Message Four

The Full Salvation of the Triune God
and the Salvation of Our Souls

Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:5, 9

1. The operation of the Triune God produces the full salvation of the Triune God, composed of the Father’s regeneration, the Spirit’s application, and the Son’s redemption—1 Pet. 1:2-3, 5, 9.
2. The full salvation of the Triune God comprises many items in three stages:
   1. The first stage, the initial stage, is the stage of regeneration:
      1. This stage is composed of redemption, sanctification (positional—v. 2; 1 Cor. 6:11), justification, reconciliation, and regeneration.
      2. In this stage God justified us through the redemption of Christ (Rom. 3:24-26) and regenerated us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit (John 3:3-6); thus we received God’s eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9) and His eternal life (John 3:15) and became His children (1:12-13), who shall not perish forever (10:28-29).
      3. This initial salvation has saved us from God’s condemnation and from eternal perdition—3:18, 16.
   2. The second stage, the progressing stage, is the stage of transformation:
      1. This stage is composed of freedom from sin, sanctification (mainly dispositional—Rom. 6:19, 22), growth in life, transformation, building up, and maturing.
      2. In this stage God is freeing us from the dominion of indwelling sin—the law of sin and of death—by the law of the Spirit of life, through the subjective working of the effectiveness of the death of Christ in us (vv. 6-7; 7:16-20; 8:2); sanctifying us by His Holy Spirit (15:16) with His holy nature, through His discipline (Heb. 12:10) and His judgment in His own house (1 Pet. 4:17); causing us to grow in His life (1 Cor. 3:6-7); transforming us by renewing the inward parts of our soul by the life-giving Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6, 17-18; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23) through the working of all things (Rom. 8:28); building us together into a spiritual house for His dwelling (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:22); and maturing us in His life (Rev. 14:15) for the completion of His full salvation.
      3. In this way we are being delivered from the power of sin, the world, the flesh, self, the soul (the natural life), and individualism into maturity in the divine life for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
   3. The third stage, the completing stage, is the stage of glorification:
      1. This stage is composed of the redemption (transfiguration) of our body, conformity to the Lord, glorification, the inheritance of God’s kingdom, participation in Christ’s kingship, and the topmost enjoyment of the Lord.
      2. In this stage God will redeem our fallen and corrupted body (Rom. 8:23) by transfiguring it into the body of Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21); conform us to the glorious image of His firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29), making us wholly and absolutely like Him in our regenerated spirit, transformed soul, and transfigured body; and glorify us (v. 30), immersing us in His glory (Heb. 2:10) that we may enter into His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:11), into which He has called us (1 Thes. 2:12), and inherit it as the topmost portion of His blessing (James 2:5; Gal. 5:21)—even that we may reign with Christ as His co-kings, participating in His kingship over the nations (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; 12:5) and sharing His royal, kingly joy in His divine government (Matt. 25:21, 23).
      3. In this way our body will be freed from the slavery of corruption of the old creation into the freedom of the glory of God’s new creation (Rom. 8:21), and our soul will be delivered out of the realm of trials and sufferings into a new realm, one that is full of glory, and will share in and enjoy all that the Triune God is, has, and has accomplished, attained, and obtained (1 Pet. 1:6; 3:14; 4:12-13; 5:9-10).
3. The salvation in 1:5 is full salvation, ultimate salvation; it refers specifically to the salvation of our souls from the dispensational punishment of the Lord’s governmental dealing at His coming back:
   1. This is the salvation—the salvation of our souls—which is ready to be revealed to us at the last time, the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Christ in glory; the salvation of our souls is the end of our faith—vv. 9, 13; Matt. 16:27.
   2. Our soul will be saved from sufferings into the full enjoyment of the Lord at His revelation, His coming back—25:31:
      1. For this salvation we must deny our soul, our soulish life, with all its pleasures in this age so that we may gain it in the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming age—10:37-39; 16:24-27; Luke 17:30-33; John 12:25:
         1. To lose the soul-life means to lose the enjoyment of the soul, and to save the soul-life means to preserve the soul in its enjoyment—Matt. 16:25.
         2. We will either lose our soul-life today and gain it in the coming age, or save our soul-life today and lose it in the coming age.
         3. If we would enter into the Lord’s joy in the coming age, we need to pay the price in this age by losing our soul-life—25:21, 23.
      2. At the Lord’s revelation, through His judgment seat, some believers will enter into the joy of the Lord, and some will suffer in weeping and gnashing of teeth—vv. 21, 23; 24:45-46; 25:30; 24:51.
      3. To enter into the Lord’s joy is the salvation of our souls—Heb. 10:39:
         1. The saving, or gaining, of our soul depends on how we deal with our soul in following the Lord after we are saved and regenerated.
         2. If we lose our soul now for the Lord’s sake, we will save it, and it will be saved, or gained, at the Lord’s coming back—Luke 9:24; 1 Pet. 1:9.
         3. The gaining of the soul will be the reward of the kingdom to the overcoming followers of the Lord—Heb. 10:35; Matt. 16:22-28.
   3. The power of God is able to guard us unto this salvation so that we may obtain it; the power of God is the cause of our being guarded, and faith is the means through which the power of God becomes effective in guarding us—1 Pet. 1:5.
   4. We should eagerly expect this marvelous, full, and ultimate salvation and prepare ourselves for its splendid revelation—Rom. 8:19, 23.