Our experience also shows us that it is impossible to separate the Father from the Son or the Lord from the Spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 12:3, we may contact the Spirit by saying, “Jesus is Lord!” and according to Galatians 3:14 we may receive the Spirit by believing in Jesus. The One who comes into us is the Spirit, yet the One whom we believe in and call upon is the Lord Jesus. Calling “O Lord Jesus” also leads us to the Father. After praying to the Lord for a certain amount of time, we may find ourselves saying, “O Father in heaven.” The more we say “Lord Jesus” and “O Father in heaven,” the more we have peace and joy within. In our experience it is impossible to separate the Father from the Son or to separate the Son from the Spirit. This is because the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are truly one.
We can illustrate the triune nature of God with the three forms of water. If you leave a block of ice in the sun for an hour, it will become water. Then if you leave the water in the sun for half a day, the water will become vapor. Are the ice, water, and vapor three things or one thing? They are one thing in three stages, appearances, and forms. Ice is ice, water is water, and vapor is vapor, but in substance these three items are one. In appearance they are three, but in substance they are one. In a limited way, this is an illustration of the Triune God. In the Scriptures the Father is the source; He is like the block of ice. The Son, who is the expression of the Father, can be likened to the water. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” The Father is the source, and the Son is His declaration, manifestation, and expression. The Spirit, who is the communion and fellowship of God to us, can be likened to the vapor (2 Cor. 13:14; John 20:22). Vapor is very easy for us to take in; all we need to do is breathe. Sometimes when the air in a room is too dry, we put a vaporizer in the room to moisturize the air so that as long as we are breathing, we are receiving the water into us. Through the Spirit, who is the communion and fellowship of God to us, we can receive God Himself into us.
Another mystery in the Scriptures is the relationship between eternal salvation and God’s judgment of His children. The salvation of God is absolutely a matter of grace and has nothing to do with works. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works that no one should boast.” Some have the concept that if we commit a sin after we have been saved, we will lose our salvation. This is not logical. If salvation is absolutely a matter of grace and has nothing to do with works, it is not logical to think that we can lose our salvation by doing something wrong. If it were possible for us to lose our salvation through wrongdoing, salvation would have something to do with works. Once we receive salvation, we can never lose it. In John 10:28 the Lord makes this matter very clear, saying, “And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” The life that we have received is eternal, and we can never perish (3:16).
First Corinthians 5:5 gives us an example of a brother who committed a terrible sin yet did not lose his salvation. Speaking of this brother, Paul says, “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Although this brother had committed a serious sin, Paul says that he would still be saved in the day of the Lord. Once we are saved, we can never lose our salvation.