In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come to give life, and, life more abundantly.” To anyone outside Christendom, this would indicate two experiences; two salvations. The first would give life, the second, abundant life. Most Christians don’t see the word, and, as a conjunctive however. They see it as addition. It seems the whole Church is oblivious of the second covenant Jesus established upon His resurrection. The whole Church focuses on redemption and adds the promises of the new covenant to the old.
However, in Romans 10:10, when Paul says: “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” it should be clear Paul is speaking of two very different things. The Church however, doesn’t see it that way.
It would be as if I had an apple and an orange. I would have two different pieces of fruit. The word, and, ties the two pieces of fruit together but does not make them the same. The righteousness mankind obtains through faith of the heart is not the same salvation mankind receives by confession. Righteousness and salvation are two different things. If righteousness were salvation, Paul would have said so.
Just consider this. Why did Jesus not say, “I have come that they might have abundant life,” if that was the purpose of His coming? But instead, Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and, more abundant life.” More abundant life is clearly differentiated from life. The two are obviously two different things, yet most Christians combine the two into one. Most Christians see righteousness as abundant life.
Think of how confusing it would be if Paul had said, “For with the heart man believes unto salvation and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” How would mankind understand how to obtain salvation? They would understand there to be two acts necessary to being saved and those who wanted to be saved would strive to perform both acts. As it is though, most Christians believe a singular faith in Jesus produces life and abundant life.
And in truth, John 3:16 says exactly that, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” However, the book of Acts says something slightly different: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” To believe in the Christ, who humbled Himself before the cross, is quite a different faith from believing on the Lord, who was exalted above all principalities and powers. We are talking about two drastically different faiths.
Isaiah 53:6 informs us, “all we like sheep had gone astray…and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The “him” in this verse is Jesus. So before the cross, the Father God was Lord. This agrees with John 3:16. It was the Father God who sent His Son to die for the sins of the entire world but after the cross, it is Jesus who wears the title Lord.
Jesus went through a dramatic transformation between His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Thus a belief in the Saviour is a dramatically different faith from a belief on the Lord. John 3:16 speaks of a belief in the Saviour while Acts 16:31speaks of a belief on the Lord.
Now, you might protest, “It’s the same person!” but anyone can see Jesus served in two dramatically different capacities. The first was as Saviour of the world, in which case Jesus laid aside His power and glory to come to earth as a man but as Lord, Jesus rules over all creation in absolute power. So much so that Paul calls Jesus the blessed only Potentate and Jude speaks of Him as the only wise God.
Thus, Jesus says, “I have come that they might have life,” because through His death on the cross all of mankind can receive His righteousness. This is life. However, Jesus did not remain dead. He was raised from the dead with all power in heaven and in earth and with this authority, which is a greater authority than He had as Saviour, He is able to give a more abundant life. In order for mankind to receive the more abundant life, believers must exercise a second faith; they must believe on the Lord.
In Galatians 4:4, Paul said, “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” So if Jesus came to earth under the authority of the old covenant to redeem those subject to the old covenant, where is the new covenant? It does not yet exist. Jesus is the author of the new covenant and He did not establish the new covenant until after His death on the cross. Therefore, belief in Jesus’ death will redeem you from the law but will not give you access to the new covenant. Those redeemed from the law have received life but the abundant life cannot be accessed until the new covenant is accessed.
Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” but when was Jesus’ commandments issued? During His life, Jesus was busy keeping the old covenant commandments, the law, in order to redeem mankind from the law. If He transgressed the law in one small way, His ability to redeem mankind from the law would have been quashed. He couldn’t issue His own commandments until after He had fulfilled His Father’s commandments. Therefore, Jesus’ commandments are found post-resurrection.
Now, faith in Jesus’ death requires no works because Jesus performed the works of the law and it is this righteousness, the righteousness He earned by keeping the law, that He passes on to those who believe He died for them. Faith in Jesus as the resurrected Lord does require works however because if Jesus is Lord, obedience to His Lordship is required. In fact, if there is no obedience, Jesus is not Lord.
Obedience to Jesus’ commandments, therefore, becomes the mechanism whereby mankind enforces Jesus’ Lordship over them and thus enforces the new covenant in their lives. In other words, the abundant life is entered by daily keeping commandments Jesus issued to the Church. The first commandment is found in Acts 1:4. The word, baptize, means to saturate. So a commandment to wait for a baptism with the Holy Spirit is a commandment to saturate yourself with the Holy Spirit and since the Holy Spirit will only testify of Jesus in this age, to saturate yourself with the Spirit of God is to saturate yourself with Jesus. Jesus is the God of the new covenant so the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jesus.
This daily saturation is a daily transformation into Jesus. In John 5:24, Jesus says, “He that hears these sayings of mine and believes on Him that sent me, has eternal life already and will not enter into judgment.” Two things are necessary to eternal life: a knowledge of Jesus’ teachings and a belief on Him that sent Jesus. Now either we are talking about an entirely different eternal life than the ones previously mentioned or this verse merely expounds on the requirements already discussed.
Those who hear the sayings of Jesus must realize Jesus spoke much of the time about obedience and He that sent Jesus was the Lord of the old covenant. Since Jesus now carries the title Lord, which is the same authority the Father possessed when He established the old covenant, Jesus was sent with authority to establish a new covenant. Therefore just as obedience of the old covenant commandments was integral to its salvation, obedience of the new covenant commandments is integral to its salvation. In this verse, Jesus is merely stating the same thing he has said before, just in a little different way. Those who believe, obey.
Before anyone will keep Jesus’ commandments, they must first realize the Father God transferred all His power and authority onto Jesus; otherwise, the prudent thing is to keep the Father’s commandments. Just how did Jesus end up with all power and authority in heaven and in earth? How did Jesus become Lord of Lords and King of Kings? How did Jesus become greater than all principalities and powers? The Father God made it so; therefore, it is Jesus’ commandments that must be obeyed.
Consider Acts 2:34-36, “For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he said himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit you down at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” You see, David’s Lord was the Father because it was the Father that instituted the old covenant with the Jews and David, being a Jew, lived under the old covenant. “The Lord” is Jesus. Jesus, therefore, said to His Father, Sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. It is Jesus who is Lord of the new covenant. If you want to enter the new covenant, it is Jesus’ commandments you must keep. The Father’s commandments are obsolete for those redeemed from the law through faith in Jesus’ death. They keep the law through a keeping of faith that Jesus died for them, taking their place on the cross, and dying for their transgressions against the law.
The term, “sit at the right hand,” is a term that indicates a favored position. Here, Jesus is telling the Father to sit in the favored position, while He (Jesus) makes His (the Father’s) enemies a footstool for His feet. Elsewhere we are told Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. The term is figurative. In the case of Jesus, it is the Father who has made Jesus Lord. Thus, it is clear the Father delegated His authority to Jesus. Throughout Acts 2:34-36, it is the same Greek word, translated, Lord. It means, supreme. Thus, the Father God delegated all His power and authority onto Jesus, making Jesus the supreme God of the new covenant age. With this authority and power, Jesus will put all things, in other words, Jesus will cause all things to be subjected to God and then He will hand the kingdom of God back to His Father (1Cor.15:24-28). “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Again, in John 5:24, Jesus says, “He that hears these sayings of mine and believes on Him that sent me, has eternal life already and will not enter into judgment.” Believing on Him that sent Jesus is about knowing assuredly that it is the Father who has made this same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. As Christ, He took our sins in His own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, but as Lord, He is currently subjecting all things to His Father. To believe in the Christ who humbled Himself, even to the shame and ridicule of the cross, for your sin and deliverance is quite a different faith from believing on the Lord, who is currently subjecting all things to the Father. To receive salvation as a free gift is dramatically different from subjecting yourself to the King. Subjects of the King, keep the King’s commandments. To receive life does not require a subjection to the King but to receive abundant life, we must be subject to the King’s decrees. Every knee will bow; but will your knee bow willingly, or under protest?
Jesus said, “He that believes on me will have rivers of the Holy Spirit pouring out of his belly,” (Jn.7:37-39). If you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, rivers of the Holy Spirit will not pour out of your belly. That does not mean you do not have life; it does not mean you have not received Jesus’ righteousness; it means you have not believed on the one who sent Jesus.
If your faith is in the Father; if you believe the Father God is Lord, you have failed to realize the Father sent Jesus with authority to die on that cross for men’s sins and resurrected Him with all power. The key is found in believing on Him that sent Jesus.
Now of course the only way to have rivers of the Holy Spirit pouring out of your belly is through the use of tongues. The gift of tongues is what happens when the Holy Spirit pours out of your belly. Now, interestingly enough, Jesus did not say believers will have rivers trickling out of their bellies, nor did He use a word such as, stream, or, creek. He used the words, rivers, and, flows. Moreover, to be saturated requires a large volume of liquid. This gift is much maligned and little understood by the Church today but Jesus very clearly said, “He that believes on me will have rivers of the Holy Spirit pouring out of his belly.” What you believe determines whether the rivers flow or not.
Those who believe not will not have any flow of the Holy Spirit, if they have the Holy Spirit at all. You see, the scriptures describe a gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:35), a gift given when Jesus was glorified (Jn.7:39). Therefore it is not belief in Jesus’ death that allows the Holy Spirit to reside in your hearts; it is belief on His resurrection. In Acts 2:38, when Peter addresses those who want to be saved on the day of Pentecost, He says, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is because there are two salvations, two dispensations of life.
Now the word, “and,” is a conjunctive. It ties two words or phrases together. Repentance and baptism are two different things, tied together by the word; and. Likewise, the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit are different. Why does John 3:16 tell us to believe in Jesus but Acts 16:31 tell us to believe on the Lord? Notice here Peter says, “in the name of the Christ for the remission of sins.”
Well, if we consider Galatians 4:4-5 again, Jesus died as Christ under the law to redeem mankind from the law but was raised from the dead as Lord and established a new covenant. To believe in the Christ is much different from a belief on the Lord just as to have the Holy Spirit’s help is different from being baptized with the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is total saturation and is reserved for those who believe on the Lord. Those who believe in Jesus receive Jesus’ righteousness, making it possible for the Holy Spirit to be with believers but not in them.
Because of improper teaching, all Christians think they have the Holy Spirit living on the inside, which is the gift of the Spirit, when what they actually have is righteousness, which gives the Holy Spirit the ability to work with them. Similarly, those who have the gift of the Holy Spirit fail to realize the baptism occurs as the Holy Spirit flows out of their mouths. It should not be a one-time occurrence, saturation should be accomplished daily. The commandment (Acts 1:4) is to wait for saturation.
Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and, life more abundantly.” Faith in Jesus’ death gives us life but the more abundant life comes from believing on Jesus’ resurrection. Therefore Paul says, “With the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The confession is the gift of tongues pouring out of your hearts as rivers. This is the reason Hebrews 11:6 says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God (Jesus) for those who come to Jesus must believe that He is (Saviour) and that He rewards them who diligently seek Him (with obedience). It is the reason Ephesians 2:8 says, “By grace are you saved through faith,” but Hebrews 5:9 says, “He grants eternal life to those who obey Him.”