Hi Mike!

Thanks for everything. I have a question. In your article “The seven steps toward salvation” (posted March 2, 2004) you pointed out the various steps:

One: Putting blood on the doorpost.
Two: Taking us through the sea of Baptism.
Three: Being tried in the wilderness.
Four: “The second baptism in the Jordan, which typifies waiting 50 days after the blood has been applied to the door post before we receive God’s Spirit to help us through the trials and battles that we begin to face at this point of our spiritual development. Only then are we spiritually circumcised, step five, after we have crossed Jordan and have entered into the ‘heavenly places in Christ'” (Eph 2:6).

Keeping in mind Hebrews 6:4, Do we receive God’s Spirit in us or with us before we go into Babylon? When it becomes impossible to be renewed unto repentance, is it at that point the Spirit (in us) is taken away, or removed from working with us?

I don’t know if I was able to explain what I have in mind properly, but I’m sure you will be able to discern it.

Thanks again for every thing.
B____

Hi B____,

Thank you for taking the time to write. In this letter you ask:

“Keeping in mind Hebrews 6:4, Do we receive God’s Spirit in us or with us before we go into Babylon? When it becomes impossible to be renewed unto repentance, is it at that point the Spirit (in us) is taken away, or removed from working with us?”

Here is Heb 6:4:

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

The answer is that we have Christ with us but not in us until after we come out of Babylon. As long as we are filled with false doctrines and we are believing so many of the lies of the adversary, Christ, (“I am the… Truth,”) has nowhere to dwell within us, and it is “the dwelling place of every unclean and hateful bird,” the Biblical symbol of false spirits and false doctrines.

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Each type which God gives us is all inclusive, but each time God reveals to us His plan through a new type or shadow, we see a little more clearly.

Look at the difference between these two prophecies:

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Within this very primitive prophecy is the whole story of the coming of Christ; His death, resurrection and the destruction of the enemy, the Devil and death.

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

However, we cannot see all the details of the Hebrews verse in the Genesis verse.

It is the very same thing with crossing the Jordan, being circumcised and fighting the giants in the land. The true ‘giants in the land” include the battle we yet face against all the false doctrines of Babylon, which Israel had no idea about at the time they were crossing the Jordan and preparing to be circumcised. Each new step of our walk reveals so much more of the glory that lies ahead:

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

“Glory to glory” is coming to “know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent” just a little better today than we knew Him yesterday. What we know today is true and does not contradict what we learn tomorrow. If there is a contradiction, then something is not true because truth is always true.

Israel being carried away into Babylon in no way contradicted the fact that they typified our being seated with Christ in the heavens after crossing the Jordan. Both Isaac and Jacob typify the same “children of promise, the seed of Abraham,” and both Ishmael and Esau typify the “giants in the land” and the “captivity in Babylon.” It is all the same story with each new repeat adding additional and more mature details.

I perceive that you have taken hold of Christ’s words:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Rev 1:3 Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

We read the words to which you refer, and we cannot see how we can not be pardoned and yet be pardoned. The answer to that question is in the following verse and others like it which show that Christ and His body are never to be separated if we are to understand how we “live by every word.”

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

In Christ, nothing is left out. “Things present or things to come, all are yours.” That is not just the positive; it is all, including death. In Christ we experience the second death as its agent and not as its victims.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

“He that walks righteously” has God’s fiery words in his mouth, and those words are what destroy their enemies:

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The ‘fire’ of prophecy is God’s Word in the mouths of His prophets. It is God’s words which will destroy all of their enemies, even as God’s prophets are “lying dead in the street of that great city where also our Lord was crucified:

Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Now look at what awaits those who “it is impossible to renew to repentance:”

Heb 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

Just like those who cannot be restored to repentance, we have all borne thorns and briars which have been rejected and burned. If the Lord wills, the only difference is that ours is burned now and not later.

“Their end is to be burned” is nothing more than we all must “endure to the end.”

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

To whom is this given?

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

“All are yours [even] things to come.” It is only though Christ that the second death, which is part of the “things to come,” is ours. Just as Christ was delivered up through our sins and was raised through our justification, even so Christ, who could not trespass, becomes our trespass offering ‘through our offenses,’ and through Him we become the fire of the lake of fire.

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

The Greek word ‘for’ is not the Greek word normally translated as ‘for’ or ‘because’. That Greek word is ‘gar,’ and it means ‘for this reason’ or ‘because.’ However, the Greek word here is not ‘gar’ but ‘dia’ meaning ‘through.’

Christ was delivered up to the Jews (‘dia’) through our offenses, not for our offenses, and He was raised again ‘through’ our justification. Had there been no offenses, He would not have been delivered up, and had there been no need for justification, He would not have been raised from the dead. Nevertheless, both Christ and His christ were predestined to be what they are, even before the world began.

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Christ was created to bring us into a spiritual existence, and it will now be through us that all the rest of His plan will be filled up and finished. Christ is not yet filled and neither are we or His Father. It will remain that way until “God is all in all,” and God’s becoming all in all is accomplished through “the church which is His body:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

‘The church which is His body, is the fullness of Christ who fills His Father.’ It is the Father who “fills all in all,” and it is we who fill up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ.

Col 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and do fill up the things lacking of the tribulations of the Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the assembly, (YLT)

“The Christ” is “in my flesh,” and “the Christ” is in your flesh if you are His elect, His christ.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

And this is the truth of how He is:

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

The lake of fire is created by Christ and for Christ, that through that lake He will bring all men to His father. That lake is us, and it is only after coming out of that lake of fire, in “the age to come,” that all men and all things, visible and invisible, will be brought to the Father.

Until that time “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance,” and that means that they will not be granted forgiveness in this age or the coming age. Only at the end of the lake of fire will those who “have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,” then be delivered. Only then will those who have blasphemed the holy spirit of God be delivered.

When we come to see “forgiveness of sins” for what it is, only then will we understand why there are those who “blaspheme against the holy spirit,” and those who “cannot be renewed to repentance” in this world or the world to come. Forgiveness of sins is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card. Forgiveness of sins is deliverance from sin. Far too many Christians think that “Mercy rejoices against judgment” means that mercy doesn’t require judgment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Judgment is mercy. Mercy rejoices against judgment just as life rejoices against death. Life comes through death, and mercy comes through judgment. Both of these verses are equally true:

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Titus 2 tells us that “grace chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts:”

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,/strong>
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

That word ‘teach’ is the Greek word for “chasten.” Here is how this Greek word ‘paideuo‘ is used in Hebrews 12:

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [Greek: paideuo], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son He receives. There are no exceptions. There are only different times to be judged and chastened and scourged:

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged later, but whenever we are judged and chastened through grace, it is through God’s mercy.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Now consider these verses:

Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Some people have the mistaken concept that the wages of sin can be forgiveness, but that is not so. When we sin we must reap what we have sown, and according to scripture, “the wages of sin is death.” Even those who are forgiven in this age are transported beyond this age and must die to this age and be judged, before they can be “forgiven.” That is why Paul tells us the the ends of the age are come upon us:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aion, age] are come.

What Christ is saying is that forgiveness can only be granted after the sin and the sinner are destroyed in the coming age. Forgiveness produces life, and life comes only through death.

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The Adversary is not forgiven. He is destroyed, and through that destruction he is delivered. While we are forgiven in this age on earth, it is by the same means: “through death” and the destruction of the old man, that we, too, are delivered from sin, and we can now “sow to the spirit.” Now let’s read these two verses together:

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Not all blaspheming is blaspheming against the holy spirit. It was “because they said he had cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub” that the Jews had blasphemed the holy spirit.

Luk 11:18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

Hebrews 6 shows us that being once enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and being made a partaker of the Holy spirit, and having tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and then falling away, and leaving your first love, all have the exact same affect as blaspheming the holy spirit. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, and they will not be forgiven in this age or in the next age. However, they will be forgiven through the death of the old man and the death of falling away and the death of blaspheming the holy spirit. They will be forgiven in “the end” when all in Adam will be saved and “the end comes.”

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work [falling away and blaspheming the holy spirit] shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

When will he be saved? When will he be forgiven? Will it be in this age or the next age? No, it will not be so until “the end.” It will not be so until the lake of fire has worked its work on the worst of all blasphemers:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Death and sin have a long and prosperous relationship:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The forgiveness of sins does not contradict Romans 6:23. In reality death must always precede forgiveness and salvation.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Judgment follows death, it does not precede death. Those who “fall away” and those who “blaspheme the holy spirit” will not spiritually die to their carnal, rebellious mind in this age or in the coming age, but they will do so in “the end,” and “through Christ” we, too, will be there with them to bring them through this time in their lives.

Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is] God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who [is] he that condemneth? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

I hope this helps you to see that each retelling of the revelation of Jesus Christ adds more understanding to that same revelation, so that the crossing of the Jordan is but an early version of ‘coming out of Babylon,” and Israel’s return out of Babylon, is but an early version and type of our coming out of the darkness and deception of spiritual Babylon.

I also hope you now better understand how it is that we fill up what is behind of the sufferings of Christ, and that it is through Him that “life and death, things present and things to come, all are ours.”

Your brother in the christ,

Mike