Being made alive in spirit by the Spirit of God; being born again. Both Father and Son have life in themselves and gave it to whomever hears Christ's words and believes on the One who sent Him. This is the new birth

 In our current kingdom we are being saved from the grip and practice of our sins by the ongoing work of Jesus Christ upon our hearts and minds, throught the Holy Spirit.  Concerning this salvation, God's grace is its source and ultimate cause; Christ's death and resurrection is God's provision for it; the Holy Spirit is the devine agent in making it personal; faith is the human response required to receive it; calling on the name of the Lord is its human trigger; our repentance, baptism and actions are confirming evidence and holding fast to faith, hope, and love in Christ is its final proof.

 

 In the future kingdom we shall be saved from the presence and possibility of sin forever by the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead to immortality. This is glorification and eternal life: salvation consummated. This is not only the how but also the when of our freedom from sin that the gospel delivers.

  I am pleased to be the great great grandson of Gilbert Cranmer. My paternal grand mother, Rachel Betsy Cranmer Wise, was Gilbert Cranmer's great grand daughter. An English relative of his, Thomas Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was burned at the stake made mistakes and struggled in attempting to reform the Church of England. Even though he considered himself a failure, others were inspired by his zeal to complete his unfinished tasks. When Gilbert Cranmer was a boy in New York, there was a lot of excitment about the recently gained freedom from British rule and freedom from the Church of England which the Pilgrims had only dreamed of. Gilbert Cranmer determined as a teenager that he was going to be a preacher. He taught himself to preach by preaching alone to tree stumps on his parent's farm. As an adult, he attempted to join the efforts of religous organizations but spent much of his life being an independent, self supporting, traveling evangelist. His life was a constant struggle but he loved to preach when ever he could. He was a good organizer and administrator but during the first half of his life his passion was to create a group of Christians, select a leader for the group, and travel to another area.  Later he saw the need do more for people than just making them Christians and leaving them to live the American way of life. He realized that people needed to live God's way. He saw the need for the scattered groups of people to band together in order to live God's way and join with Him in accomplishing His plans. He organized a dozen churches in Michigan into a state conference. They developed their own Church Hymnal and started a Church magazine which was sent to more States than just Michigan. Their dream was for the people in other States receiving the church newspaper to organize into State conferences and eventually develop a national conference. This dream didn't come true until after Gilbert Cranmer retired but like Thomas Cranmer, Gilbert Cranmer's zeal inspired others to accomplish what he couldn't and developed not just a State Conference but an international one. Both Gilbert and Thomas Cranmer were less than perfect but they were able to gloriy God.

  I have spent alot of years studing my family history discovering that other relatives were church pastors and I am related to the kings of Europe but none compares with what the Cranmers did to glorify God.  The harshness of the kings seemed to over shadow what ever good they accomplished. I believe that it is true that only what is done for God will last.