Christian Living

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(A reminder for the beginning Christian, including myself)

Within each person lies a spirit and a soul. Both were given by God, and both have different functions. The spirit, or pneuma, is our whole essence, the “breath of life” through which we were created. Through our spirit, we are connected to God’s spirit and are able to feel His presence. In contrast, the soul is a part of our spirit, and it contains and defines our personality, meaning our intellect, our will, and our emotions.

When this world ends, and our spirit stands before God, we shall be judged by passing through fire, and the outcome shall be based on two things: the worthiness of our spirit, and the worthiness of our soul. If we have truly accepted Jesus during our life, then our spirit is already worthy, and we are not thrown into Hell. Moreover, if we have diligently obeyed God’s commands, our soul is also saved, and we enter His Kingdom as a whole person, intact.

However, if we did not make enough effort to obey God, then we suffer loss, as Paul said. And here there are also two kinds: the loss of reward, and the loss of privilege. If we have accumulated enough “treasure” as Jesus said, through our obedience, then we shall enter the Kingdom with much reward. It then follows that a little “treasure” saved would amount to only a little reward.

But if we have no invested “treasure” at all, or the things we consider “treasure” has been burned in the judgment fire, then even our privilege to enter the Kingdom is in jeopardy. We then risk being thrown out of the Kingdom, not into Hell, but as Jesus Himself said a few times, into the “outer darkness”, where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. For clarity, we recall that in the book of Revelations, the Kingdom of God has real dimensions, complete with height, length, and wall thickness. And this Kingdom is located on the new Earth. Taking things into context therefore, the “outer darkness” that Jesus described is outside the walls of the Kingdom – not in Hell, but on the new Earth.

In short, there is really no room for complacency. Our acceptance of Jesus Christ is a guarantee of salvation from Hell, but it is in no way a guarantee of entrance to His Kingdom, as He himself said. Therefore, since our lifespan on Earth is unknown, as Christians, let us make each day an effort to earn as much treasure as we can in Heaven. Besides saving our spirit through faith in Jesus, let us try our best to save our souls as well, so that we can enjoy the full glory that He has promised us in the Kingdom.

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