The meaning of the word salvation

The meaning of the word salvation

 

In John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.』The subject who saves the spirit is the Holy Spirit, and the object that must be saved is the spirit. This means that since the spirit is trapped in the dust, the trapped spirit must be saved.

In Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.” Dust is expressed this way because the human body is made of dust. And the spirits trapped in the dust must return to God, and to do so, they must find the gates of heaven and enter. If they do not find the gate of heaven, they cannot enter the kingdom of God.

The spirit is originally the spirit of an angel, but the angels who sinned in the kingdom of God did not keep their positions and committed sins, so God took off the angels' clothes, created the material world, and imprisoned them in the dust. (Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4). That is why humans have become a living being called a soul, a combination of spirit and earth. In other words, the spirit is wearing the clothing of the soul.

In order for a spirit to receive salvation, it must wear the clothes (spiritual body) of the kingdom of God, but the spirit is wearing a physical body (soul) in the world. The physical body (fresh) is the soul (physical clothes) created by the physical body. However, the spiritual body (clothes of righteousness), which is the garment of the kingdom of God, is made by God. The physical body comes from parents, and the spiritual body comes from God. Both can be called souls; the physical soul must die, but the spiritual soul has eternal life.

So salvation becomes the salvation of the soul. When the soul that the spirit has been wearing since birth dies and is replaced with a soul that has eternal life, the spirit and soul can finally enter the kingdom of God. In James 5:20, “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” In 1 Peter 1:9, “Receiving the end.” of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.』

When a person dies, it means the death of the body. As the body dies, the soul that a person receives at birth also dies. So the spirit becomes naked. If he does not wear new clothes, his spirit will enter Hades and he will be judged by the second death. However, while the body is alive, he can change his clothes called soul. That is the grace of God, the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is accomplished through faith, and when believers realize that they are sinners who have left God, find themselves trapped in the world, and pray to repent and return to God, God gives grace.

When we believe that our mortal body (soul) died on the cross with Jesus, God puts a spiritual body (soul) on those who repent. Resurrection is what gives us a spiritual body (clothes). So in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

Regarding becoming a believer like this: As seen in other religions, it is not something that can be achieved by working hard, reflecting on oneself, living a self-emptying life, and living a godly life.

It is only through faith that the soul of a repentant person dies with Jesus. This faith becomes the faith given by God when we deny our thoughts (our natural self). In Galatians 3:23-27, “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring unto us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.』

When believers put on a new soul, this is what God creates through the Holy Spirit. This is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The death of the former soul by being united with Jesus on the cross is called the fire baptism of the Holy Spirit. The fire baptism of the Holy Spirit symbolizes judgment (death on the cross), and the baptism of the Holy Spirit symbolizes resurrection. Everything is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

For believers who have received a resurrected body through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a temple is built in their hearts. The temple means the body of Christ. In John 2:19-21, Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. 』the temple of his body means the body of resurrection. So, currently, the temple has been built for those who believe that the saints have been resurrected.

It is said that the kingdom of God (heaven) came into the hearts of those for whom the temple was built. Heaven (He Basileia ton Uranon in Greek), which appears only in the Gospel of Matthew, refers to the temple in the hearts of believers. In Matthew 3:2 it says, “And say, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The saints have found the door into the kingdom of God. The door into the kingdom of God is the resurrected body of Christ, that is, the establishment of the temple, and the saints enter the temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” In order to become a resurrection body (new soul), the former soul must unite with the cross of Jesus. The saints must believe that he died.

Salvation is not achieved when the body dies, but when the body is alive. The previous soul dies (second death), and a new soul (resurrection) is born from heaven (first resurrection). All people on this earth have become sinners by opposing God, and because they do not repent to God and have no hope for the kingdom of God, their spirits go to Hades and are judged by the second death.

However, believers receive God's judgment (second death) in advance while they are alive. For reference, the first death is when the spirit of God's kingdom is trapped in the material world. And the second death is believing that one died on the cross with Jesus. Then, we will be resurrected in the same way as the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is called the first fruit, and because saints also participate in the first fruit, it is called the first resurrection.

Those who do not participate in the first resurrection will be trapped in hell, and they will receive the white throne judgment (second death) in the body of the second resurrection. The naked spirit trapped in Hades will be clothed with a body (soul) of judgment at the second resurrection. Although expressed figuratively, in Mark 9:48-49, “Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.” There is a scary expression, “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.”

Believers must understand this principle well, so that they can know why it is the salvation of the soul. Not all believers will be saved just because they believe in Jesus, but they will be saved when they believe in dying with Jesus and being resurrected with Christ. Believers must repent and turn back from opposing God. It does not refer to sins committed in the world, but to the sins of those who sin in the kingdom of God. In other words, it means repenting of the sin of wanting to become like God. The Bible symbolically explains the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3 about leaving God because one wanted to be like God. Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a desire to become like God, and this is a sin, and one is under the law. Of course, believers should not commit sins even in this world.

The law makes us realize our sin against God. When a believer repents and turns back (when he dies with Jesus), God gives the repentant sinner a new body (resurrected body) through the Holy Spirit. If a believer does not believe that the death of the cross and the resurrection have been accomplished for the believer right now, there is no grace from God. We must clearly realize that resurrection does not occur after the death of the body. Although the resurrected body cannot be seen with the naked eye because it has a physical body, believers must accept it with faith.

However, even though believers are born from heaven, because they have a physical body, there are times when their spiritual mind becomes confused. The physical body becomes a thorn and attacks the spiritual self. However, the reason God allows it is to spread the gospel. God wants the gospel to be spread through those with weak bodies. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual self fights against the fleshly thorn and overcomes it (it dies every day) and carries out its mission of evangelism, which is the purpose of the believer.