salvation is not a legalistic transaction where someone's "debt" is paid; instead, it is a technical, lifelong process of regeneration. it is the actual restructuring of your mind so that you can live in harmony with heaven. this process involves the systematic removal of selfish loves and the implantation of divine loves by the lord.
everyone is born with a proprium, which is the technical term for the "self" or ego that is naturally oriented toward self-love and worldly power. this inherited nature creates a state of separation from god. because the proprium is rooted in the natural mind, it cannot save itself. if we were left to our own devices, we would always choose our own selfish desires over divine order.
salvation requires a partnership between us and jesus, the divine human. jesus provides us with as-of-self agency, which is the power to act as if we are doing it ourselves, even though the power actually comes from him.
to begin the process of salvation, we must use this agency to:
learn truths from the word: we must educate our rational mind so we can distinguish between what is good and what is evil.
shun evils as sins: this is the most critical technical step. we must identify a specific selfish habit and stop doing it, not because of social pressure or law, but because it is a sin against the lord jesus. we call on jesus while under temptation to help us not do any specific sin.
act as-of-self: we must make the effort to do what is right, while simultaneously acknowledging that the lord is the one giving us the strength to do it. to be proud of overcoming any particular sin and claiming YOU DID IT without jesus help is called being SELF-RIGHTEOUS which itself is a sin.
when we resist an evil as a sin, the lord is able to perform the "heavy lifting" in our subconscious mind. he provides a divine influx of his holy spirit that gradually removes the evil loves from our will and replaces them with a new spiritual will.
this is a gradual process often compared to physical birth. it involves:
conception: the moment we decide to live by the truth.
gestation: a long period of learning and practicing truths.
temptation (labor): spiritual struggles where our old selfish nature fights against our new spiritual desires.
birth: the point where our loves have finally been transformed, and we find genuine joy in doing good.
the end result of salvation is conjunction. this is a state where our mind is so perfectly aligned with the lord’s love and wisdom that we are technically "one" with him. in this state, the lord's holy spirit can flow into us without being blocked by our ego and our reformed rational mind now controls our fleshly bodies. initially only parts of our rational mind are in this state as we fight each particular sin we struggle with and the lord removes the love for that sin. eventually the entirety of our flesh submits to our fully submitted and reformed rational mind and we are at peace which is what the sabbaths rest represents.
because heaven is a state of mind before it is a place, salvation is the process of building a "heavenly mind" while we are still on earth. when we die, we simply continue living in the spiritual state we have spent our life building. if we have been regenerated, we are naturally drawn to heaven because our loves match the loves of the angels. those who have developed selfish loves are drawn toward hellish societies. our own reformed or unreformed loves truly become our own judge after death. this is why jesus states in john 12:48, that those who reject him and his teachings have a judge: "the word that i have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
TikTok COMMENT
This post is entirely correct! The entire “once saved always saved” debate misses the point. They are asking the wrong question. The real question isn’t “am I eternally secure regardless of how I live?” It’s “have I been genuinely transformed? Do I still love the sins I used to love, or has Christ changed my heart so I now love what’s good?” Salvation isn’t a legal status you acquire at a moment in time that remains valid no matter what you love afterward. Salvation is ongoing transformation where your loves are changed from evil to good, from self to God and neighbor. If you genuinely love Christ, you’ll keep His commandments (John 14:15). Not perfectly, but progressively. Your ruling loves will shift from loving sin to loving righteousness. You’ll fight against evil because it’s become foreign to your new nature. The person obsessing over “can I lose my salvation?” while living unchanged is asking the wrong question. Ask instead; “Am I being transformed? Do I hate the sins I used to enjoy? Am I growing in love for God and neighbor? Is there actual fruit of the Spirit in my life?” If you still love your sins, enjoy evil, and have no desire to change, you’re not saved, regardless of what prayer you prayed or altar you approached. If you’re genuinely being transformed, fighting against sin (even when you sometimes fail), and your heart is turning toward God, that’s evidence of real salvation working in you. Stop focusing on maintaining a status. Focus on whether Christ is actually transforming your loves. “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20). What fruit is your life producing? That’s the real question. Salvation isn’t fire insurance. It’s becoming a new creation where “old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Are you being made new, or are you the same person trying to claim eternal security as a loophole?