Salvation Was Not the End Goal

Dear Friend,

Christmas is here, and while the calendar insists on celebration and closure, what feels unmistakably clear is that this year did not linger or slow itself down for anyone. It was as if time itself understood that a transition was already underway and that what was coming next required momentum.

As many prepare their minds and hearts to commemorate Christ’s arrival, I want to pause and name what I am most grateful for. While believers often say that Jesus came to die for our sins so that we could go to heaven, and that is true, it is incomplete, and incomplete truths are often the reason so many people live powerless lives while claiming faith.

To see the fuller picture, we have to read Scripture with government in mind.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”—Daniel 7:13–14 (NIV)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.”—Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

In Daniel, we see Jesus approaching God and receiving authority, glory, and sovereign power as a legal transfer of dominion within a kingdom that would never be destroyed. In Isaiah, we see the prophet announcing that when Jesus arrives, He is not just bringing salvation, He is bringing government. And if that is true, then the question becomes unavoidable: what government was He restoring to the earth, especially when kings were already ruling at the time?

The answer is that Jesus was not competing with earthly systems; He was reinstating the government of the Kingdom.

This matters because governments do not exist without citizens, authority does not function without jurisdiction, and dominion is meaningless unless it is exercised. To put it another way, Christ did not merely come to secure our afterlife; He came to restore our function. His life, death, and resurrection ushered in a new covenant that reopened access to heaven on earth as a present reality rather than a future reward. In other words, when He died, the Kingdom cracked open, and what had been lost in Genesis, which was authority, dominion, and alignment, was legally restored to those created in His image.

This restored authority is the reason we are able to bind and loose. It is the reason that our words carry weight and consequence. It is also the reason prayer is not begging and why waiting on God is often a misunderstanding of what government actually requires. If you listened to my teachings from last year, or bought my book, Words & Authority, then you know that authority flows through breath, and the breath of God that animates us is functional, granting us the capacity to legislate outcomes in alignment with heaven while standing firmly on earth.

Since 2021, I have been wrestling with this truth as a lived reality. What began as frustration born from lack slowly became an invitation into the Kingdom itself. I truly believe that lack has a way of exposing where belief has not yet crossed into embodiment. With this in mind, I can say honestly that it took me years to fully step into what I had been teaching, not because the message was untrue, but because there was a gap between my mind, my spirit, and my body. We all know that authority cannot flow cleanly through a divided vessel and that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and such was I. To be clear, I did not arrive here quickly, but I arrived here because I believed it enough to stay with it.

Looking back now at the years I have spent leading the Let There Be Challenge and immersing myself in the study of the Kingdom, I can see with clarity that nothing was wasted. Yes, there were moments when I questioned whether the Kingdom was truly a place or a realm that could be experienced here and now, but those doubts stemmed from the fact that my experiences were still tethered to the earthly system I had been conditioned to trust. As I continued to press deeper and the journey demanded that I experience the Kingdom rather than merely talk about it, I came to understand something that now feels undeniable: religion and tradition, when divorced from authority and practice, will keep you out.

By religion, I do not mean devotion, reverence, or faithfulness. I mean systems that teach belief, theology, and ritual while disregarding embodiment, jurisdiction, and power. I mean environments that reward agreement while discouraging demonstration. When I see it clearly, it makes sense why God told me not to attend Princeton’s theology school (I was salty about it, too), why proximity to certain church spaces was withheld even when I desired belonging, and why I found myself enrolled instead in what I can only describe as Holy Ghost training school, complaining the entire way while being taught how the Kingdom actually functions.

It was never about isolation for isolation’s sake. It was about formation. God was intent on ensuring that what I knew would not remain theoretical because the Kingdom is not accessed through information alone. It is accessed through alignment, obedience, and the willingness to test Scripture with expectation. Essentially, I stopped being afraid to put the Bible to work, to live as though what it says is true, and to find out for myself what happens when heaven and earth actually agree.

And what I can tell you with confidence is this: the Kingdom is real, it has always been real, and it is the invitation to an abundant life that does not require waiting until death to begin. It is the framework through which authority makes sense, provision becomes consistent, and favor is no longer random but lawful.

As we stand at the edge of a new year, I believe without hesitation that 2026 will favor many who are willing to step out of religious passivity and into Kingdom responsibility, and my prayer is that you are among those who decide to govern rather than simply believe.

Happy Holidays.