Crossroads At the Way and Churchianity

by Jesse Steele

with our eyes and touch it with our hands. But the Salvation for all Eternity comes after the Second Resurrection and in lieu of the Second Death.

  Hank: What’s this about…?

  John: You are confusing the salvation of faith with salvation from the Second Death. Faith is our best salvation in this evil world, without Jesus physically reigning on His earthly throne, and in our sinful bodies. But that’s not what was revealed to me on Patmos. Salvation from the Second Death is the end-all Judgment. That’s the Salvation I described in my fifth book, the book you call “Revelation”.

  Hank: So, what is the difference? You’re saying there are two salvations?

  John: Salvation in the Eternity Future, from the Second Death, will not be by faith. It will be by Book.

  Hank: By Book!?

  John: When I saw the Final Decision from the large White Throne, the books were all opened. God knew all of our hearts and minds from the beginning, but He will render to each of us according to our work. After that, another book will be opened—the Book of Life, from the Lamb. When I saw it, wow! It was a moment to behold. Every mountain had been removed. There was no place to hide. No one could even speak against the Book of Life. Something about it was remarkably credible and it struck fear into those who knew they could not stand against its records.

  Hank: Any guess as to why?

  John: I remember they kept commenting about the Book of Life, that the names in it had already been written before the foundation of the earth.

  Hank: Paul mentioned foreknowledge.

  John: Yes. Jesus’ pre-adoption of us was based on His prior knowledge of something.

  Hank: But isn’t that merely knowledge of our faith in Him—faith we have when we hear the gospel message? Jesus knew that we would believe eventually, so that’s why our names were written before.

  John: No. The fact that it was written before the Beginning means that the relevant facts, whatever they were, originated before we even walked the earth. This is the logic of timeless Eternity. I was glimpsing the Future as it spoke from the Past in the Future. So, every event had ramifications and implications that go beyond mere chronology. If the vital part of that Book was based on something that we did in our earthly lives, then Heaven would have mentioned that, but no one in Heaven did. They only said that the names were written before the Beginning. From God’s Eternal vantage point—that means that whatever happens after the Beginning could not affect what had already been written. If our earthly choices affected the Book of Life before the Beginning, it would not be the indisputable witness for the things which will follow. What we do in our lives of the temporary earth, at best, reflect what was written before the Beginning and foreshadow what will result after the Second Resurrection. We will be awarded according to our work—and that is within our complete control. Belief in the End without working for it is dead belief. That’s what Jesus always told James.

  Hank: So, does that mean that Jesus’ work on the Cross only redeems people in the temporary earth, but the Book of Life redeems people at the Second Resurrection?

  John: That’s a gross misunderstanding. The Book of Life is a record. Those who have their names written in it could not, in any way, even hope to be saved in either the temporary earth or at the Final decision without the work of the Cross. But the Cross is applied in the sinful world by faith and, in the Final Judgment, according to the indisputable records in the Book of Life.

  Hank: Why is that indisputable record so important?

  John: I never suspected Judas for three years. Only Christ did, and He didn’t merely suspect. He knew.

  Hank: Why?

  John: The Book of Life is His. He knew that Judas’ name wasn’t written in the Book. That’s why He chose Judas.

  Hank: He chose Judas knowing he was a liar?

  John: Someone had to betray Jesus and hand Him over.

  Hank: No He didn’t. Jesus could have handed Himself over if He’d wanted.

  John: But if He’d done that, it wouldn’t have been according to a natural flow of things in the temporary earth. Betrayal was part of the story. Satan betrayed God. Judas betrayed Jesus. Traitors don’t win, in Heaven or in the earth. It all had to be in the earth as it already was in Heaven. This way His Kingdom can come to earth—that’s what He was doing. And, Jesus had to suffer God’s wrath at the Cross. If that hadn’t happened then He wouldn’t have had victory at the Cross to become the Worthy Lamb who could open that Book. The Cross gave power to the records. The Book of Life kept records for the powerful Cross to enforce redemption, even in the face of the Accuser.

  Hank: I still don’t understand why the record is so important.

  John: We always have a level of uncertainty as to who truly is a follower of Jesus and who isn’t. Even Judas had us fooled. Sometimes God sends people away from us to prove that they were never truly a part of us in the first place—but He doesn’t always do that. The Book of Life clears up all of this at the Final Judgment. Once it’s opened, all questions will be answered.

  Hank: So those who believe in Christ, even if their names are not written in the Book—what about them?

  John: People only have faith in Christ if their names were written in the Book of Life, but not everyone with their names written in the Book of Life will be reached with the gospel in the earth, unfortunately. But, if the gospel can reach all of those people on the earth at any one time—every last one—that’s when Jesus will return. You may remember Matthew’s explanation—that the gospel must be completely preached first.

  Hank: That’s when Jesus was talking about the End.

  John: God must end what was written from before the Beginning in order to have the End begin.

  Hank: How do we finish it?

  John: The gospel must be preached in all the earth. It’s that simple. His people must, by consensus, welcome His return.

  Hank: How do we know who they are?

  John: We don’t, nor do we need to. At any point in time, there are thousands upon thousands of people living on the earth whose names were written in the Book of Life. If we preach the gospel, without favoritism, without laziness, without complacency… without division among us… it will reach all of the people whose names are written in it.

  Hank: If we preach the gospel to everyone, then everyone who was written in the Book of Life will accept it…

  John: But it must be the real gospel. And we must pray and read the Word to know the real gospel so we can preach it. People whose names were written in the Book of Life will only believe the gospel if it’s real. Then, those in the Book of the Life will reach a consensus about Jesus Christ. Then Heaven will come to earth.

  Hank: And we’ll have more than Salvation in the End, we’ll have some level of salvation also in the earth.

  John: I saw the End. You don’t want to live only for that End. There’s much we can have in the earth now. Jesus even lived that Life in the earth. That’s why He healed so many and had the strength to win victory at the Cross. The gospel was always intended to give power in the earth for those whose names were already written before the Beginning. The gospel is not just for the End. It’s also for the Middle.

  Hank: What happened before the Beginning?

  John: I didn’t see the Beginning, I only know that God was there in the Beginning. I saw the End. I didn’t see the Book of Life written. I saw it opened. And when it was opened, it was the indisputable witness. In the End, the last Word was the same Word that existed before the Beginning.

  Hank: So, there is an answer after all.

  John: For what?

  Hank: An answer to that question… what about the little boy who grew up and never heard about Jesus.

  John: Oh, yes there is. But the answer is not to claim that all roads of Religion lead to Jesus—they don’t. Only Jesus is the Way. Satan-made Religion all leads back to Satan, though Satan would have us think he is Jesus. In glory he wanted the angels to think he was God. No, the people who never hear about Jesus miss out on a
lot… a LOT. They can never see the Hope of what is to come. They can’t be healed. They can’t be delivered of demons. There are many things they can’t have in the here and now—because they can’t believe because no one has told them. But there is an answer about God’s Justice for the unknown “would-have-believed-if-we’d-told-them” children in the End. Though, that answer is not Pluralism. No. The answer is found in the Book of Life.

  Hank: This is hard for my feeble mind to absorb.

  John: Jesus alone is the Worthy Lamb. No one else had the legal rights that He exercised when He opened the seals. But don’t allow that fact to distort the salvation that begins by faith.

  Hank: What do you mean?

  John: If you think that salvation based on faith is the basis for the End-All Eternal Salvation from the Second Death, affecting God’s special knowledge written in the Book of Life before the Beginning… You’ll really mess yourself up thinking like that.

  Hank: How so?

  John: Such matters of Eternity Past and Eternity Future even elude what I saw. But don’t ever think that Christ’s salvation is so weak that entry to Heaven is some sort of “spelling test”.

  Hank: I never said it was a spelling test. Salvation is by faith.

  John: In this life, yes. We can’t have Jesus’ miracles, we can’t have restoration in our relationships, we can’t find inner joy unless we can call on Him. And we must hear about Him in order to believe and call on His name. But