Jesus is our eternal inheritance, He is every spiritual blessing in Heavenly places, He is The glory. 1 Peter 1:3 "[3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, [5] Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (The revelation of Jesus in us His church, His Bride) the Scripture continues, 1 Peter 1:6-9 "[6]Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: [7]That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: [8]Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: [9] Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." Jesus is revealed in us, His glory is revealed when we yield to Him in trials, temptations, persecutions, afflictions it's in this "fiery" furnace that Jesus appears just like He did with the 3 Hebrew men to deliver us, and yes He can and does deliver us physically but what's being talked about here His appearing, is the saving of our souls. His indwelling Presence and Life in us if we turn to Him in tough situations, saves us. He manifests as our Peace that surpasses all understanding, our joy, our strength etc, that gives us victory over that situation (who is he that overcomes the world but he that believes Jesus Is The Son of God?) He saves our soul with His very life that indwells us, but He can only manifest if we yield to Him and call on His Name (those who call on The Name of the Lord shall be saved), not turning to the flesh for solutions but trusting He will do what He said He would do if we humble ourselves and ask Him. Scripture says He gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. Our spirits were fully born again but our souls are still in the process of getting saved which is by renewing of our minds by The Holy Spirit.
Our minds are renewed to the Truth and The Word Who is Jesus, The Word Jesus is Spirit and He is our Life and manifests that life if we believe Him. 1 Peter 1:9 says, "[9]Receiving *the end of your faith,* even the salvation of your souls." The end of our faith is the salvation of our souls, Jesus is The Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:12) and it's to Him we have to keep looking because what He started with the saving of our spirits, when we first believed by and with His faith, He will finish with the saving of the soul. The beginning of our faith was the salvation of our spirits, the end of our faith is the salvation of our souls, which is not instant like saving the spirit, the saving of the soul is a continuous process Paul says we are "being (continuous) born again" 1 Peter 1:22-25 "22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." Paul says we are being (continuous) born again by The Word of God, which Word endures forever, The Word of God Jesus formed in us, endures forever. All flesh will pass away but how much of Jesus has been formed in us endures forever. Hebrews 9:28 uses almost the same words, talking about Jesus our Salvation "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him (that call and yield to Him), shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Its the same appearing of Jesus to the saving of our souls that's talked about in 1 Peter 3:7. Jesus is our eternal inheritance which is his eternal Life in us, He is all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, He is our glory. He is in us to manifest His Life through us and that Life imparted to others as well through us. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12 "[12] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." It's a fight of faith to lay hold on our eternal inheritance, like Scripture says the violent take the Kingdom of God by force, we have to hold on to The Word no matter what we see or hear, in tough situations because it's in those situations that His glory is manifested in us, when we suffer in the flesh, which means dying to self, and look to Him to save us and help us overcome the situation with His very Life in us. He can take us out of the situation, but His very life in us when manifested, makes us impervious to the situation and puts us above it, that's when we experience peace and joy that surpasses all understanding, that surpasses all situations, environments etc fighting the good fight of faith is knowing who we are now as new creatures and walking in the knowledge of it by The power of The Holy Spirit, not slipping back to the ways of the old man, but walking in our new reality as new creatures in Christ, it's saying No to the flesh and hanging on to the Truth of The Word.
Paul tells Timothy fighting the good fight of faith and laying hold on eternal Life is what we have been called to. In The Bible (Luke 10:25) a certain lawyer asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life and Jesus told Him it was by obeying the 2 Greatest Commandments, Love your a God with all your being and live your neighbor as you love yourself, and it says in John 17:3 eternal Life is knowing God and Jesus Who He sent, Paul told Timothy by fighting the good fight of faith he would lay hold on eternal Life. It's by obeying God's commands that eternal life is manifested. It's not just about getting born again but walking in what we have been called to like Paul says, which is to lay a hold on internal Life which is knowing The Father and Jesus by their manifested Life in us. Eternal Life can be compared to the Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus says is only manifested by obeying the will of The Father Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but *he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."* The Kingdom of Heaven is Righteousness, peace, joy in The Holy Spirit and Jesus said to enter into The Kingdom we have to do the will of The Father, it's only by doing the will of The Father that we enter into The Kingdom of Heaven so it's not a passing acknowledgement but experiential. We don't enter in automatically because we are born again Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight of faith to lay a hold of it and like Scripture says, The violent take the Kingdom of Heaven by force which is similar to Paul's words. It is a fight of faith. Not everyone who is born again has entered in, because to enter in is to walk in righteousness, Love, peace, joy and other fruit of The Holy Spirit. Back to the topic of Jesus's appearing, His appearing is also described in these verses 1 Corinthians 13:10 “[10] *But when that which is perfect is come,* then that which is in part shall be done away." 'When that which is perfect,' is talking about He Who is perfect, Jesus The Perfect Man. 'When that which is perfect means', that which is complete, that which is fullness, that which is entire and lacking nothing James 1:4 “[4]But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be *perfect and entire,* wanting nothing." Being complete, entire and wanting nothing is when we have reached spiritual maturity when Jesus and all He is has been formed in us, which is a process. It starts with the gift of faith when we get born again but then Peter says to that faith there are things to add 2 Peter 1:4 "2 Peter 1:4-9
[4]Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that *by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature,* having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. [5] And beside this, giving all diligence, *add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; [6]And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; [7]And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. [8]For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9]But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." We add to our faith these other attributes that Peter mentions, which are the Character of Jesus formed in us and The fruit of The Holy Spirit. When we have these, Jesus has been formed in us and we are walking in His full stature, in completeness in "all things" which Paul said we currently posess because we are in Jesus and Him in us. But it is a process and like The Scripture says, we need to let patience do its perfect work in us, it's by patient endurance that we receive the promise of eternal life and its the reason Scripture puts a lot of emphasis on us having patience, Jesus told the disciples by patience they would possess their souls Luke 21:19 "[19]In your patience possess ye your souls." and Hebrews 10:36-39 "Hebrews 10:36-39 “[36] For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (of eternal Life) [37]For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry (talking about His appearing), [38]Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. [39]But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; *but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.* Paul is talking about the saving the soul, he says by patience, after doing the will of God, Jesus out Eternal Life manifests in us, to the saving of our soul. It happens by patience, because Him being formed in us is a process. By patience we possess our souls, means by patience our souls that were once hostile to God are restored by the very Life of Jesus in us, His Nature manifested in us. Scripture talks about Love being the bond of perfection and completeness, Colossians 3:14 "[14]And above all these things put on *charity, which is the bond of perfectness."* Love is the peak of spiritual maturity and completeness 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 says if we have all these gifts and yet have not love we are nothing, meaning if we have these gifts and yet Jesus Who is Love, (God is Love) hasn't been formed in us, we are nothing.
The Scripture continues and says if we have Love that is, if we have Jesus formed in us, then we have His Very Nature which is described by all these attributes; Jesus is long suffering, He is kind, He is meek and not proud, He doesn't seek our own, He is not easily provoked, He is not puffed up, He rejoices in the Truth, He bears all things and endures all things, and believes all things, Jesus Never fails. This is Who Jesus is in us and as He is so are we in this world this is our *TRUE* nature this is the new creature recreated in the very image of God Who created us. I'd we submit and call on Him Jesus manifests this Nature to give us victory over every situation and manifest His glory, in the process He is glorified in us. All these "love is..." attributes, describe a Person, describe God's very character. Jesus in us does and IS all these things that are gradually formed and manifested in us by patience. The Greatest Commandment is to Love our God with all our mind, our heart, our strength and the second greatest is to love our neighbor as we love ourself. Love is Who Jesus is in us and who we are to other people by Jesus. So we have to let Him be formed in us by constantly looking to Him and in the process receive grace to help in time of need. It's only in tough situations, through trials, temptations, persecution, affliction that Jesus is manifested in us IF we submit to Him in those moments. Love is not a stand alone, it's a combination of all the "love is" attributes, the summation of them like long suffering, kindness, meekness, etc all those combined and in their entirety is what Love is, so Love is not a stand alone and that's the reason why it can't be watered down to an emotion or feeling. It's beyond that, it is an action that's why Jesus said if you Love Me obey My commands. If you truly Love you will effortlessly do all things "Love is.." attributes mentioned above with not one attribute missing, because if even one of is missing it is not Love. Deep affection maybe, but not Love. That's why only and only God is Love because it is His Nature no man can Love in Love's entirety, and even if they can it will be for a time only because they'll lack the consistency. It's impossible with man but it's the very Nature of God which Nature is in us, Jesus our hope of glory. Jesus has made it possible for us to genuinely love by living His Life through us. Love being formed in us is a process one attribute has to be added to another like Paul said "to your faith add these" when Love has been formed in us by adding one attribute to another till their entirety, then we are filled with the fullness of God Ephesians 3:19 "And *to know the love of Christ,* (experientially, His Love manifested in us) which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all *the fulness of God."* The Bible says Love is the Greatest because in Love is completeness and wholeness, the fulness of God 1 Corinthians 12:13 "[13]And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." It says the greatest is charity (Love) because faith and hope are only attributes of Love but Love is not a stand alone but a combination of things mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. When by patient endurance and by looking to Jesus Love is formed in us one by one, we reach completeness and wholeness, we reach perfection nothing missing, nothing broken, lacking nothing in all that Jesus is in us.
It can be argued, but Agape Love is not mentioned anywhere in Scripture, it simply says God is Love. Love HAS to have all these other attributes in their completeness for it to be called Love, that's why there can't be filial Love and Agape Love, and different types of Love, there is only one because Love is God and broken down, Love describes His Nature. As an example, Jesus said "My peace I give to you Not as the world gives" so other versions of peace that are not Biblical are worldly and incomplete. Same with Love, the world has its versions but they are not consistent with the definition and come up lacking because, the world's version is determined by things that are fickle, while True Love which is God is Never changing and remains the same. So they could call it deep affection maybe, but not Love. As a side note, The different attributes of Love described are the fruit of The Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
By patient endurance, Jesus is formed in us and if we "continue in" being faithful to the process as Paul emphasises in many places, our end is eternal Life, Love's fullness formed in us, and truly knowing and experiencing God that brings a special type of fellowship that is worth every endurance in every fiery trial because He always has and always will be our Exceedingly Great Reward.
