God has three levels and three methods of salvation. God's three levels of salvation belong to saints saved by grace, the recreated religion and nation of Israel, and the rest of the recreated human race who will inhabit the recreated earth. God's three methods of salvation extend from the shed blood of Jesus, the water shed from Jesus' riven side, and by God's consuming fire.
The highest level of salvation belongs to God's people who have been saved by grace. These three groups comprise Old Testament saints, New Testament saints, and Tribulation saints. All saints saved by grace must be spiritually washed from all their sins by the shed blood of Christ, and be spiritually birthed into the Kingdom of God. John 3:3; John 3;7; Ephesians 1:6-7.
The Old Testament saints were given a special revelation from God that a suffering Messiah would come to save them from sin and hell and recreate them in soul, spirit, and body. Genesis 3:15; I Peter 1:10-12; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53. The Old Testament saints had no spiritual ability to acquire any deep understanding of what this revelation meant. They could only get a glimpse of its meaning. But they put their faith in this revelation, and because of that, God consigned them to go to paradise which God had put next to hell in the earth at that time. Ezekiel 31:16-18. When Jesus descended into hell after His death on the cross, He visited these Old Testament saints and preached to them His highest form of salvation which is by faith in His shed blood and coming resurrection. All of the Old Testament saints, and one of the thieves who died with Jesus, believed the gospel that Jesus preached. As a result of their faith, they were "born again," and Jesus resurrected them in body, soul, and spirit when He resurrected, and took them, and paradise itself, to heaven with Him when He ascended. Matthew 27:52-53; Luke 23:40-43; Ephesians 4:7-10; Psalm 68:18.
The New Testament saints are the same as the Church Age saints. Humanity currently lives in the dispensation called the Church Age or the Age of Grace. In this age, God saves His saints when they hear the gospel, believe that only the blood of Jesus can wash away their sins, and put their faith in His resurrection which gives them His righteousness and everlasting life. God gives the Church Age saints His everlasting life the moment they believe. The moment they believe, they experience the miracle of being "born again" and recreated in soul and spirit. John 5:21-24; Romans 10:8-10, 17; John 3:3; Ephesians 2:1; I Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 1:5; I Corinthians 6:11; II Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 2:10-13.
The Old Testament saints had to wait in paradise for Jesus to come and save them completely in spirit, soul, and body. God saves the New Testament saints in spirit and soul the moment they believe, but they must wait until the Rapture of the Church for the salvation of their bodies. Romans 8:23.
The Tribulation saints will believe the gospel and accept Jesus as their Savior during the terrible Tribulation period. The book of Revelation records God's terrible judgment of the earth in the absence of the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. Mankind must learn how horrible the world will become in the absence of God's power. However, God will make sure that His gospel will be preached during this time. The Tribulation saints will hear the gospel and believe, but they will not be "born again" while still on the earth because the Holy Spirit will have ceased His operation of baptizing believers into the body of Christ and washing them clean of their sins in the blood of Jesus. II Thessalonians 2:6-7. Most of the Tribulation saints will be martyred, but when they get to heaven they will then be washed in the blood of Jesus and recreated in body, soul, and spirit. Revelation 7:9-17.
In the gospel of John chapter 13, Jesus washes the feet of His disciples with water. His action symbolized the fact that the Holy Spirit saves New Testament believers in spirit and soul the moment they believe, but not their bodies. God allows New Testament saints to retain their free will and thus their capacity to sin. But God separates this capacity from their recreated souls and spirits which cannot sin and puts it into their fleshy nature which will retain the ability to sin. I John 3:9; Colossians 2:11. This means that the New Testament saints will need a daily washing of sin from their fleshly nature by the Holy Spirit when they daily repent of their sins. Saints who fail to daily repent of their sins will not lose their salvation, but God will punish them to correct them. Hebrews 12:6-12.
Just as the souls and spirits of believers must be washed clean of sin by the blood of Jesus before God can recreate them, so the sinful fleshly nature of believers must be washed in the water of the Word before the Church of Christ can be presented to Him as a pure, holy, and chaste virgin Bride. Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7-9. The Holy Spirit must perform this miracle in a moment, just as He does with the "born again" experience of believers. God performs this miracle at the Rapture of the Church. In a moment, in the "twinkling of an eye," the Holy Spirit will wash the Church thoroughly clean of all of its unrepented sins, and all the Church saints will receive their holy and glorified bodies which Christ will bring with Him from heaven. The saints will leave their earthly bodies behind. I Corinthians 15:51-56; II Corinthians 5:1-5; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Philippians 3:20-21; I John 3:1-3.
Because of their sins, the earthly bodies of believers must die at the Rapture of the Church in accordance with God's decree in Genesis 3:19. God's decree is universal and must apply to all men equally. I Corinthians 15:50. Nevertheless, the fleshly sinful nature of believers must be cleansed of all sin by the power of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the water of God's Word. Only after this cleansing can the saints receive their recreated, glorified bodies which God will bring to them from heaven. Enoch and Elijah were translated to heaven before they died, but they had to have subsequently died. God buried Moses' body after he died, so He could have buried Enoch and Elijah after they died.
All of this put together proves that the shed blood and water from the body and riven side of our Lord on the cross must be spiritually applied by the Holy Spirit to every believer for them to be saved in spirit, soul, and body. I John 5:5-12; John 6:63.
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