Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
From conversations with Preacher Clark during the late 1970’s
As children of God, our inheritance in Christ will be to have a portion on “a new earth” where nothing but righteousness and peace is ever known. Being given a portion on that new earth is what the Bible also calls “salvation”. This is the promised inheritance of the saints. Everyone in Christ has this “hope of salvation”.
Now, Paul told us that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Cor. 15:50). This means that as long as we are in our fleshly, human bodies, we are not yet on that new earth and, so, have not yet received our inheritance. And that also means that we have not yet received our salvation. We will be saved only when we leave “the vile body of this flesh” and receive the “glorious body” that Jesus will bring to us when he comes (Phip. 3:20-21). We can be born again now and be a part of the kingdom of God, but we cannot in these bodies receive our inheritance and be saved. So, one way you will know it when you are saved is that you will not be in a fleshly body.
As long as you can still feel pain, you are not saved; as long as you still can grow hungry or thirsty, you are not saved; if the sun ever feels hot on your head, you are not yet saved; if you are ever sad, you are not yet saved. Salvation is to live in a world where such things no longer happen. This is the promise of God for His children. “They shall no longer hunger, nor thirst again, neither shall the sun burn upon them, nor any heat, because the Lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and he will lead them to fountains of living waters, and God Himself shall wipe from their eyes every tear.”
Are you still in a fleshly body? If so, you are not yet saved.