Through Jesus Christ

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, NKJV).

The essence of our salvation from Hell is distilled within our relationship to our Savior, and is captured in four English prepositions: with, in, by, and through.

Such small words that, in the context of Jesus, are more powerful than the forces currently holding the Universe together. In fact, when the Universe suffers its inevitable demise, those words, as they apply to our relationship with Christ, will keep us alive.

In the beginning of each saved person's path to redemption, the Person of the Holy Spirit, sent by Christ, is with him or her, gently (and sometimes not so gently) leading us to Jesus.

Now we can reject this persuasion by staying in the darkness of our own sin, fueled by pride, steeped in our natural enmity to God. Or, we can surrender to the grace, mercy, and forgiveness offered freely to us by the gospel.

If we come to the humiliating realization that we, in and of ourselves, are hopeless and helpless, and in need of a Savior, then the Spirit at our conversion indwells us – He is in us. Further, the apostle John teaches us that all three Persons of the Trinity will come and make our home with us.

This indwelling is not possession, as in the demonic sense. Far from it. Our will remains our own, sometimes much to our chagrin and shame. Instead, it is the intimate fellowship lost by our forefather Adam in the Garden, and restored to us through our faith in Christ and His substitutionary sacrifice on the Cross.

We are literally in Him as He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Think on that truth for a moment and be overwhelmed with wonder. That Triune Being who was and is and is to come, that One who spoke all Causality into existence, condescends – no desires – to be in such close fellowship with us mere human beings that He becomes one with us.

In some sense, this is like us desiring to become one with an amoeba, or fungus. The difference being that in doing so, He conforms us into His image. He lifts us up in ways we are barely able to comprehend. We would have no such transforming influence on any lower creature, even of we were able to enter into such a relationship.

Once we are indwelt, it is by Him that we become righteous, and are granted irrevocable and eternal citizenship of the Kingdom of God. This is no small feat in that it took the death of God the Son, Himself, to propitiate the Father's wrath against our sin. This is grace beyond measure, for it is on the Cross of Christ that God's inexorable judgment and boundless mercy came together to effect our salvation.

Finally, it is through Him that we are sanctified and work His will in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

Sanctification is that moment by moment process where we die to ourselves and live to Christ. It is that good work the He is faithful to complete. It is the gradual (or sometimes precipitous) shedding of our old, sinful nature, our dead man who was crucified with Christ, so that we may fully realize His eternal life within us.

More often than not, this sanctification comes through trials and tribulations. More often than not, we are figuratively dragged through the process kicking and screaming, stamping our feet and holding our breath in stubborn and fearful resistance. But He promises to complete us, and through Him we become increasingly like Him.

Until we are fully baked and our work and His work through us is done. Then He brings us safely Home.