Study to Show Yourself Approved of God

 Revised Version of "Apostolic Faith" (Improved for Clarity Bible Study & Strength)

Study to Show Yourself Approved
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Scripture is not of private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20–21) and must not be twisted to fit human opinion. With that humility, we examine the clear biblical progression of God’s redemptive plan.
The Bible distinguishes two major aspects of salvation:

• The present salvation of the soul (regeneration and adoption by the Holy Spirit) while we still live in mortal bodies during Christ’s current heavenly reign.
• The future redemption of the body to immortality at Christ’s appearing, when death is finally destroyed and God makes all things new.

1. Eternal Life as the Present Gift of the Holy Spirit: Salvation of the Soul and Adoption as Sons
Eternal life is not only future—it begins the moment a person believes. The Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, seals, and adopts us as God’s children right now.

• John 5:24 – “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and has crossed over from death to life.”
• Romans 8:15–17 – “You received the Spirit of sonship… we are God’s children… heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
• 1 Peter 1:9 – “You are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
• John 3:16, 36; 10:28; Ephesians 1:13–14

This is the “already” aspect of the Kingdom: we have been transferred from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of God's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). 
The soul is secure, and we are empowered for holy living amid a mixed world (Matthew 13:24–30). Yet we still groan in our mortal bodies (Romans 8:18–23) and battle against the sinful flesh of our origin in Adam.
2. The Intermediate State: Souls of Just Men Made Perfect, Absent from the Body
For believers who die before Christ’s return, Scripture teaches a conscious, perfected existence with the Lord—disembodied but fully alive, free from sin and earthly conflict.

• 2 Corinthians 5:6–8 – “We are confident… and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
• Philippians 1:23 – “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”
• Hebrews 12:22–23 – “…the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
• Revelation 6:9–11 – Souls under the altar, conscious, crying out, clothed in white robes.
• Luke 23:43 – “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

The body rests in the grave awaiting resurrection, but the spirit and eternally living soul is already perfected in heaven with Christ. 
Old Testament hints (Daniel 12:2–3; Ecclesiastes 12:7) are clarified and filled with joy by the New Testament revelation of Christ’s victory.
3. The Present Reign of Christ from Heaven (The Inaugurated but Not-Yet-Consummated Kingdom)
Christ is already reigning enthroned by the Father, but His Kingdom operates in “mystery” form during this age—wheat and tares growing together until the harvest.

• Ephesians 1:20–23; Acts 2:33–36 – Christ seated far above all rule and authority, head over the church.
• 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 – “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
• Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43 – Good seed and tares remain together until “the end of the age,” when angels separate them.
• Colossians 1:13; Acts 3:21 (restitution of all things to God's original intention).

This is the age of patient mission, gospel preaching to all nations, endurance, and growth of God’s family amid opposition.
4. The Blessed Hope Fulfilled: Redemption of the Body to Immortality and the New Creation
Our ultimate hope is not the intermediate state, but the visible return of Christ, the resurrection/change of the body, and the new heavens and new earth where death is no more.

• Titus 2:13 – “Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
• Romans 8:23 – “…we ourselves groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
• Philippians 3:20–21 – “We eagerly await a Savior… who will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:51–54 – “We will all be changed… the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
• 1 John 3:2 – “When Christ appears, we shall be like him.”
• Revelation 21:1–5; 22:3–5 – New heaven and new earth, no more death, God dwelling with His people, “they will reign for ever and ever.”

At that moment, all the redeemed—those who “sleep” and those who remain—will be glorified together, death destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26), and God will be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Conclusion
This framework flows directly from both Testaments and upholds both urgency for every generation and patient endurance until the end. The present heavens and earth will pass (Isaiah 51:6; 2 Peter 3:10–13; Genesis 6:13 context of judgment), but God’s promises to His people stand forever for all who have believed in Him from the beginning, and forever to the end.Amen. 
May the Lord grant every reader wisdom and revelation in the Spirit of understanding as they offer themselves to intentional meditation, prayer, Bible study, and saturation in the glory of His power to save daily (Acts 17:11).