returns is not important. It is inescapable that at some point all believers must be judged, and those who have not repented of their sins will be punished until they repent.
We are not implying that there cannot be for some people eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire, for such is stated in the Scriptures. We are speaking rather of the chastening of believers whom God has accepted so their spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.
The believer who has worked in the ministry will be rewarded if his efforts have been wrought in Christ. But if they are found to be dead religious works the individual will be saved with no reward, the fire having destroyed the fruit of his or her life.
There is no Scripture whatever that states or implies that physical death delivers the believer from sin. The sin residing in the flesh may or may not after death remain in the flesh (sin is not physical but spiritual). Lust, lying, murder, covetousness, may accompany the believer into the spirit realm. Assuredly sins of the will, of the personality, do not vanish with death. There is no Scripture stating sin ceases to become an issue on the basis of our physical death, and we must always go by the Scripture and not by our assumptions or traditions.
Somewhere, somehow, at some point in time, the sin in every person must be dealt with.
The Scripture points toward a future salvation. We are stating that the future salvation will include the raising and glorifying of our body (if we have lived victoriously in Christ), but its first and greatest benefit will be the removing of every vestige of sin from the believers who are eagerly waiting for Him, beginning with those who are closest to the Lord.