The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 KJ2000)
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in [Grk. eis – into] me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25 KJ2000)
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 KJ2000)
Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that deceive you. But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (1John 2:24-28 KJ2000)
What is Salvation? It is being translated from one temporal kingdom into the one which is eternal. It would be good if we take the time to think on this issue call “life.” On the earth there is much life. But because of the fall of Adam spiritual life, which is often not as tangible as animal and plant life, is much more rare and it is this life with which we are concerned in this writing.
Notice in the above verses that there is a progression from spiritual death into spiritual life. A person starts out in this world spiritually dead. The things of God are a mystery to him and he has no spiritual eyes or ears with which to perceive Him. God has to do a miracle in a person’s life for this to happen and that miracle is often called “salvation.” Salvation is not just a method of belief being saved from hell, but it is so much more. Like Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:3-6 KJ2000). In the eyes of God we are born dead. We are so many walking automatons, zombies if you will.
So what must be done? God has sent His Son into the world so that we might become living spiritual beings. And how is that done? We must believe into Him. True God given faith allows us to leave this realm of death and pass into the very Son of God and acquire HIS spirit life as ours! It is then that we also become sons and daughters of God. What an all encompassing gift. We receive LIFE to its fullest extent possible. This is what Jesus was and is all about.
So now let’s read further in chapter three of John in the way it was originally written by the apostle…
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believes into him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes into him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into [here eis is properly translated] the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes into him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed into the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:14-18 KJ2000)
The initial act of believing is a result of the Light of God being shown into our hearts. Jesus goes on to say, “…light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are worked in God” (John 3:19-21 KJ2000). John went on to explain this further in his letter saying, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jo 1:7 KJ2000). Our deeds might be evil, but the nature of light is that it purifies. Men use ultra-violet light to kill death causing bacteria. So what must we do to be saved? We must expose our darkness to the light of God that it might abolish sin caused death that dwells in us and come into His marvelous light, the Light of Life in Jesus Christ. The Light of God in Christ and His blood cleanses and free us from sin and death.
Once we have come to the Light that is in Christ and abide in the Light we now are made new creatures not after the first Adam, but after the Last Adam, the Son of God. “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a life-giving spirit.” (1Cor 15:45 KJ2000). We become a new creation in the hands of God. Paul wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10 KJ2000). We first believe into Christ and then we are re-created in Him as His workmanship. It is only after this happens that we can do any works that are pleasing to God for the works HE has for us to do have been foreordained by Him for us to walk in them. They are not something that we can generate from our own creativity and intellect. Those kinds of works are called “dead works.” All we can do as we abide in Christ’s rest and let Him re-create us and then wait for the Father to do His works in and through us. Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
So once we have received the life of Christ all we have to do is abide in Him for we have already believed into Him. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without [Grk. choris– separated from] me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 KJ2000 – emphasis added). Jesus is now our Life source. We can not survive any longer apart from Him. As a branch gets its life form the grapevine so it is with us in Christ. As a branch produces fruit by abiding in the life giving sap of the vine, so will we as we abide and rest in Him.
We who are His branches also have His words abiding in us. John wrote, “Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.” The very words of the Word of God abide in us. He still speaks and we can hear His voice as we abide in the Father’s Spirit life. Yes, the Bible contains the recorded words of God, but how did we get them? They came through men who had the Word abiding in them and who spoke and wrote down what they heard. This was not a special class of people compared to those who abide in the Son. To the world, yes, but not to the sons and daughters of God for John went on to write, “But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him.” All our Light and Life are wrapped up in our abiding in Christ. He is our sufficiency in all things pertaining to Spirit life.
Other verses to contemplate in the light of all we have written so far…
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4 KJ2000)
For as the Father raises up the dead, and gives them life; even so the Son gives life to whom he will. (John 5:21 KJ2000)
And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life. (1John 5:11-12 KJ2000)
A Wilderness Voice 
I am pleased to admit that I dropped in here a few times before and I must say that I love what I read. Hopefully, you don’t mind, Michael, that I was so inspired by this and other blog posts that I felt nudged to write the poem below which I wanted to share with you.
THE LIGHT OF SALVATION
by Susanne Schuberth (Germany)
His Life eternal here on earth
Who sees its beauty and its worth?
Although our eyes are opened now
It’s dimly view, through glass somehow
Into His Realm, into His face
Beholding Him, receiving grace
Empowered by His Love so true
To share His blessings no one knew
Before God made them manifest
Giving His Spirit to these blessed
To you and me, to everyone
Who have believed in Christ the Son
The Savior who leads all of these
Who see His heart while on their knees
Through Wilderness, though dry and hot
Unto a mountain we knew not
Where we can share His glory too
All brothers, sisters, me and you
This mountain I am speaking of
Is Tabor’s light which from above
Will draw our hearts so near to God
That we won’t evermore applaud
A man, a thing, that less than Him
Our hearts will merely be a hymn
That praises God all day and night
Beholding now His glory’s sight
That frees from any fear and pain
And from this world which is so vain
God bless you!
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Susanne, thanks so much for sharing your heart toward Jesus in this poem with us. I am glad to hear from you. Feel free to post whatever the Lord is saying to you, dear sister.
Michael
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Hi Michael,
Thanks so much, dear brother!! 🙂 God willing, see you next time! 😉
Love,
Susanne
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Yes, Susanne, your poem is timeless and anointed even today, five years later, as you commented on my latest blog https://awildernessvoice.blog/2018/12/28/his-is-a-land-of-far-distances/
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Thank you so much for the confirmation, Michael!
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It is His Spirit within us that confirms the Truth that is ours in Christ. It is a joy to put that confirmation in words when it happens among His saints. 🙂
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Amen, yes it is, my brother. 🙂
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Dear Michael
I think people have a great problem when it comes to understanding terms we use everyday like faith and grace. I didn’t really understand it either until I told God that despite all my valiant efforts, I still didn’t have faith. Then and only then, was my heart receptive to receive the Light from Heaven and the ability to be receptive to His ability. That is what grace and faith is about, I think! I wish Dorothy and you a wonderful Jesus-filled 2014.
Much love and grace filled faith moments XX
Mia
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Mia, of coarse seeing things the way God does all comes via His divine intervention into our thoughts and hearts, a.k.a., revelation. Perhaps the problem we get hung-up in is that we see faith and grace (and rest and peace and works and love and patience, etc.) all as separate things. But all these things are ours only as we abide IN Christ for we must walk by the faith OF Jesus Christ (see . It all became clear to me when I discovered what real salvation is. It was right there in John 3:16 in the original Greek. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever BELIEVED INTO HIM would not parish, but have life without end.” I spent years trying to be a Christian on the outside of Jesus when true faith places us in Him in a position of rest. What makes it through Him to the outside is all out from Him alone and not out from us!
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed into Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
(Gal 2:16- a more literal version)
We hope and believe that your 2014 will be filled up with all good things IN Him.
In His love for you,
Michael
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Michael, this is such an amazing thing to me how we can be so separated by so many miles and the Spirit of God speaks to all our spirits as, “one.” I have been contemplating this thing called “light” for some time and how it is “one” with salvation, faith, grace, victory, life, mercy, revelation, etc. The truth that has been made real to us is that it is all HIM. You may recall a conversation I shared with you that I had with a brother from GA a few years ago when I interrupted his ramblings with something that Holy Spirit quickened to me. I said to him, “excuse me brother but Holy Spirit just said, “If it ain’t all about Jesus, It ain’t about Jesus at all.” Since that time I have reflected upon that many times and how it connects to the revelations He is making real to brother like you and others and sisters like Susanne and Mia. Of course there are many, many others but you get the idea.
The following by Paul underscores it best to me.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 1: 15-23
15 “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
Y’all are so precious to me and to the work of HIS Kingdom.
May His blessings abound to you all. (y’all) That’s southern speak.
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“If it ain’t all about Jesus, It ain’t about Jesus at all.” So true. There is great wisdom in those few words that came from Him to you, my brother. The more we find Jesus as our ALL, the more we will find all our problems as not problems at all. “We are more than overcomers IN Christ Jesus.” We go beyond living a life trying to overcome one obstacle after another and find a life IN Him in which any burden is a light thing. “Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.” The secret is found as we learn to abide in the light of Life.
Studying passages in the Bible about light and darkness is a real eye opener. We find that Jesus is the LIFE and that Life is the light of men. HE is first our life and then comes in the light. Light is not knowledge, but rather His revelation from which comes a knowing that is aligned with HIS knowing. “We shall know even as we are known” by Him. This is why theology and Bible training is such a ruse. Men and women go off to the preacher factory and canned Bible study school and think that this will make them better Christians and move them up the ladder the way going to a college to get a degree in an area will make you proficient in that field. My son-in-law found out that his degree in electrical engineering didn’t mean squat once he got a job with an engineering firm. He needed four more years of experience in the field before he could even take the engineer licensing test. Light only comes from Life and that Life comes as we seek Him alone, not as we first seek knowledge. Along with that new life comes experiences that teach us and change us to our core. “…tribulation works patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us.”(Rom 5:3-5 KJ2000). God puts a great deal of value on experience that is worked in us by trials and tribulation because it eventually makes us open vessels and instruments of His love to others.
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What do you think about “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” (Rom 7)
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Shawn, Paul went on to say, “Now, did something good cause my death? That’s unthinkable! Rather, my death was caused by sin so that sin would be recognized for what it is. Through a commandment sin became more sinful than ever.” (Rom 7:13 GW). The law was given to not only convict us of the sin within that was killing us, but to show us that trying to reverse this process by “not sinning” and keeping the law only sped up the death caused by sin within. It was given us to show us that we can’t by the law or our own self efforts quit sinning or keep the law. What was good become a downward spiral, the law of sin and death. It showed us that we need a greater Power to come in from the outside of ourselves as we tried to exist in the straight-jacket of law. Only Jesus can set us free of the law of sin and death, give us power over sin by HIS newness of Life within.
Shawn, what do you think about this verse in Romans?
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I absolutely agree with you. The point I was curious to hear you address is that Paul said he was “alive” apart from the law. So it sounds like he’s saying he was spiritually alive until he became aware of God’s requirements for him an transgressed them.
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Shawn, I don’t have any revelation on this as of yet. It could be that Paul was “alive” without the law just as Abraham walked by faith and was alive without the law. Then Paul went away to the Pharisee factory in Jerusalem and died. He had to learn that “…the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”(Joh 1:17 KJ2000)
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Good word. “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” That’s why it was called “The Way” before it was called “Christianity”. The Way of Christ is abiding in Him, allowing His light to shine in us and through us. Amen!
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Hello Shawn and Michael,
I believe the sons and daughters of God who just as those 3000 believers on the First Pentecost
believed to the committing themselves to a Way of Life should be called the People of God, or the Congregation of God, Or the Church of God. As the Psalm says to God be the Glory. God the Father gave us Christ and accepted His voluntary sacrifice. Christ said He could do nothing of himself.
“Christian” is mentioned but a few times in the Bible and mainly in a derogative and disparaging way.
It was not till the great falling away that it became established. If we are become sons and daughters of God – Brothers and sisters of Christ
why would we call ourselves “Christians”?
Christ belongs to God. God has commissioned Christ to do a work of bringing many to salvation.
But we are then become Sons and daughters of God – not Son and Daughters of Christ.
Church of God – is Christ our High Priest and King
of the Church of God?
Vic.
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Hey Vic. I matter very little what label people attach to me. What matters is that I walk and think and believe according to the Spirit and not the flesh. If anyone else is doing that they are my brother or sister in Christ. Labels can cause division and “puff” people up with a sense of supiriority over others but love will unite all those who abide in Him.
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One of the interesting things that happened in the garden was the swap. They inadvertently swapped the Truth for the lie. In so doing they died instantly. In the finer details it boils down to receiving the word of death as opposed to the word of life. Access to the higher realm was lost because darkness, i.e the lie simply can not abide in the light. So not opposed what you have said, one of the problems that many have had is not really knowing who or what the Son of God is. James says it is the Word of Truth that is the savior, James 1:18-26
Several hundred years ago at the Baptism of Yahshua what was said was this ‘this is my beloved Son, this day have I begotten thee. The ‘this day I have begotten you’ part was expunged but it is in the earlier and earliest manuscripts. That may not seem too important but in reality it is.
Also salvation begins with the feast of unleavened bread and is not complete until the feast has been fulfilled in you. First it was outward as in the days of Moses, today it is inward as per the Torah written upon the heart and in the mind. Jer 31:31-33
Just as a note, this feast is all about being purged of ‘The Lie’ the original exodus began with this feast and they did not begin the conquest of Canaan until they had this feast fulfilled again just before Jericho. For the New Covenant it begin with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, i.e Passover. and it will be fulfilled when we have this same feast fulfilled in us.
So what does this have to do with salvation? Look at it this way, Most have thought that salvation happens with the ‘new birth’ no sir, that’s the beginning not the culmination. No one is really saved until they enter the promise land, most like salmon die in the process and only a few actually make it to the goal. Which is exactly what Yahshua said concerning the ‘Narrow Way’ only a few actually make it to life. If that’s scary, it should be. True salvation is just as difficult for us as it was the Israelites traveling through the wilderness. Difficult in that how many of us are willing to utterly proved and tried by YHVH like He says He will. I have humbled you with hunger and thirst, to prove you to see whether you will love Me and keep my Commandments. Not an easy road folks. Today we have nearly 2000 years of false doctrine, i.e. lies to overcome. However when the Holy Spirit leads you into the Feast you will see just what Yahshua was talking about all along.
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Yes, brother, I agree salvation is a process, not a prayer. We are being saved by His life, “…we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Rom 5:10 KJ2000). His life working within us… always Life.
Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus… And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (Mat 26:17-26 KJ2000)
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst. (Joh 6:32-35 KJ2000).
Jesus is our Unleavened Bread. He our Bread of Life which comes down from heaven. All those feasts in the Old Covenant point to Him and they point to us only as we have our life IN Him.
“Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” (Joh 6:49-50 KJ2000)
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One time the Lord spoke to my heart, “The only way you loose the race is to get out of it”. I said, “Lord, I will never leave it.” I believe that God has given me enough grace to stay in the race.” Without His grace, I am nothing. But with His grace, I am pressing on.
I continue to be instructed and blessed by the blog. Many thanks, and blessings to you and yours in the new year of our Lord.
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Thanks Pat! I am blessed each time you post on here as well. It is always good to find people who are at the same place in their journey as we are and hear their word resonate as the voice of God within us. May you have a new year that is made rich with more of Christ coming forth in and from you.
Michael
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I think you mentioned some of this in a comment on a different blog post not long ago. Any way something Susanne said in a recent blog entry comment got me thinking and I decided to see what posts you had about salvation. I may read more as the subject does confuse me a bit probably because there are so many different ideas about salvation. Some of which scare me.
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