A Dream About the Last Days

So think about this question a few moments before reading further: What is the highest state that a human being can attain unto spiritually, in terms of the Gospel of Christ? Maybe casting out devils? Getting someone healed of an incurable disease? Or telling the future by prophetic means? How about raising the dead? Maybe getting a lost limb to come back out on someone's body? Well, all of those things are really, really good, but they aren't the answer. All we need do to know the answer to this question is ask this question: Why did Jesus Christ come from heaven to become a man, and die for our sins? Whatever the answer to that question is, has to be the answer to the first question as well. Because whatever the answer to that question is, could not be done before or unless he had done just that. Well, here it is: The answer is simply to be forgiven. That's right, Jesus died in our place so that we could attain unto a complete, literal forgiveness, or remission of sins. Hear the scripture on the matter: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:12-14). That is why Jesus came to this world, to make us 'fit' to be in the inheritance of eternal life with all saints, by means of redemption, which is to say the forgiveness of our sins. So why did Jesus have to come and shed his blood for our sins? "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect... For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:1,4).

Let's continue a little in that vein: "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:13,14). And once more should do it: "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Heb. 7:19). The 'nothing perfect' part of that last verse is talking about the conscience of men, even as Heb. 9:14 punctuates to us. The reason that the conscience of man was not perfect, which is to say completely cleared, under the old covenant; is that "the blood of bulls and of goats could not TAKE AWAY sins." The old testament forgiveness of sins was figurative, never actually removing sin from the hearts of men. The forgiveness that Christ has made available not only excuses us from our faults, but it takes away the cause of our sins as well. That cause is actually the nature of sin, which the apostle Paul referred to as "the law of sin" in Romans 7:23. Four verses later he showed us the remedy for that 'law of sin' that we were all born with: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). So just as the apostle referred to sin itself as a law, and added death to that equation, so he referred to God's Spirit as a law, and added LIFE to THAT equation. He also makes it clear that having the Spirit of God sets us free from sin, and from death as well. The truth of the matter is that the holy Spirit of God is not a 'third person' in the God family, but rather it is the very eternal life that dwells in the Father, and in the Son as well. Seeing Paul referred to God's Spirit as 'life,' let's consider the words of Jesus on the matter: "For as the Father hath life IN himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life IN himself" (Jn. 5:26).

The 'holy' Spirit is inside of God, and inside of the Son, as Jesus stated; and it is what makes them 'holy.' It is that same Spirit that constitutes the eternal life element of both the Father and the Son. So when we receive the holy Ghost we have been truly redeemed from sin, made truly holy, and have received the very eternal life of God INSIDE OF US, just like the Father and the Son. Now THAT my friend is the forgiveness of sins according to "the new and living way" (Heb. 10:20). And since I have mentioned that reference to "the new and living way," let's allow the scriptures directly preceding that verse to clarify just what that 'living way' is: "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God... Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us" (Heb. 10:12,15-20). So we see by these verses that Jesus shed his blood so that he could raise back to life and go back to heaven to provide a literal forgiveness, or remission of sins for mankind. To say "there is no more offering for sins," is a reference to the old testament offerings for sins which continued to be offered repeatedly because those offerings never actually removed the nature of sin from the people, and therefore they still had a conscience of sin. When sinfulness is removed from the heart the conscience is clear, which is to say 'perfect,' because there is actually no sin present to be mindful of. Now THAT is what the blood of Christ accomplishes in the hearts of those who repent and believe on Jesus unto the receiving of his holy Spirit.

So again I say, the literal eternal life substance of God and his Son is imparted into our being upon receiving God's Spirit, because God's Spirit IS ETERNAL LIFE! That is why Heb. 9:14 calls the Spirit "the eternal Spirit." When the old testament was winding down and getting ready to give way to the new testament, God sent a man named John to prepare the way for his Son. Here is what the scriptures tell us about John: "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins" (Mk. 1:4,5). So John the Baptist was on the scene to prepare the way for Jesus, and the people came to him to be baptized, confessing their sins. What this means is that John's baptism was another old testament ceremony for the forgiveness of sins, like the animal sacrifices that had been practiced for many hundreds of years. John was given this work specifically to introduce Jesus to Israel and to SHOW, as well as tell, the reason for God's Son's coming. Here is the account of what happened upon John first seeing Jesus: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). So John's baptism did not literally take away sins any more than 'the blood of bulls and of goats' did, but he clearly said that Jesus, as "the lamb of God," WOULD "take away the sins of the world." But let's think some more about how God orchestrated the introduction of his Son, and showed exactly HOW he would take away the sins of mankind. It was just like John did in a figure, and that is why John did what he did, which is to say he baptized people in water for the remission of their sins [in a figure].

Here is what John said about why he was on the scene: "And [John] preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Mk. 1:7,8). BOOM!! There we are, right back to the holy Ghost, and John specified that Jesus would BAPTIZE with the holy Ghost, even as John baptized with water. And even as John's baptism was an end of covenant baptism for a figurative remission of sins, so Jesus administers the NEW COVENANT baptism for the LITERAL forgiveness, or remission of sins. John's baptism was with earthly water, and did not actually remove sin from the hearts and the souls of those whom he baptized, but the baptism of Jesus is with "living water," and that water washes the heart and soul clean from the very nature of sinfulness. Jesus said it this way in one place: "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive]" (Jn. 7:38,39). That river of living water is the same river that John saw in the last chapter of the Bible: "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev.22:1). That river was coming from God and from his Son because that river IS THE LIFE of both the Father and the Son, meaning the life that Jesus referenced in Jn. 5:26. And as our quote from Jesus says, that river of life, or living waters, IS THE HOLY GHOST!! Praise God! When someone truly repents of sin and believes fully on Jesus for the price he paid for our sins, Jesus baptizes them with his very life substance, and that eternal life takes away both sin and death in one fell swoop! That is exactly what Romans 8:2 means.

Now THAT forgiveness was not available to ANYONE until the lamb of God was slain, and had risen from the dead, and gone back to heaven to present himself before God; where he became the mediator and high priest of the new covenant, and began administering the new covenant forgiveness of sins. That is what we saw earlier from Hebrews 10. Jesus couldn't be the lamb of God to take away the sins of the world unless he was slain like the old testament sin offerings were. And that offering could not be presented to God in the most holy place in heaven until he had risen from the dead and gone back to heaven. Neither could he have "sat down at the right hand of God" and become that mediator and high priest UNTIL he had left the earth and gone back to heaven. Seeing he went back to heaven to procure the new testament remission of sins, let's look at the last instructions that Jesus gave to his followers before he left this world: "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:4,5). There it is, the baptism of the holy Ghost is the actual operation of the priesthood of Christ, which priesthood is all about the forgiveness of sins, even as it was under the old covenant in a figure (Heb. 9:6-10). Yes my friend, this means that the experience of being baptized with the holy Ghost, along with it's inseparable sign of speaking in other tongues, is the new testament remission of sins and new birth experience (Acts 2:4; I Cor. 12:13). It is the result of everything Jesus lived, died, and rose again to establish for us. It is the imparting of eternal life to the souls who truly believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. It is the literal abolishing of sin and death in all who receive it. It is the most powerful thing that has ever happened to mortal man, because the Spirit baptism administered by Jesus is what he died at Calvary to provide us with. It literally is the power of the cross of Christ (I Cor. 1:18).

The baptism of the holy Ghost is the most amazing miracle in the history of existence, because it literally redeems the souls of fallen men from death unto life by the forgiveness of their sins from on high. Wow! I mean, WOW!! This could easily become a book because this river of life that's fueling my spirit literally has no end, and it has a whole lot more to say on the topic, but I have to cut it off somewhere simply because I'm living in this world. But let me say one more thing about forgiveness. Jesus told Peter to forgive someone four hundred and ninety times in a day, if they trespassed against him that many times, and repented that many times (Mat. 18:21,22). Jesus also made it clear to his disciples that we cannot be forgiven by God unless we also forgive others for their trespasses against us (Mat. 6:14,15). When any born again believer does any sin, that sin dams up the flow of that river of life inside of them. Only by confessing our sin and turning away from it can we be forgiven and have that eternal flow renewed in our spirits (I Jn. 1:9). So when someone has done something against us, they have dammed up that flow of eternal life within themselves. If they genuinely repent and we genuinely forgive them, that flow of eternal life is restored within them. That is the meaning of the saying of James, when he said, "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins" (Jas. 5:20). As stated, James was speaking of our forgiving someone who is already in Christ, being a born again believer (II Cor. 5:17). So the act of truly forgiving, whether it is from Christ to us, or us to one another, is the most powerful divine instrument in the history of the world, because it is the imparting and/or the renewing of actual eternal life in the souls of men. So in conclusion I will repeat what I said in the beginning, that forgiveness is the very highest state of being that a human being can attain to. God made it available to us freely, so let us make it freely available to those who trespass against us. We cannot walk in God's love and power unless we do. Amen.