Double Salvation

Salvation does not consist solely of the forgiveness of sins. It is wonderful that a sinner can be set free, in Jesus’ name, from the condemnation of sin. However, there is a deeper salvation beyond this, one that requires conscious sacrifices, a salvation that occurs when egotism is committed into death.

Ideally, we should always be one who is giving. God sends rain on the just and the unjust and makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good. Jesus was poor, but He always was the one who had plenty to give. Our earthly fortunes can be exhausted if we spend a lot, but God’s riches will never be exhausted. The more we give of these, the more He pours back in. In order to become a person who is always giving, God has to save us from more than just the sins that we have committed; He has to save us from our sinful “I,” which is so self-seeking. God must gain access into the very core of a person’s life if those things are to be brought into death. The things the soul clings to must be taken away.

Forgiveness of sins is the outward cleansing of the vessel and a liberation from the judgment of the law and from the wrath of God. But this alone will not prepare a vessel to be useful for every good work. There must be an inner cleansing if the vessel is to be completely pure. This cleansing can be called the second salvation. We seek forgiveness for sins because of the burden of sin, and we want to be liberated from God’s judgment and wrath. We seek the inner cleansing because we have come to love God and because we desire to partake of His nature.

Forgiveness of sins does not give us the power to live a life that is well pleasing to God. When we practice God’s will and carry it out in our daily life, through the power of God, this brings about an inner cleansing and sanctification.

Worshiping God in a soulish way doesn’t lead us to the goal, but serving God in our spirit does. This is because our soul has a connection to sin in our body and thus can never serve in a way that is well pleasing to God. That’s why Jesus poured out His soul unto death. The first Adam became a living soul. Christ sacrificed this living soul of the first Adam on Calvary, and as the second Adam, He Himself has become a life-giving Spirit.

It’s written: “Christ who is our life.” The Holy Spirit gives us the power of the resurrection. In this power we have everything we need for our body, soul, and spirit to live this resurrected life.

This inner process of death—the second salvation—puts a complete end to the second death, and, instead, a person dies the death that is in the body of Christ. The fire consumes and cleanses away the sinful tendencies within, and divine nature breaks forth out of the ruins. It was by the knowledge of God concerning the body that Peter was able to write that the first earth perished by water, while the earth that now is will be preserved for the fire by the same word. If our bodies are washed with pure water (the forgiveness of sins), we will be preserved for the fire. “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The fire does not come to us as a sweet, pleasant feeling, but rather as a cleansing and consuming power, which works and performs its work with a person in fellowship with Christ in His sufferings.

Fellowship with Christ in His sufferings deepens fellowship and mutual love among the members of the body. In intimate fellowship we are able to delight in the knowledge and wisdom that God, in His boundless goodness, has placed in the body. No one has access to these things unless they allow this division according to the flesh to take place in their own life, so that the veil covering the Holiest can yield to God’s new creation, the creation which has the right to step out of the old and into the new—into the Holiest of All.

“You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus is revealed to His people through the forgiveness of sins. But for His church (the body), He has prepared yet another salvation: salvation by His life—salvation through fire. If we want an abundant entrance into God’s kingdom, then let us receive everything that God has to give us. Nothing is too valuable to give up in order to obtain this salvation. God will give us power as a reward for enduring the hardships, and He will give us life in exchange for death. Sell death in exchange for life, weakness for power, and ignorance for the knowledge of God. Put off the old and be clothed with the new; this is becoming of the bride of Christ.