14 "You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of goat skins above that,” Ex 26:14; 36:19.
      These coverings served as a testimonial of the redemption cycle in numerous ways, as is true with everything related to the tabernacle. Here is a manner of dress or of clothing, which further testifies of a godly manner of life, first on the part of Christ. Also, as the covenant people, and as the body of Christ, this manner of life is required to qualify for the firstborn sonship. The firstborn sons will, in the same way, qualify to be the last will and testament bride people to receive the testament inheritance of the fullness of the divine nature as prescribed in the Scriptures, Gen 1:26; 3:15,21; 4:4; Heb 9:16-17; 2Pe 1:18-20.
      Ram skins dyed red speaks of redemption through the death of a ram as a specified clean animal. The ram skins dyed red also serves to emphasize the redemption nature of both Christ and the faithful covenant people. We present ourselves and each other as living sacrifices and bear about in our bodies the dying of Christ in order to live together with Christ in the resurrection and forever thereafter.
      29 “Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?
      30 “And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?
      31 “I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily,” 1Co 15:29-31.
      10 “Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
      11 “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
      12 “So then death is working in us, but life in you,” 2Co 4:10-12.
      Both the ram skin dyed red (third covering) and the goat skin (fourth covering), testify that we are (in the metaphor) dead to sin and alive to God. The fact of the matter is, however, that we are still alive to sin and dead to God. Only in the metaphor, of the church being the divinely born again body of Christ, are we counted as being dead to sin and alive to God.
      According to this metaphor, those in the body of Christ (a true local church) are only counted (credited, reckoned) as being crucified, dead, buried, and raised again in the born again divine body of Christ. Again, this “metaphor” applies only to those who are members of a true local church, which is metaphorically called the body of Christ, Rom 6:2-6; Col 2:9 thru 3:11.
      Let us analyze this matter further. Our “mind” is a part of our spirit as certainly as our brain is a part of our body. The body without the spirit is dead; likewise, the brain without the mind is dead, Ja 2:26. Our mind is an inseparable part of our spirit, as we see in Luke 16:19-31.
      In the above passage, the bodies of Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man were dead. But their spirits were alive: the rich man in hell, and Lazarus with Abraham in Paradise. Their minds were still alive as an integral part of their spirit. If our spirit were already born again into a divine state of being, we could never sin, because our spirit’s mind controls the actions of both our spirit and our body. The brain in our head is the vehicle of the mind of our spirit.
      Our body, including our brain, is controlled by the mind, and our mind is a part of our spirit. Our brain, like our hand, our foot, and other members of the body, does not think and act on its own, but is controlled by the mind of our spirit. Our spirit is predestined to indwell our human body as a single entity. And when our spirit leaves our body in death, the brain with all other members of the flesh body die and begin the process of decay and return to dust until the resurrection, 1Th 4:13-18.
      7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being,” Gen 2:7; Ja 2:26; Gen 3:19.
      God first made man of the dust of the ground, then breathed into Adam the spirit of life, and Adam became a living human being. Our spirit and our body are one. As our body is dead apart from our spirit, so our brain is dead apart from the mind of our spirit. However, according to the prophetic Word, both body and spirit will be reunited, and both will be born again into a divine state of being as a firstborn son in the resurrection when Christ returns, 1Th 4:13-18; 1Co 15.
      “Ram skins dyed red” applies to both Christ and the faithful covenant people as His body. The covenant people, the bride people, and the firstborn sons are all the same people, or will be in the resurrection, Isa 54:1-5; Gal 4:21 thru 5:5; Heb 11 and 12. Also, they will be neither male nor female in their divine state of being, Lk 20:34-36; Gal 3:28.
      This rebirth is seen in the God ordained laws of nature, viz., day and night; spring, summer, fall, and winter; seeds are planted, and as they die they germinate, sending roots downward and a sprout upward, which grows and bears more fruit and seed. God’s testimony in this process of nature is life, death, burial, resurrection and rebirth. The rebirth of nature is witnessed worldwide every day, every month, and every year.

      4"You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
      5 "He who is overcoming shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels,” Rev 3:4-5.
      7 ”Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
      8 “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints,” Rev 19:7-8.
      The fine linen of the bride represents the righteous deeds of the saints. Of course, we understand that we have no righteous deeds of our own, Isa 64:6. These righteous deeds are the working of the Holy Spirit in and through us, 1Co 15:10; Phi 2:12-13; Mt 10:19-20; Heb 12:16; 12:28. Though we have no good works on our part, the Scriptures requires us to maintain Spirit wrought good works, 1Ti 2:10; 5:10; 5:25; 6:18; Ti 1:16; 2:7; 2:14; 3:8; 3:18; 3:14. And this is done by letting the Spirit direct our thoughts, words, and deeds.
      A true local church, in a metaphor. is addressed as being the body of Christ. It is only a true local church, as the body of Christ and temple of God (1Co 3:16-17), that can put an unfaithful church member out of the church (out of the body of Christ, out of the temple of God, out of the embassy of the kingdom), and thereby deliver him back into the kingdom of Satan, 1Co 5:5; Act 26:17-18; Cor 1:12-14. He will then be an unfaithful saved person outside the covenants. He will no longer be counted a firstborn divine son, but a slave son of the Gentile nations, Mt 18:17; Gal 4:21-31.
      The book entitled, “Delivered to Satan,” is out of print, but will be revised and put back inprint as soon as possible. It gets to the heart of the authority of a true local church, as the embassy and the official representative of the kingdom of Christ on earth. Those in the church who do not give top priority to constantly washing their garments in the blood of the Lamb will lose their divine standing as firstborn sons. We are in a qualifying status in this life, and will fail to receive that crown of God’s divine nature (the new birth) by our lukewarmness, unless we heed the Lord’s warning, Rev 3:16-22. We are in the Laodicean lukewarmness as our standard of life, and do not know what our real spiritual condition is. We are godly, rich, increased with goods, and have the devil whipped on every corner. Just look at what accomplished Pharisees we are!

      7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
      8 “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints,” Rev 19:7-8.
      The bride will be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright, which represents the righteousness (the divine nature) of God. We must remember that we have no righteousness at all before God. The righteousness of the bride of Christ is the righteousness of God, credited to us in justification by grace through faith, Mt 5:5; 6:33; Rom 4. This is what God intended when He said, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness..,” Gen 1:26. God had already predetermined the redemption cycle with this divine state of being of the firstborn sonship, Eph 1:3-9; 1Pe 1:18-20.
      We do not have that righteousness (divine nature) yet. However, it is credited to us on the basis that we continue walking by grace through faith in the body of Christ, 2Pe 1:3-10. One must be baptized into a true local church, which is credited as being the crucified, dead, buried, raised, and thereby born again body of Christ. However, only in a figure of speech (a metaphor) is the church called the divine body of Christ, Rom 4:17; 1Co 12:12-13; Eph 4:15-16.
      26 “For you are all sons of God through the faith (which is) in Christ Jesus.
      27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” Gal 3:26-27.
      The Holy Spirit dwells in the body of Christ, in a true local church. The Spirit does not dwell in believers outside the body of Christ, or outside a true local church. See Editor’s book entitled, “CHRIST IN YOU.” Christ received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when He was baptized by John the Baptist. This was when He was anointed as High Priest of the New Covenant.
      The church is called the body of Christ, but did not receive the Holy Spirit until after Christ’s human body was born again (glorified, deified) out of the grave. The church, as the body of Christ, could not receive the Holy Spirit until Christ’s human body was glorified in deity, Jn 7:39; Gal 4:1-7; Rom 8:23. In fact, the church did not receive the Spirit until Pentecost, fifty days after the new birth resurrection and rebirth of Christ’s human body, Act 2.

      10 “As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one,” Rom 3:10.
      23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Rom 3:23.
      12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned,” Rom 5:12.
      23 “For the wages of sin is but the gift of God is divine life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Rom 6:23.
      Rams skins dyed red testifies that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that the wages of sin is death. Many rams died and their skins used to make the “dyed red” third covering of the tabernacle. The rams were slain and obviously their bodies burned in sacrifice, just as God killed clean animals and used their skins to clothe Adam and Eve in the beginning of the human race, Gen 3:21.
      Skins of slain animals were used both times to provide a covering. And in both cases, redemption from sin and from eternal death into the divine image and likeness of God, as firstborn sons was portrayed. Abel believed and obeyed God, precisely when he offered of the firstborn rams and lambs of his flock, Gen 4:4; Heb 11:4.
     The verses above testify that the wages of sin is death, and that the sentence of death has passed upon all mankind, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Therefore the Redeemer Himself must be without sin, yet He had to suffer the agonies of the cross for the sins of all others of mankind, because all others sinned, 2Co 5:14; 1Jn 2:1-2; 2Pr 3:9.

      1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
      2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
      3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
      4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
      5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who is abiding in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
      6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned,” Jn 15:1-6.
      The local church is the body of Christ, and the members of the church are individually members of the body of Christ, Rom 12:4-5; 1Co 12:12-27. However, the members can be cut off from the body, by being scripturally put out of a true local church, 1Co 5; 2Th 3:6-15.
      The unfaithful members of the church are to be put out of the church, therefore out of the firstborn sonship, but are still counted as brethren, though not firstborn sons, 2Th 3:6-16; Gal 4:21-31. Furthermore, the whole church can lose its standing as a true church, and the members of the church will thereby lose their standing as members of the body of Christ, Rev 2 & 3. They will therefore no longer be counted as firstborn divine sons (2Th 3:6-16; Gal 4:21-31), but servant “brothers” of the nations, Gen 27:27-37; Mt 18:15-17; 2Th 3:6-15.

      21 “Tell me, you who desire to be under the Law, do you not hear the Law?
      22 “For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a free-woman.
      23 “But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
      24 “Which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar -
      25 “For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
      26 “But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
      27 “For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.’
      28 “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
      29 “But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
      30 “Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman.’
      31"So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free,” Gal 4:21-31.
      Abraham had two wives: Sarah and Hagar: God permitted this in order to symbolically portray two kinds of sons. We will not at this point cover the full array of details, but will emphasize the two kinds of sons in two very different kinds of eternal sonships. One is a sonship of free sons who will be divine firstborn sons, and the other is a sonship of servant sons who will forever be mere flesh sons, and will make up the servant nations on the new earth, Rev 21:23-26; 22:1-2.
      This is an urgent and paramount theme throughout the Bible. It is seen first in God’s expressed intent to create man in His own divine image and likeness, Gen 1:26. God’s purpose included the plan of redemption as seen throughout the Bible, and was planned out in full redemption detail before man was created, 1Pe 1:18-20; Eph 1:3-5.
      To be like God, man had to be created with the power of choice to live out God’s righteousness by grace through faith, Gen 2 & 3. However, once man sinned, he became a slave of sin without the ability to make right choices toward God. Therefore God’s plan of redemption had already provided the Holy Spirit to prepare the mind and emotions of every rationnal person to understand, repent, and believe throughout each one’s life span on earth.
      The firstborn sonship provides the inheritance of the fullness of God’s divine nature to the degree of the faithfulness of those who live faithfully “by grace through faith” throughout one’s life on earth, 2Pe 1:3-10; God has further provided sufficient grace (help, understanding, Godly fear, and willpower) for every rational human being to believe, repent, and obey.
      6 “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
      7 “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions,” Ps 45:6-7.
      Christ loved righteousness and hated wickedness in all His mind, emotions, and deeds. One of God’s attributes is to love righteousness and hate iniquity, and He sealed Himself and His divine kingdom in this perfect standard of life eternally. God’s plan of redemption currently requires this standard of life for all the firstborn sons. Of course, in this life we cannot be perfect, but we must ardently pursue righteousness and hate iniquity, as required for the firstborn sonship, 2Pe 1:3-11; Heb 12:1-17

      19 “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’
      20 “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
      21 “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work,” 2Ti 2:19-21.
      22 “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
      23 “And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,” Rom 9:22-23.
      The word “house” may be more easily understood if we use the word kingdom instead of house. However, the word house or household is good, and we will keep it that way. Can members of the church be counted “vessels for dishonor?” Consider the passage on a broader scale: perhaps every house has vessels for more honorable use and also vessels of less honor, such as a vacumn cleaner, dust pan, dust mop, floor mop, waste basket, garbage can, etc., for less honorable or menial use.
      Now change these vessels into people, as is done in the above passages, and we have free sons and slave or servant sons, Jn 8:30-35; Gal 4:21 thru 5:5; Mt 18:17; Rev 21:23-26. God predestined this outcome, and is perfecting that outcome by grace through faith in the heart of each of us, Heb 4:16; 1Co 15:10; Phi 2:12-13; Mt 10:19-20. God is putting us through a furnace of affliction (Isa 48:9-12), and is giving birth to firstborn divine sons, Ps 17:15; Isa 54:1-5. He is also creating nations of earth bound sons, who will forever be servants to the basic elements, or elementary laws, of the universe, Gal 4; Col 2:8 thru 3:11.
      They will be male and female, who will bear children without sin on the new earth, Rev 21:23-26; Deu 7:9; 1Ch 16:15; Ps 105:8; Eph 3:21. These will be nations of saved people whose works will all be burned, but they will be saved so as by fiery judgment, 1Co 3:15. They will be vessels of less honor in God’s overall house. They will be on the new earth, but will not qualify for the firstborn sonship, and will not inherit the divine nature, 2Pe 1:4; Gal 4:21 thru 5:5.
      In the church God has predestined that there be only firstborn sons: these are all vessels for honor. However, as some branches in the vine do not bear fruit (Jn 15:1-6), and must be cut off and cast into the fire; so also, when churches or church members refuse to correct their disorderly and lukewarm condition, the Lord will cut them off and consign them to an eternal destiny in Gehenna, Mt 5:22,29-30; 10:28; 18:8-9; Mk 9:43-50.
      Gehenna refers to a thousand years in a sinful human body on the current earth. This will include the seven vials of God’s wrath, and an eternity on the new earth in a sinless but mere human body, with an ever-present tormenting conscience of why they are, who and what they are.
      This includes countless eons of ages, where the firstborn divine sons will continue to grow in many if not all the divine attributes of God. The nations of servant sons will continue forever without sin, and without resentment against God, or against the firstborn sons, or against the righteous angels. They will also be constantly aware of the far worse state of those in the lake of fire. Their conscience will forever burn, but they will be fully aware and in perfect understanding and agreement with the righteous judgment of God.
      The servant sons of the nations will remain in mere flesh bodies, and will not share in the divine nature of God. They will remain in sinless flesh bodies as Adam and Eve had before they sinned. Their worship, praise, and thanksgiving will be brought into the presence of God, by the firstborn sons, Rev 21:23-26. God will be revealing and sharing more of His divine Person with the firstborn sons.
      As with Abraham and with Isaac, God has two kinds of sons; 1) firstborn sons, who will possess the full range of divine attributes according to the degree of their faithfulness by grace through faith, 2) servant sons, who will forever be enslaved in a mere flesh body to the elementary laws of the universe, Gal 4; Col 2:8 thru 3:11.
      We will note that the righteous angels are called “sons of God” in the book of Job, Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. These extremely wise and powerful super human angels will be the ever present ministers to God and to the firstborn sons, Heb 1;14; 2:5. Satan, fallen angels, and demons will be cast into the lake of fire for ever and ever, Mt 8:29; Jude 6; Rev 12:9; 20:10.

      9 “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God,” 1Jn 3:9.
      Take this verse for what it says. But how can we explain it? Can we accept it at face value? Only if we accept the fact that we have not yet been born again. God speaks of things which be not, as though they were, Rom 4:17. We are, in a figure of speech (a metaphor) said to be the body of Christ: crucified together with Him, dead together with Him, buried together with Him, and raised in a new born divine body together with Him. And in our case, both body and spirit are “counted” to be born again. The fact of the matter is, neither our spirit nor our body has been born again.
      Protestant tradition, accepted by most Baptists, says that the spirit of believers was divinely literally born again when they first believed. If that were true, as has been pointed out many times, we could not think evil thoughts. A divinely born mind cannot be influenced by sin at all. God is infinite in knowledge, wisdom, and power.
      However, Christ, as our human substitute, had to live and experience spiritual, physical, and mental growth like all human beings, but apart from sin. He grew from birth, learning from what he was taught by Joseph and Mary, and His Rabbi teachers, yet altogether by what He Himself studied and learned from the Scriptures as the Holy Spirit was constantly teaching Him, Lk 2:40,52; Ps 22:9-10; Isa 49:1-2; 50:4-6.
      Read and study these passages well. They speak of the earliest childhood days of Christ. He had to live a human life from birth, in spirit and body. His mind, His knowledge, and His understanding had to grow completely as a human. His mind, of course, was an inseparable part of His spirit, and had to grow from zero in knowledge and understanding, as all humans do.
      God is God, and was therefore able to do this. Christ was the Son of God, but it was necessary for Him to live a perfect “human” life apart from sin. Thus, He grew and experienced a perfect human life from miraculous conception until He was made sin on the Cross. The emphasis here is that He grew in knowledge, and came to know that He was the Son of God, and to know what His mission as a human was, by the time He was twelve years old, probably much earlier.
      Mary and Joseph, without question, told him and others in His presence, what the angels said, what Elizabeth, the shepherds, the wise men, Simeon, and Anna said. No doubt, these things were repeated in His hearing again and again, many times over. The Holy Spirit was constantly teaching His sinless alert Mind, as He heard all these things, and especially as He Himself, with the greatest joy, read the Scriptures. At a very early age, He had become well aware that He Himself was the Seed of the woman (Gen 3:15), the Ram of God (Gen 22), and the Lamb of God without blemish, Ex 12:5; Isa 53. He became thoroughly aware of His virgin birth as the Messiah (Isa 7:14), and His entire redemption ministry as the Son of God in a human body, Jn 17.

      1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
      2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
      3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
      4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
      5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
      6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned,” Jn 15:1-6.
      Jesus is the Vine, the members of the church (the body of Christ) are the branches, and the branches are alive in the Vine. We are really still dead in sins; however, according to the figure of speech called a metaphor, our old man was crucified together with Christ as His body, died together with Christ as His body, was buried together with Christ as His body, and then raised and divinely born again together with Christ out of the grave as His body.
      We cannot separate the crucifixion cycle from the human body of Christ, nor from our bodies as members of the human (now divine) body of Christ. According to the will of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Son of God restricted Himself in body and spirit to the growth process of the human embryo in the womb of Mary.
      40 “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him,” Lk 2:40.
      52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men,” Lk 2:52.
      4 "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.
      5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away,” Isa 50:4-5.
      Observe that Jesus grew in knowledge, in wisdom, and in favor with God and men. Jesus lived a human life and grew in knowledge and in deed as the Spirit taught him through the Old Testament Scriptures as his parents and others taught them. It is still a glorious mystery of truth that He lived a perfect and sinless life in the constant presence of sin on the part of all others around Him. Obviously, His greatest delight was in learning about the Father, about Himself, about the Holy Spirit, and about His mission as the human Redeemer according to the will of the Father, Jn 4:34; 6:38.
      The will of the Father was that He take away the sin of the world, Jn 1:29; Heb 9:26. This required a sinless life, a vital and urgent earthly ministry, and an inexpressibly bitter death that perhaps only an eternity in hell could reveal. Yet the converse of this, provided by the death of our divine-human-divine Redeemer, is that of being eternally fully conformed to the divine image, glory, and fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Eph 3:19.
      In this perspective, we are now metaphorically made alive in the divine body of Christ. In the metaphor we have been made alive in the image and likeness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The “terror of the Lord” (2Co 5:11) is that we can be cut off and die from the body of Christ (Jn 13:1-6; Rom 8:13; 11:11-22; Heb 10:29; 2Pe 1:3-10) and suffer a “twice dead” eternity in Gehenna.
      11 “Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
      12 “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots,” Jude 1-12.
      “Twice dead” has a very profound meaning and application. Paul wrote, “Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men...” 2Co 5:11. The traditions of the fathers have so padded the Scriptures with easy believeism until there is little if any fear in the Christian life. The Scriptures, however, say that we must “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” Phi 2:10.
      Paul buffeted himself severely lest he himself become a castaway and fail to receive the crowns of promise, 1Co 9:27; 1Co 15:30. Paul wrote that the believer must endure to the end in order to be saved, 1Co 15:2. However, he wrote that even if the believer’s works are all burned, he will still be saved, so as by fire, 1Co 3:15.
      We must understand that there are two salvations in the Bible: salvation from hell, and salvation into the divine firstborn sonship. The unfaithful believer will be raised, judged, and cast into outter darkness in the nations when Christ returns, Mt 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; 1Co 3:15. The faithful by grace through faith believer will be saved into the firstborn sonship, possessing the fulness of God’s divine nature.
      The ram’s skins dyed red third covering of the tabernacle testified primarily of this firstborn sonship. Of course any full study of redemption will include the salvation of the nations as part of the inheritance of Christ and all the firstborn sons with Him.