God has given men the Bible for the salvation of their souls. The Bible is a book which makes us wise for salvation (1 Pe 1:9; 2 Ti 3:15-17). If anyone believes in God but fails to be saved because he does not know the way of salvation, he will be a very unfortunate person. To receive the salvation of our souls, we need to correctly understand the Bible, which contains God's word, and find the way of salvation which God has shown us through the Bible. That's why we should diligently study the Bible.

God is the way and the truth and the life

God declared His word to His people through the prophets in each age. In the time of Moses, God descended on Mount Sinai and gave the law through Moses, which he would teach the people. 2,000 years ago, God Himself came down to this earth in the flesh and taught His people wisdom for salvation. All these are recorded in the Bible. Let's find the way of salvation presented in the Bible.

Jn 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus said, "I am the way," and, "No one comes to the Father except through me," which means, "No one can be saved except through me." Finding the truth means seeking God who leads us to the salvation of our souls. God Himself is the way and the truth and the life.

In our life of faith, if we do not understand God's word, we may commit a foolish act of pursuing or following anything other than God's word. Apart from God, everything is in vain. No matter how famous a pastor is, his fame or reputation is meaningless without God. Neither Peter nor Paul can save us. They are merely examples of faith to us, not the objects of our worship. To us there is one object of worship, God, who leads us to salvation.

Jn 5:39-40 "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

The only way to obtain salvation is to believe in God. However, God came in the likeness of a man, so nobody could recognize Him or seek Him.

If anyone claims to believe in God but fails to recognize God in the flesh and does not come to Him, how can he be saved? Jesus definitely said, "No one comes to the Father except through me." This means that no one can enter the kingdom of God except through Jesus.

Wisdom for salvation which the Bible shows

Since we cannot attain salvation except through God, we should press on to know God. In Genesis, God has already shown us that we have not only God our Father but also God our Mother.

Ge 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Since male and female were created in the image of God, we can see that there are two Gods—God of male image and God of female image. God of male image is called "Father" by all Christians. Then, what should they call God of female image? They should call Her "Mother," shouldn't they?

Through the history of Abraham's family, let's confirm that we cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven except through God our Father and God our Mother.

Lk 16:19-24 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham . . . ' "

Through the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the above verses, Jesus tells us about heaven and hell. Here, Jesus describes Lazarus as being carried to Abraham's side, referring to his going to heaven.

From the beginning God has been our Father. Only God is our true spiritual Father who gives us life (Mt 23:9). So, we can realize that "Father Abraham" in the above parable represents God. When we understand who became the heir of Abraham, we come to know who will be the heirs of God to inherit His kingdom.

Abraham's family and Mother

Ge 15:1-6 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." But Abram said, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir" . . .

Abraham was old and well advanced in years, so he had to choose his heir. Since Abraham had no children, he was planning to make Eliezer, a servant in his household, his heir and give him all his inheritance. However, God said, "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."

Ge 16:1-3, 15-16 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said . . . So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Sarah was very old, past the age of bearing children, so Abraham had a son named Ishmael through Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maidservant. Since Ishmael came from Abraham's body, he was qualified to be the heir of Abraham according to God's words, "A son coming from your own body will be your heir." However, God set another condition.

Ge 17:15-21 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her" . . . And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!" Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him . . . "

Abraham requested that Ishmael, born through the maidservant, be his heir, but God didn't allow it, and said that He would establish His covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah would bear. According to God's promise, Sarah bore Abraham a son, Isaac, who finally became Abraham's heir.

The final factor to decide the heir is the mother

Many verses in the Bible mention the process of how the heir of Abraham was decided. If it had no part with our salvation, God would not have written about it so detailedly. Since the Bible gives us wisdom for salvation, the history of Abraham's family is an important prophecy showing us through whom we will receive the inheritance of the eternal kingdom of heaven.

Let's take a careful look at all the candidates for the heir of Abraham. First, Eliezer was a servant born in Abraham's house. In ancient Israel, if parents were slaves in a household, their children were also slaves from birth and grew up in the master's house. From this, we can see that Eliezer was born of slave parents. God disqualified him from being Abraham's heir.

The second candidate was Ishmael, who was a son of Abraham the free man, coming from Abraham's own body. However, his mother was an Egyptian woman, Sarah's maidservant. God said he would not be Abraham's heir, either, and added a condition that his heir should be born through Sarah. Finally, Isaac, who was born of the body of Sarah, became the heir of Abraham.

There was the law of primogeniture in ancient Israel, by which the rights of inheritance were to be passed on to the eldest son. According to the paternal line, Ishmael should have inherited his father's estate as his eldest son. However, it was Isaac who became the heir of his father, Abraham, and received the inheritance. It was because inheritance was determined according to the maternal line.

The fact that Isaac received Abraham's inheritance through his mother suggests that we will receive the inheritance of the kingdom of God through our Mother. Receiving the inheritance of heaven means receiving eternal life, salvation, and all the other blessings of heaven.

The Gods who said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness," were Elohim—God our Father and God our Mother. If it had been possible to go to heaven only through God the Father, Ishmael would have been the heir of Abraham. However, it was not the will of God. He allowed Isaac to be Abraham's heir through his mother, Sarah, the free woman. Through this, God clearly shows us that we can receive the inheritance of heaven through God our Mother, the free Woman.

Salvation through God the Mother

The Apostle Paul explains in Galatians 4 as follows:

Gal 4:26-31 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother . . . Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

The Bible says that we, like Isaac, are children of promise, and that the Jerusalem above is free and She is our Mother. What should the free Woman's children call Her? They should call Her "Mother," shouldn't they? To receive the salvation of our souls, we must believe in Jerusalem Mother. In this age of the Holy Spirit, God our Mother has come as the free Woman like Sarah, and She bears children of promise and leads them to the everlasting heavenly kingdom. No one can go to heaven except through Mother.

So the Apostle John described the Bride giving the water of life as the heavenly Jerusalem, and the prophet Zechariah prophesied that living water would flow out from Jerusalem (Zec 14:8; ref. Rev 22:17; 21:9). The Bible clearly testifies that we can obtain eternal life and go to heaven through Mother.

God tells us to follow Him wherever He leads us, because He is the way. In Abraham's family, the single factor to finally decide the heir was "mother." Among God-given conditions for being Abraham's heir, the first condition was that his heir should come from his own body, and the second condition was that he should also be born from the body of Sarah. This implies that like Isaac, we can become the heirs of God and inherit His kingdom when we believe in God the Father and God the Mother as well.

A life worthy as the heirs of heaven

We are God's heirs who will inherit His kingdom. The Spirit Himself testifies that we are God's children and His heirs as well (Ro 8:16-18). So, all of us should walk the way of faith worthy as God's heirs.

Gal 4:6-7 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

If an heir lives a corrupt life every day, speaking and behaving badly, he will bring trouble to his parents. The wicked are those who do not follow the teachings of Father and Mother, claiming to believe in Them. They will never inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Co 6:9-10 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Those who will inherit the kingdom of God should act in a way worthy of God's heirs. Resembling God's generous and expansive heart, we should love and be considerate of others and take pity on people around the world with good conduct and gracious speech, so that we can lead all mankind to the way of life. By graciously practicing the virtues worthy of God's children and heirs, we should be an example to the world.

Father and Mother have never led us to the wicked way. Those who absolutely believe in Father and Mother and follow Them cannot fall into evil. On the contrary, those who live a corrupt life, walking in the way God doesn't lead, will easily fall into wickedness and lose their place among the heirs of God.

Let's go toward the eternal heavenly kingdom, following only the teachings of Father and Mother. 2,000 years ago, Jesus' disciples truly respected His words and followed Him completely, because they firmly believed that Jesus is God who has the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68) even though He came to this earth in the flesh, and that no one can enter heaven except through Him. Today we should have the same faith and realization that the disciples had.

Our salvation depends only on our God who is the way and the truth and the life. I truly hope that the heavenly children will all inherit the kingdom of heaven, like Isaac, by believing in God the Mother and obeying Her words.