Act 7 and 8: The Truth of Salvation: Beyond Confusion
Introduction: Glory to the Creator and Eternal God
Let all honor and glory be given to the only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Eternal One, the Sustainer who formed us with His hands. By His unquestionable will we stand today, and to Him, exclusively to Him, all praise is due. This teaching, which culminates a series that began several weeks ago, clearly exposes the acts of salvation, a topic that many erroneously see as a single and indivisible event, but which the Holy Scriptures reveal as an extraordinary process, composed of specific acts designed by God over time to redeem humanity. Today we focus on the seventh and eighth acts: salvation as deliverance from God’s wrath and eternal life as the final destination.
Salvation: A Process of Divine Acts
Salvation is not an isolated moment, but a series of steps that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, executed with divine precision. To understand the final acts, let’s review the first six, which lay the foundation for this redemptive process:
1. God Becomes Man: The Incarnation
Everything begins with the first act, described in the Gospel of John: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The apostle Paul confirms it by writing: “Undeniably great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus, being fully God, emptied Himself of His divine glory, as Philippians 2:7 says: “He made Himself nothing,” taking the same human nature as Adam and Eve. He walked on earth as a man, facing hunger, fatigue, and temptations, not using His divine power, but living as we do. Why? To be the perfect sacrifice, the substitute that God foreshadowed when He asked Abraham to offer Isaac. This act is the foundation: without a human and divine Savior, there would be no redemption.
2. The Cross: Bearing the Death Penalty
The second act occurs on the Cross of Calvary. God had warned: “The day you eat of it, you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). When man disobeyed, that warning became a death sentence for all, as Paul explains in Romans 7:11: “Sin deceived me and through it killed me.” God, being just, could not ignore His own word. Thus, Jesus bore that penalty in His body, taking the punishment we deserved. This act transferred the death that weighed on every man and woman to Him, opening the way to freedom.
3. It Is Finished: Freedom Declared
At three in the afternoon, while hanging on the cross, Jesus exclaimed: “It is finished” (John 19:30). These words resound with power, for they mean that the Son of Man did not come to condemn, but to save what was lost (“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” Luke 19:10). With this third act, we are declared free, innocent before God’s judgment. The debt is paid, the price is settled.
4. The Resurrection: Justification of Man
The fourth act occurs on the first day of the week, when Jesus rises from the dead. This event justifies us, that is, it returns us to the position that Adam and Eve had before sinning. But not only that: we receive a greater honor, as Hebrews 1:14 says: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” In the Old Testament, man was “a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5), but now, through the resurrection, we occupy a place of privilege.
5. Reconciliation: Restoration with God
Justified, we are reconciled with the Father in the fifth act. This step fulfills a prophecy from the book of Leviticus, where the firstfruits were presented after Passover. Jesus, as High Priest and Firstfruits, presented Himself before God, sealing our communion with Him. The parable of the prodigal son illustrates this reconciliation: not only is the son restored, but he is given a place of honor.
6. Sanctification: Transformation by the Spirit
Although not extensively detailed in the transcript, sanctification is mentioned as a key act. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are liberated from the seed of sin, as 1 John 3:9 affirms: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because God’s seed remains in him.” This process prepares us for the final acts.
Seventh Act: Salvation as Deliverance from God’s Wrath
The seventh act, specifically called “salvation,” is a distinct stage that many confuse with eternal life. They are not the same, and this teaching seeks to clarify it firmly. Salvation, in this context, is being saved from God’s wrath, an earthly period of time described in the Scriptures, not an eternal state or a simple feeling. Let’s see how the biblical texts reveal it:
- “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). The wrath here is not a passing anger of God, but a stage of judgment that weighs on unbelievers.
- “Because of your hard and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5). This “day of wrath” is a defined time, a process that is approaching.
- “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9). Being saved from wrath is the core of this act.
- “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6). Wrath is a consequence for those who reject Christ.
- In Revelation 14:10, it is described: “He shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation,” a time of torment for the disobedient.
This period is the Millennium, the 1000 years of Christ’s reign after His second coming, as Revelation 20:4-6 says: “They will reign with Christ for a thousand years… Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection.” When Jesus returns, the dead in Christ will resurrect and the living will be transformed into glorified bodies (“This mortal must put on immortality,” 1 Corinthians 15:54). He will descend to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14) and establish His throne in Jerusalem, from where He will rule with a rod of iron (“He will rule them with a rod of iron,” Revelation 19:15). During this time, physical death will be canceled (“The last enemy to be destroyed is death,” 1 Corinthians 15:26), and unbelievers, although alive, will suffer God’s wrath without being able to escape.
However, not all who call themselves Christians will participate. Jesus warns: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father” (Matthew 7:21-23). Some, even having prophesied or performed miracles, will be rejected as “workers of lawlessness.” The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:24-30) shows the negligent servant thrown into outer darkness. Being saved from wrath demands obedience, not just membership in a church or professing faith superficially. During the Millennium, the saved will participate in the wedding of the Lamb (Revelation 19) and some will govern the nations (“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” 1 Corinthians 6:2), while the disobedient face 1000 years of judgment.
Eighth Act: Eternal Life, a New Spiritual Creation
The eighth act is eternal life, the final destination after the Millennium. Revelation 21:1-9 describes it clearly: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain.” This is not a renewal of what exists now, but a completely new, spiritual and angelic creation. All material things—the entire universe, with its immensity that science has not encompassed—will be destroyed. Only those who are in the Book of Life will enter, after the judgment of the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15), where unbelievers, Satan, death, and hell will be thrown into the lake of fire (“the second death,” Revelation 21:8).
Before eternal life, at the beginning of the Millennium, the Judgment Seat of Christ will evaluate the saved to assign them roles of government according to their works (“Well done, good and faithful servant,” Matthew 25:21). At the end of the 1000 years, the Great White Throne will seal the destiny of all, declaring the faithful worthy of eternal life and condemning the others to total destruction.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
Grace is available today, but will close with the coming of Christ. It is not enough to know or profess; faith demands living under His will. “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12). Let us not be like the servant who said: “I knew,” but did not act. This is the time to submit to the word of the Cross, foolishness to the world, but the power of God for those who are saved. May this teaching awaken us and prepare us to be found worthy of salvation and eternal life.
