NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
What is character? How does one get it and why is it essential for salvation?
We have all heard it said many, many times that Christians have to build character to be saved. And, there were explanations given of what it means to be a being of character both in Sabbath day services and in the writings of God’s end-time Elijah but the concept of what it is to have character remained elusive for most people. Indeed, to get a clear picture of what character is requires putting together several different notions and it would seem there was never enough time in the sermons that were given to do so.
In this study, I will endeavor to make it clear or clearer what is character, why your salvation depends on it and why it is not something that can be forced upon someone by an external and superior power or by the infliction of physical pain or mental torments as a means of breaking down the will of people and getting them to submit to God.
Together, we will look at the individual elements required for someone to be able to be a being of character and we will try to arrive at clear and easy to understand, fully Bible-based answers. We will examine what is God’s purpose for having created mankind, the reason why man’s animal brain has mind power while all the other animals created by God do not, why man was created with free moral agency, why character cannot be created in human beings by external forces being brought to bear on them and why salvation is impossible without character.
The most important and consequential thing we will examine is why character cannot be from without the person i.e., it cannot ever be from the result of external forces being brought to bear on the individual; it has to come from within and be the result of a choice freely made without external physical or psychological coercion of any kind.
And, as usual, DON’T believe me; check it out for yourself with your Bible and only then believe what this study is saying if the Bible supports it. This way you can never be deceived by men but you must keep an open mind and be ready to accept something different than what you have always believed if the Bible shows it to be true.
Let’s begin by determining why God created mankind.
Why the Creation of Man
Let’s start off at the very beginning of the Bible and that would be John 1:1.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Word was with God, and the Word, a second personage who was also a God being, made all things and without Him was not anything made that was made (Joh 1:3) including mankind.
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
The Word simply spoke it and it was done i.e., the heavens and all the hosts of them were created by the breath of his mouth. The God being who did this creation is the one that became Christ (Php 2:5-7) and who for a time dwelt among men (Matt 1:1; Rom 1:3). In 2nd Pet 3:5, we have Peter confirming that the creation was by the word of God; He spoke it and it was done.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
And in Colossians we read the following about the Word who became Jesus-Christ and His role in the creation process.
Col 1:15 [Christ] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Now going into the book of Genesis, we get information about the creation of man. We read that God created every living creature after their kind: the beasts of the water (Gen1:21), of the air (Gen1:21) and of the earth (Gen 1:24) were all created according to their kind but in Gen 1:26 we read that God created man in their image according to their likeness i.e., after the God kind in that they would have brains with the ability to think (Job 32:8; 1Cor2:11) and bodies which looked like God’s body but which would be made of matter (Gen 2:7) rather than spirit like God’s body (John 4:24).
Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Gen 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Gen 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us [God is more than one being] make man in our image, [Man created with mind power like God; with the ability to think (1Cor 2:11)] after our likeness:[Man created with the shape and appearance of God (John 14:9).] and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
God is more than one being as mentioned in Gen 1:26 where we see the plural being used to refer to God i.e., “And God said, Let us….” and “…..make man in our image….” and “……after our likeness…..” At the time of the creation of man, the kingdom of God consisted of only two separate and distinct beings but it is to grow to include many more God beings. God created mankind for the purpose of reproducing Himself. God is a family which is to grow into a nation and a kingdom. For a detailed explanation of this topic, please click on the following hyperlink: What is the Kingdom of God?
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [Man created after the God kind not after any of the beasts of the air, of the earth or of the water He created.]
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. [Man not created like any of the other animals whose brains have no mind power but only instinct; mankind would have dominion or rule over them because of the mind power which only it has because unlike all the other animals of God’s creation, man was created after the God kind.]
Why did God create man with a mind similar to their own (man created after Their image) and with bodies of flesh similar in shape and appearance to their own (according to Their likeness)?
Because God’s purpose in creating mankind is, as previously mentioned, to reproduce Themselves.
And how would that occur?
God Reproducing Himself through Mankind
The Bible tells us that it is possible for flesh-and-blood men to become part of God’s Kingdom by being born again (John 3).
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
And, what does it mean to be born again? We can definitely know by examining what happened the first time a flesh-and-blood human being was born again.
Col 1:18 And he [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Christ was born again by a resurrection from the dead and is the firstborn among many brethren. There are many more flesh-and-blood human beings that are to be born again.
And what do those that are born again look like? Are they still flesh-and-blood human beings? The answer can be clearly found in the following verses of 1Co 15 which is also known as the resurrection chapter. Please feel free to read all of 1Co 15.
1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:44 It is sown [buried] a natural body [a flesh-and-blood body]; it is raised [resurrected] a spiritual body.[with a spirit body] There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. [There are two separate and distinct types of bodies; one is flesh-and-blood and the other is spirit.]
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood [while a person is a flesh-and-blood human being] cannot inherit [become part of] the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption [a flesh-and-blood body] inherit [can become] incorruption. [immortal]
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead [the dead flesh-and-blood body we had at the time of death] shall be raised [resurrected] incorruptible,[an immortal body made of spirit] and we shall be changed. [from a body subject to corruption, decay and death to a new spirit body in which dwells incorruption or immortality]
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Those who are born again are no longer flesh-and-blood. Christ was the firstborn from the dead and many are to be born again like He was. When they are born again at the time of the blowing of the 7th trumpet which is also the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming they then will rise from their graves with immortal spirit bodies and become part of God’s family, nation and kingdom. And, as we know, others are to follow at the time of the 3rd resurrection. For a detailed explanation of what occurs at the time of the 3rd resurrection, please click on the following hyperlink: When are God’s Millennial Saints Resurrected and Will They Appear to the Unconverted?
Why is God Reproducing Himself?
In order to get our answer, we need to go to the book of Hebrews.
Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
The “world to come” is not the Millennium nor the Last Great Day as made clear from the following verses.
Mar 10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
The “world to come” is not the “World Tomorrow” which Mr. Armstrong thought would be the Millennium.
Why?
Because as the Scriptures plainly say, “…..the world to come…..” is the time when eternal life or life everlasting is received. During the Millennium men do not and will not receive eternal life.
The “world to come” is the time when the Kingdom of God will be fully established. A new heaven and new earth (Rev 21:1) will have been created and the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:2) will have come down from heaven with God the Father who will then dwell with His glorified saints. God cannot dwell with sin and until the end of His plan of salvation where all human beings have either been burnt up in the Lake of Fire or have become glorified spirit beings, there will be sin on the earth. It is only when there will be no sin on the earth that the new Jerusalem can and will come down from heaven and God will dwell on the earth (Rev 21:1-3). This will be the new heaven and the new earth; the old earth and heavens will have passed away (Rev 21:1).
Let’s continue with the book of Hebrews.
Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Heb 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: (Gen 1:28)
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
For the present time, as a flesh-and-blood human being, man has only been given dominion over the beasts of the earth, of the air and of the water created by God but there is a time coming when he will be given dominion or rulership over all things created by God. This will happen when those who are saved become glorified spirit beings fully sharing in the very nature of God and given to rule over the new heaven and the new earth. While a human being of very limited power man cannot have all things under him; only as a glorified spirit being will this become possible. The new heaven and the new earth will be created at the end of God’s plan of salvation for mankind after the 3rd resurrection occurs and the Lake of Fire burns up the wicked. At that time God’s kingdom will be complete and God’s glorified saints will have all things put under them.
God’s purpose for having created man according to the God kind is for man to one day become God as God is God and be given rulership over the new heaven and the new earth. The dominion of God’s glorified saints over God’s creation will of course occur under the authority and direction of Christ with God the Father being the highest in authority.
Now, let’s examine why God created man with mind power.
Mind Power
Of all the living creatures created by God, only man’s brain has mind power i.e., the ability to think and acquire vast amounts of knowledge which he can put to use in living out his life. His behavior is not wholly controlled by instinct which can be defined as a predetermined and limited list of possible reactions in response to the different situations that will be encountered by an animal in which there is no mind power as it lives out its life. These reactions are not thought out, the external conditions faced by the animal simply trigger certain specific behaviors which for the greatest part are not under the willful control of the animal. They are mindless reactions to external factors. The animal brain does not think but in an extremely limited way and has a very limited ability to acquire knowledge as compared to the human brain. There are no books written or symphonies composed by animals whose brains do not have mind power nor will there ever be.
What is it that gives the human brain which is basically the same as that of other animals, mind power?
The Bible tells us that there is a spirit in man; a spirit essence which one receives at conception from God and which returns to God at the time of death.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
This spirit essence gives man’s animal brain, mind power i.e., the ability to think and to acquire and use vast amounts of knowledge all through his life.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
In other words, how is it that men can acquire the knowledge they have? The answer is that it is possible because of the spirit of man which is in them.
An unrelated but very important point to realize is that it is this same spirit given by God at the time of conception (when an ovum is fertilized by a spermatozoa) that results in the creation of a living human embryo.
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
As we have just read in Ecc 12:7 this spirit essence returns to God at the time of death. In fact, it is this spirit essence leaving the body that results in the irreversible death of an individual. As long as this spirit essence from God remains, there is life in the human body. But once it leaves the body, man’s body which is made up of the dust of the ground and to which God had given life at the time of conception, goes back to being the dust of the ground from which it was originally formed.
Now returning to the main topic of this study.
As we have seen in Genesis 1:26, man was created in the mental image and physical likeness of God. Man’s overall physical appearance is like God’s and man’s mental abilities are similar to God’s but of course, immensely less powerful.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
How do we know God created man in His physical likeness?
In the Bible at different places we can read that God has fingers, hands, feet, hair and eyes. Christ confirmed that men look just like God in their physical appearance when he responded to Philips request to see the Father.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Man also has the same mind as God but it is not nearly as powerful as God’s. However, it has the same ability to think and, acquire and use large amounts of knowledge. Man created after the God kind and it follows that men have similar mind abilities as God and are similar in physical appearance to God.
However, the mind of man in its abilities is limited to knowing the things of men i.e., in its natural state it is unable to know the things of God. In other words, the natural mind can know, understand and relate to other men and the physical-material world. But for the human mind to be able to know the things of God, another spirit essence needs to be added to it.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
What this Scripture is telling us is how it is possible for men to know the things that they know. How it is that men has the ability to acquire such vast amounts of knowledge as compared to animals in which there is no spirit essence as the one found in men. It is by the spirit of man which is in him. All men have the same spirit essence which gives them mind power which allows them to know and understand the things of other men. It gives men’s minds the power to understand other men as they all have the same spirit essence in them. However, this mind power does not make it possible for men to know the things of God. God exists on a different and higher plane than man so much so that God plainly says to men that:
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
And in 1Co 2 God plainly says that God’s thoughts and ways are “revealed” to men by His Holy Spirit.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Without God’s Holy Spirit it is not possible for men to understand the things (thoughts and ways) of God. But once it is given for a man to have God’s Holy Spirit then that person’s mind is enabled to understand the thoughts and ways of God as given us in God’s Holy Bible which is the means through which God speaks to true Christians. When God’s Spirit dwells in a man there is then a sharing of God’s thoughts and mind with man in the same way that men who all have the same spirit essence can and do share in and understand each other’s thoughts.
Why was it necessary that man of all the animals created by God be given mind power?
Because man was created by God for a very special purpose which is that God created man as the means of producing more God beings like Himself or of reproducing Himself. In addition to the verses of John 3 where we read that men can be born again as glorified spirit being by a resurrection from the dead if they are called, chosen and faithful, we have the following Scriptures where we learn that Christ is the first one of many other brethren to be born again to glorified spirit existence. Please see the following study for a detailed explanation of what it means to be “born again” Does the Holy Spirit Make it Possible for men to Obey God?
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Col1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
It was necessary that man be created with the same kind of mind as His creator so that God could have a relation with and communicate with His creation through the spirit in man to make it possible for Him to reproduce Himself through man.
Christ was the first man to be born again by a resurrection from the dead and be glorified but He was not to be the only one. Christ is the firstfruits of those who slept (dead); He is the firstborn from the dead that He may have the preeminence i.e., that He may be the first to be resurrected of many others to come (Rom 8:29).
There is Christ, the first of the firstfruits and then there will be all of God’s saints who are dead or alive that will be glorified at Christ’s 2nd Coming.
1 Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
All those that are begotten of God’s Holy Spirit are, in this life as flesh-and-blood human beings, a kind of firstfruits i.e., they are potential firstfruits if they endure in their calling; they are like firstfruits but have yet to become actual firstfruits or as the Bible calls them they are now “a kind of firstfruits” (Jas 1:18) of His creatures or ongoing process of spiritual creation.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
And in Rev 17:14 we read that the firstfruits of God’s plan of salvation are all those who have been called, chosen and faithful, whether dead or alive at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming, who then become glorified spirit beings and members of God’s Kingdom which at that point is not yet complete.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
There are still those that will convert during the Millennium and the Last Great Day and inherit salvation who will complete God’s Kingdom.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
A woman is symbolic of a church. Those that are defiled are those who did not mix God’s truth with the false beliefs of the churches of this world. Those defiled with women are those who after having come to the knowledge of the truth refuse to let go of one or more of the false beliefs they had absorbed from the world.
So, we have established that God is reproducing Himself through man through the process of being born again by a resurrection from the dead to glorified spirit life and this is clearly borne out by the Scriptures we have just reviewed. Now, we need to determine why it is salvation is not possible without “character.”
In order to do so we have to spend some time examining what is “free moral agency” which will lead us to understanding why it is God cannot create character by fiat or decree i.e., He cannot simply by giving out an order cause an individual to have character.
We will recall that God commanded ancient Israel to choose; a command which applies not only to Israel but which will apply to all mankind at the time when it will be called and have to make the decision to chose life or death, to obey or not obey God.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
In order for God to be able to give this command to Israel and mankind, man must be free to choose with there being no higher power in the universe that can force him to choose something against his will. If there were such a power, decisions taken by men would not be their own but those of the higher power working its will through them. Then God would not be able to judge man as the decisions he makes would not be his own. The absolute freedom to choose with no power existing that can force one to choose something against his will is what is called “free, moral agency.” This is the essential requirement making it possible for character to exist in a person; more on this later.
In order to be able to choose, it is essential that man’s animal brain have mind power. The brain of animals like a dog or cat does not have mind power. They do not think as man can think nor can they acquire anywhere near the vast amount of knowledge that the human brain can. An animal’s actions and reactions, for the greatest part, are wholly dictated by instinct i.e., a list of predetermined actions from which the animal cannot deviate in any significant way in living its life. Mind power is what gives man the power to make decisions; to choose between one thing and another.
Mind power coupled with absolute free moral agency is what makes character possible.
Why?
The answer to this question comes to us from the definition of what is character?
Character is the decision knowingly, freely and willingly taken by an individual to obey God after having been given to know the truth. This person knowingly and freely without any physical or mental pressure being put on him by anyone decides to commit himself to obeying God to the best of his abilities in all things until the end of his physical life. He is not an eye servant obeying only when others see him or a lip servant who ceaselessly tells everyone how much he wants to obey and is obeying God but who in his personal life away from others does no such thing. A person of character tries to obey God whether or not someone is looking on or not. The reason why he obeys God is because he has decided to do so because God requires it of him; not because of any man’s influence or out of any desire to please any man.
God created mankind with mind power and free moral agency to make it possible for men to be beings of character i.e., for them to be able to freely choose to obey God after being given to know the truth. Their choice of obedience to God must be their own without being forced to choose one way or another by any higher or stronger power. The decisions they make must be fully their own which makes them fully responsible for them. This is how it must be for God to be able to judge them. The world is not now under judgment (1Pet 4:17) because it is spiritually blind; it does not know the correct difference between right and wrong and therefore cannot choose one over the other. All they can do is what seems right in their sight.
Character Cannot be Created by Decree or Fiat
Based on all that we have seen so far, it should be becoming clearer why it is that God cannot create character in a human being. Character is something that is the result of a decision which has to be knowingly and freely taken by the person in whom it is to exist. God will not force anyone to obey Him (Rom 8:14) nor can He do so if He wants to accomplish His goal of reproducing Himself through men.
Why?
If men are controlled by a higher power be it God or some other power then they can no longer be autonomous individuals with their own personality. They become an extension of the higher power which controls them in the same way that the behavior of animals is wholly controlled by instinct which are rules which, without even the animal realizing it, fully regulates its existence. If God were to force men to obey Him the mind power and free will given him would effectively be nullified. Men would lose their individuality and personality which is a product of their mind power and freedom to think. They would be like bees in a beehive following their instincts. Though there would be millions of men on the earth, God would not be able to reproduce Himself through them anymore than He can through the animals He created whose lives are controlled by instinct.
God does not want to create a kingdom of automatons or robots who cannot think for themselves, make their own decisions and with no individuality or personality. In order for men to be individuals and have personality they cannot be under the control of a higher power. This is why free moral agency is a requirement to be saved. That is also why that the only ones that can become part of God’s kingdom are those who choose to obey God at the time of their calling when left entirely free not to do so. In this way they remain autonomous individuals with different and interesting personalities shaped by the knowledge and experience they acquire and the decisions they make as they live out their human lives. God wants to have a relationship with other beings who are individuals and who have personalities made possible by the ability they have to think and the freedom to choose or make decisions.
In other words, God wants to have a relationship with other beings who are just like him. A physical and human level comparison would be that of the kind of relationship that can be maintained between a man and his dog. The man may very much love his dog and the dog, in its own limited way, may very much love his caretaker human being but neither the man nor the dog can fully relate to each other as men can to other men and dogs to other dogs. A man on a deserted island with only a dog or some other animal as a companion will not find his human relation needs satisfied as the dog for all its loveability cannot relate to a human being as human beings can spontaneously relate to other human beings. They are both on different levels of existence and the man though having a dog for company, is essentially all by himself.
This is why, for God to be able to reproduce Himself, He had to create a being that could be elevated from the level of existence to which it was crated (the human level) to the God level of existence so that this new God level being could fully relate to God and the Word wholly having the very nature of God. If God were to mind control those who are to become part of His Kingdom, God would still be alone in the universe. Mind power and the absolute freedom to make decisions is what makes possible individuality and personality and these are the types of beings that God wants for His Kingdom. He can and has created a very great variety of life forms with no mind power and decision making ability but none of them are suitable as members of His kingdom.
Character is required i.e., the unforced decision to commit oneself to obey God to the best of one’s abilities after coming to the knowledge of the truth, for God to be sure that those to whom He will give immortal life and with whom He will share His very nature and power will never rebel against Him. It will also ensure that all those becoming part of His kingdom will readily and joyfully accept the role they will be called to play in it so that though made up of possibly hundreds of thousands of individuals and possibly more, God’s Kingdom will function as a single living organism similar to the way the millions of cells in a human body all work harmoniously and in cooperation with one another in providing all the body needs. For a detailed explanation of how the many parts of God’s Kingdom will function as one, please see the following study: What is the Kingdom of God?
How can God be sure there will be no change of heart on the part of those becoming part of His Kingdom?
The Spirit in Man
Human beings are made out of physical matter and the physical is always changing; however, spirit once its creation is complete, no longer changes or can change.
We have seen there is a spirit in man which God gives at the time of conception and which returns to God at the time of death.
This spirit essence in addition to giving man’s animal brain mind power is also the means used by God to fully record all that a person has been in this life. It is in a sense a spirit mold of the person that faithfully records in the smallest detail all the person has been until the time of death.
When the time comes for the resurrection to occur, this spirit mold will be used by God who will pour immortality and His very nature into it. The person who had died will regain consciousness in a new glorified body in which dwells eternal life and the very nature of God who is His Father by whom he was spiritually-begotten while a human being. Christians who have endured in their calling, in the resurrection, become a God being as God is God. The person’s commitment to obey God in all things until the time of his death and which was recorded in the spirit mold that returned to God at the time of death, in the resurrection, will become permanent.
God will never have to worry again about a rebellion occurring as happened with Lucifer and the angels that followed him.
Conclusion
As we have seen, character is something that must come from the individual; it is not something that can be imposed from the outside by someone else. Character, individuality and personality require mind power and freedom of decision making. If mind power is taken away, there is no possible decision making; if the freedom to make decisions is removed, then there is a corresponding loss of autonomy, individuality and personality and man cannot be a being of character having no free will. And, without character, there can be no salvation because God will not give immortal life and share his very nature with beings whose obedience is not certain as was the case for the spirit beings He created with immortal life and who then rebelled against Him i.e. the angels. The freely and knowingly made decision by men called by God to obey Him and which is maintained until their death will become an unchanging part of their glorified spirit being at the time of their resurrection ensuring there will never be any rebellion in God’s Kingdom
God wants to populate His Kingdom with beings with whom He can have a relationship and in order for that to be possible, they must be beings that are not under His control as if that were to occur they would then cease to be individuals with different personalities; they would simply become extensions of God’s mind. These beings would then be like computers whose functioning is totally defined by their programming and which are incapable of thinking by themselves not having their own mind. Despite possibly having hundreds of thousands of such beings in His Kingdom God would still be alone with Christ as would be the case of a man surrounded by computers he has programmed.
In order for men to become God as God is God and become part of God’s Kingdom, God cannot take away the mind power and absolute freedom of choice He gave mankind and this is what would occur if God were to impose His will on men by force.
If God wanted to prevent men from sinning by force, He would have done it a long time ago. There would have been no original sin, no rebellion from Satan and no man would have been able to make a wrong decision. There would have been no necessity for the Logos to become a man and suffer and die to become God’s perfect sacrifice for sin. The downside of God forcing men to submit to Him is that God would not be able to reproduce Himself through mankind as He purposed to do in creating them.
Character is the freedom to make the wrong decision with nothing forcing you to make the right decision and voluntarily choosing to make the right decision even if it causes you some degree of personal frustration or discomfort to do so.
Character is not the result of being forced by an external and superior power to follow a specific course of action against one’s will. This process would effectively have no lasting results for as soon as there would no longer be that external pressure, the person would revert to being who they were before.
Character can only come from the person itself freely and voluntarily making the decision to submit himself to God after having been given to know the truth. In performance, it is a sure thing that men’s willful submission to God will never be perfect given human beings are fallible but, in attitude of mind, it can be perfect in that it does not waiver or falter; and this is what God wants. As long as one remains very firm and sincere in his intention to obey God in all things; that he is making a real effort to obey God, God does not impute sin. Though because of the infirmity of their flesh as the Bible calls it, men continue to be sinners, no sin is imputed to those whose attitude continues to be to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities.
Psa 3 2:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
In this way, Christians retain their individuality and personality in this life and they will retain it when they become glorified spirit beings in the kingdom of God which will be filled with a great variety of different and interesting personalities and individuals who can be family with God the Father and Christ and with whom they can have personal, interesting and joyful relationships; something which would not be possible with totally mind-controlled automatons who cannot spontaneously generate or have a thought of their own.
For all of the reasons given, it should now be clear that God cannot reproduce Himself through mankind if He forces men to obey Him against their will. It should also be clear based on the story of mankind as we read it in the Bible that God has not been forcing obedience as He is not now forcing obedience and that He will not force obedience in the future right on up until the completion of His plan of salvation.
He cannot force men to obey Him because He would then not be able to reproduce Himself through them as has been explained throughout this study. This is why during the Millennium and the Last Great Day, God’s plan of salvation will not change; He will not then subject mankind to great pain and suffering to force them to repent any more than He does now or has been doing in the past.
God says He changes not (Heb 13:8) There are not two different plan of salvation with one applying to New Testament Christians who are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8) and a very different one applying to those who will live during the Millennium and the Last Great Day and who would be saved through being forced to obey God to stop the pain and suffering coming upon them from God.
Hopefully, you have the mind to understand the information provided in this study and that as a result you will have gained an improved understanding of what is character.
God's Spiritual Nation 