Salvation does not consist merely of the forgiveness of sins. It is wonderful that a sinner can be set free from the condemnation of sin through the name of Jesus. However, beyond this is an even deeper salvation, one that requires constant sacrifice, a salvation that occurs when egotism is committed to death. Ideally, a person should always be giving. God lets the rain fall on the just and the unjust and allows His sun to shine over the righteous and the unrighteous. Jesus was poor, but He always had plenty to give. Our earthly fortunes can be exhausted if we spend too much, but God’s wealth will never be exhausted. The more you draw on His account, the more He puts into it. For us to become constantly generous people, God has to save us from more than committed sins; He must save us from our sinful “I,” from seeking our own. For these things to be dealt with, God must work in the very depths of a person’s life. The things the soul clings to must be taken away. The forgiveness of sins is the outward cleansing of the vessel and a liberation from the judgment of the law and from God’s wrath. But this alone will not prepare a vessel to be useful for every good work. There must be an inner cleansing before the vessel is completely pure. This inner cleansing can be called the second salvation. We seek forgiveness for sins because of the burden of sin; we want liberation from God’s judgment and wrath. We seek the inner cleansing because we have come to love God and want to partake of His nature. The forgiveness of sins does not give us the power necessary to live a life that is well pleasing to God. When by the power of God we carry out God’s will in our daily life, we will experience an inner cleansing and sanctification. Soulish worship does not lead to the goal, but serving God in our spirit will. This is because the soul is affected by sin in the body and thus can never serve in a way that is well pleasing to God. This is why Jesus poured out His soul to death. The first Adam became a living soul. Christ offered this living soul of the first Adam on Calvary and has, as the second Adam, become a life-giving Spirit. We read about “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 the resurrected life. When I put sin to death in my hidden life—the second salvation—the second death has no power over me. Instead, I suffer death in the body of Christ. The fire consumes and purges the sinful tendencies within us, and divine nature grows up through the ruins. Because Peter had the knowledge of God regarding the body, he could 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 fire, which works with a person in fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. Fellowship with Christ in His sufferings deepens the fellowship and mutual love that flourishes among members of the body. In intimate fellowship we are able to enjoy the knowledge and wisdom that God, in His boundless goodness, has placed in the body. No person has access to these things unless he allows this separation according to the flesh to take place in his own life, so that the veil covering the Holiest of Holies can part, making way for God’s new creation, the creation which has the right to step out of the old and into the new—into the Holiest of Holies. “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus has revealed Himself to His people through the forgiveness of sins, but He has prepared a greater salvation for His church, the body. This is salvation by His life, namely, salvation through fire. If we are to have an abundant entrance into God’s kingdom, we must embrace all that God has to give us. Nothing is too valuable to sacrifice 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. Exchange death for life, weakness for power and ignorance for the knowledge of God. Shed the old and be clothed with the new, for this befits the bride of Christ.Johan O. Smith