1 Timothy 6:16
- He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.
The Cross is the only instrument in the Universe that cast a shadow adequate to provide a way into this unapproachable light. I can’t run hard enough, fast enough, strong enough or good enough. Anything on my effort just gets me fried. As fallen humans, there is no way. We must be born again. Regenerated. Changed by Him. But when we let Him do it. Oh my!
Hebrews 10:19-23
- And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
But HOW do we approach? The answer and our success in this endeavor counts on the answer to a question that doesn’t seem relevant – at first…
Is a human being only body and soul? Or is he also a spirit?
And is a human being who has become a true Christian (2 Cor 5:17 – a new creation) actually a different species of being? Might a Christian actually be living in a different existence when indwelt by The Life of Christ?
These are tough questions that have been earnestly discussed since the earliest days of the church. Think, pray, study. The answers change how we view our salvation.
If body and soul only:
It is us getting saved by Christ by His Grace, then doing our very best to please God with the wonderful body and mind that God has given us. It is a valiant, noble, and difficult battle – but well worth the effort. Everything will work out in the end.
If body, soul and spirit:
The old man gets saved, and is then imbued with the actual presence of God to begin living the Christian life. The spirit of the man yields to and becomes the conduit of God’s spirit. A person’s body and mind become instruments of God’s righteousness. This view seems to say that we don’t do anything to be a Christian. Don’t even work at it. Lot’s of people say this doesn’t make any sense. I propose it is different and much deeper than that.
This is more than an interesting question. Your answer will change the course of your life. Consider.
Let me know your thoughts.
The Cross is the centerpiece of the Gospel. It’s not for the covering of sin, it’s the heavenly solution for the removal of sin’s presence. It’s more than the forgiveness of transgressions, it’s the channel through which men and women can access the very Life of Jesus Christ, living, moving, and having His being within them, in order to represent God’s very nature, character, purity, and holiness to this world about. The Cross is the device that God has used to take the filthy rebels of humanity and make them pure and holy vessels of His presence. From a Fuller Statement of Faith, Ellerslie Institute
