Some seem to feel that being religious is enough, that it does not matter what church we worship…But Jesus addressed this very point: “Not everyone 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. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). To refuse to do the will of the Lord is to refuse salvation, for Jesus is “author of eternal salvation unto all that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). To properly understand the Book of Life, you must realize that there are really two Books of Life. One is called “The Book of Life”; the other, “The Lamb’s Book of Life.” These are the books in which are entered the names of those who have received eternal life. The very first verse of scripture reads, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “God” includes God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Again, we read concerning creation, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). “…And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). I think that in these verses of Scripture we can clearly see that all three of the Godhead were there in the beginning and therefore have always existed. Although there are three distinct personalities, yet they are one. Revelation 21:27 tells us that the only people who will enter into the Holy City are “those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” It is therefore essential that one have his or her name written in this book. Inasmuch as the death penalty rested upon all in Adam, no record was titled “the book of life” until the resurrected Jesus offered in heaven the value of His sacrificed perfect human life (Hebrews 9:24). The time when any record was called a “book of life” was after Jesus became known as Savior; who “is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Thus “the book of life,” into which names of believers in Jesus are now written, remained untitled until the Pentecostal blessings confirmed the new life of the new creation. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). First, let us understand that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead. There is God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Christ mentioned them in this order when He said to His apostles, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). Referring to Christ, Paul said, “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Water baptism identifies the believer with the Godhead. But that is not all the Spirit did…The Spirit still acts as our pledge from God of the proof of our salvation. Where is the Spirit? In every believer. It is only when you are baptized into Christ for remission of sins that “you shall receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). All who are baptized into Christ receive the Holy Spirit not in miraculous form; but an indwelling: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9). The Spirit leads one to obey the Lord and serve Him. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit; that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:14-16). Paul adds: “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father” (Galatians 4:6). One receives the Spirit as an indwelling guest even as “Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17). There is nothing miraculous about this measure of the Spirit. It is the amazing power of Christ’s sacrifice that cleans us, put our minds and hearts right with God and makes us useful for God’s purposes. Apart from Jesus Christ we can do nothing! It is only by the transforming power of His life and His Spirit in us that we can keep God’s Ten Commandments. The seed of the Christ life (“everything we need for life and godliness”) is planted within us at salvation and if the conditions are right, that seed will grow and flourish. While we cannot transform ourselves into the image of Christ, we can create the conditions in which spiritual transformation can take place. This is where spiritual practices come in. Spiritual practices are not ways to make brownie points with God or to prove our spiritual superiority to others. They are not a self-help program by which we take control of our journey and change ourselves. Rather, spiritual disciplines are concrete activities that we engage in, in order to make ourselves available for the work that only God can do. This is what Paul is referring to when he appeals to the Christians in Rome to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). He is saying that we can be intentional about creating the conditions of transformation by engaging disciplines that help us surrender ourselves to God- not just in theory but in reality. Conforming to Christ does not happen overnight. It is a steady process of purification, renewal, and growth that is best learned alongside a veteran from the field. Understanding the steps in the learning process can help encourage new believers along the road to spiritual maturity. The process begins in the heart, when you begin to follow Jesus Christ, and is transformed into a new creature in Christ. Who am I in Christ? Now when the Savior died, He died as our representative. In God’s estimation, when He died, we died. All that we were by nature was nailed to Calvary’s cross. Likewise, when Christ was buried, we were buried. That removed us out of God’s sight forever as sinful creatures. Our old “I” has been put in its proper place. This is all pictured by baptism (Romans 6:3-7). When we go beneath the water, we witness that we, as children of Adam, deserved nothing but death. We agree with God that our old self or “old man” was unfit to live. We confess that we died with Christ, and were buried with Him. Since Christ died to settle the whole question of sin once for all, we admit that we no longer have any right to traffic with sin. We are dead to sin, not in the sense that we are sinless, but in the sense that God sees us as those who have died, and therefore sin has no claim upon us. But Christ rose from the dead, and since we are in Christ, God sees us as having risen also (Romans 6:8- 10). However, we do not rise to live the same old kind of life. We ourselves have been crucified with Christ. We rise as new creatures with the object that Christ may henceforth live His life in us. Now these are divine facts. Whether you feel them to be true or not, God says that every justified person is dead unto sin, buried with Christ, risen with Him, and given a new life-His life. The only way we can be justified is by Christ’s blood (Romans 5:9). “For we walk by faith, not by sight:” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And faith is what leads us down to the water of baptism today. If you have not got the faith, you are not going in, and without faith it is impossible to be saved…so we have to have faith. You have got to go down into the water. A whole lot has to do with what you believed while you were doing it. Do you understand it when you go down into the water of baptism? Anything that you do for God, you better understand! There is two or three things I would like to call your attention to: You must have this kind of faith; Go down into the water of baptism believing that Christ is down there; believing the blood is down there. More than that, you have got to believe that when you go down with the proper faith, you come out with that thing accomplished that God said baptism was for…for what? For the remission of sin! And when a man is lead down in baptism and is buried in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, you are looking at a new man that has been baptized, translated out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. In that transaction, that all happens, born again into Christ. Did you know that if you are not IN Christ, you are still lost? You may believe in Christ, but if you are not IN Christ, you will not receive spiritual blessings. Ephesians 1:2 tells us that all spiritual blessings are in Christ. You were separated from God when you sinned (Isaiah 59:2). Christ is the only one who can bring you back into a relationship with God. Until you are baptized, you are still lost in your sins. Acts 22:16 teaches us that in baptism our sins are washed away. Sins do not go away when we believe, or even if we repent or confess Jesus as Lord. Sins have to be washed away and that happens in baptism. There is no salvation outside of Christ; the only way to be saved is to be IN Christ. So the most pressing question right now is this: How do I get into Christ? Read Galatians 3:27 and Romans 6:3 to find the answer for yourself. You may search your bible all you want but you will not find any scripture that teaches you are IN Christ before getting INTO Christ. And baptism is the only way you can get into Christ. You cannot be saved until you are baptized. Baptism is also essential into some name. How can I know my name is written in heaven?-is answered in Acts 2:41 and Hebrews 12:23. Christ and His spiritual body (the church) cannot be separated. Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ (Ephesians 4:15). Paul uses the image of a body to describe Jesus Christ as the head of the church. Christ provides the direction and the coordination of his body. Most significant though, is Christ’s authority over his church. Christ is our only example because ‘He is our Head, our Savior, and our Life. In virtue His Deity and of His Spirit, He can live in us: we can have new life in his Name, because we abide in Him and He in us. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). To live in the name of Jesus, however, is to live in character. Spirit, and attitude of Jesus; it implies that we are his representatives on earth and as such, are united with Him and His purpose. That is our destiny is it not?