How will God deal with each person in the hour when he is judged?...

According to what he has done.

There is an important truth here, a truth that sometimes has been eclipsed by an incorrect understanding of how the grace of God operates under the new covenant.

Paul is the Apostle and teacher of the grace of God in Christ. Paul carefully and ably shows we are saved by the righteousness of God in Christ and that we cannot add to this righteousness by striving to keep the Law of Moses. Paul teaches that we are saved by grace and not by works. By "works" he means the works of the Jewish Law.

Gentile Bible teachers have interpreted the word "works" to mean righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God.

Gentiles, not being familiar with or pressed by the Law of Moses, have interpreted Paul’s statements concerning works to mean godly behaviour is not an essential aspect of salvation. We Gentiles believe we are saved by faith in Christ apart from godly behaviour. Salvation independent of godly behaviour is an error in Protestant theology and represents an erroneous application of Paul’s thesis.

This error in understanding has perverted beyond recognition the Gospel of grace taught by the Apostle Paul. Being saved "by grace" has come to mean the necessary aspect of Christianity is that we make a correct statement of faith concerning Christ. Whether or not we practice righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God is not essential to our entrance into the Kingdom of God because we have been "saved by grace."

Any person who studies carefully the writings of Paul, as well as those of the other Apostles, can observe instantly that far more emphasis is placed on righteous behaviour that on a correct statement of faith concerning Christ.

Jesus commanded us to let our light shine. Many Christian churches have interpreted this to mean we should tell others about the way of salvation in Christ. Is this what Jesus meant?

Or did He mean when men witness our righteous conduct they will glorify God?

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

"Your good works."

Are Christians identified by a statement of faith in Christ or by righteous conduct?

What does the saying mean, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20)?

If "by their fruits ye shall know them" means the prophets of the Lord can be identified by their statement of faith concerning Christ, then the Christian churches are true to the Scripture.

If "by their fruits ye shall know them" means the prophets of Christ are identified, not by their statement of faith but by their righteous behavior, holiness, and obedience to God, then the doctrine of Divine grace is being taught incorrectly in our day.

If the question during the Day of the Lord is whether we have made the right kind of statement about Christ, then Christians have understood Paul’s teaching concerning the grace of God.

If the question during the Day of the Lord is whether or not we have lived in righteous behavior holiness, and obedience to God, then Christians have not understood Paul’s teaching concerning the grace of God in Christ. We will leave it to the reader to search the four Gospel accounts and determine for himself or herself what issues will be raised at the return of the Lord Jesus from Heaven.

Divine grace has been preached as an alternate road to the Kingdom of God. Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount (the fifth through the seventh chapters of Matthew) in which he described how men should live. But now we have an alternate route to the Kingdom of God. Instead of doing what Jesus said, it is enough that we "receive Him by faith." Then we will be saved "by grace alone."

Some hard-core Dispensationalists maintain that the Sermon on the Mount is not applicable to the saints because the saints are saved by grace. This one teaching alone should alert any devout believer to the fact that Dispensationalism is the enemy of Christ. Like the Pharisees of old, we have made the Word of God of none effect. The truth is, the Sermon on the Mount contains the eternal laws of the Kingdom of God. Whoever has the Spirit of God in him will say amen to this. Of course the Sermon on the Mount applies full force to the saints of the new covenant! Any teaching to the contrary is not coming from the Lord for it makes His words irrelevant.

Every devout, experienced Christian will recognize the implications of the issue we are raising here. If salvation by grace means God has invalidated the Sermon on the Mount for the believers of the new covenant, then all is safe and well in the camp of the Christians—of which we are a part.

If salvation by grace does not mean God has invalidated the Sermon on the Mount but that the true grace of God in Christ is the Divine plan for enabling us to keep the Sermon on the Mount in this world, then millions of Christians have not understood Paul.

We are raising this issue at the point of Romans 2:6. We are raising it here because we cannot "see" or "hear" what Paul is saying further if our mind keeps on advising us that it does not apply to us because we are saved by grace and not by works.

At some point the view was advanced that we accept Christ because we cannot keep the commandments of God. All have sinned so God has decided to save us apart from our behaviour. We cannot save ourselves and so God has given Jesus Christ to us so we can believe and be saved. Since this is true, the only purpose of the commandments of Christ and of His Apostles is to show us clearly that we cannot save ourselves.

This is what I was taught when I came to Christ.

It absolutely is true that all have sinned and have come short of the Glory of God. It absolutely is true that no human being can save himself. Perfect so far!

The problem is what we mean by the word "saved." We mean qualified to go to Heaven when we die to live there eternally in a mansion. This is not what the Scriptures mean by "saved."

Therefore the current view of the Christian salvation is incorrect and destructive of God’s purpose in Christ. To be saved is to be brought into the Kingdom of God. Since there is no sin in the Kingdom of God, the program of salvation (and it is a program, a lifelong process), has to do with deliverance from sin and self-will.

It absolutely is true that all have sinned and have come short of the Glory of God. It absolutely is true that no human being can save himself, can deliver himself from sin.

God has sent the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from sin so we can enter His Kingdom.

Therefore we are to keep all of the commandments issued by Christ and His Apostles. God has given us grace through Christ so we can keep the commandments, not in order to provide an alternate route into the Kingdom of God! We come boldly to the throne of grace to receive power to keep the commandments of God.

It is said we cannot save ourselves by good works. This is the same as saying we cannot be delivered from sin by practicing good works. It is true that the adamic nature cannot deliver itself from the bondages of sin. But there is grace in the Lord Jesus that can and does deliver us from sin.

"Well," one will ask, "did God us so we would be able to keep His commandments?"

The answer is, yes. Notice below:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

The new covenant is not a means of evading the commandments of God but of keeping the commandments of God. When we do not keep the commandments of God we are not bearing the fruit of Christ’s image that God is looking for. Therefore we shall be cut out of the Vine, out of Christ.

We understand, therefore, that the present understanding of the Christian salvation is incorrect. The result of the error has been the moral destruction of the churches and, as a result, the moral destruction of the secular governments that have only the moral light of the churches to guide them.

Today we see numerous pastors and believers falling into moral sin. The reason is twofold. First it is because the satanic pressure on the world has increased. Second it is because the Gospel is viewed as a means of avoiding the commandments of God rather than the means of keeping the Lord’s commandments.

In our day the Lord must remove the view of the Gospel as the Divine alternative to godly behaviour. If He does not, the end of the age is surely at hand and multitudes of believers will face destruction in the day of resurrection.

The Great Commission did not charge the Apostles to go forth and advise the nations that if they "make a decision for Christ" there is no need for them to keep God’s commandments. The Great Commission charged the Apostles to teach the nations to keep the commandments of the Lord.

The end result of all of God’s covenants is people who do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Whenever this goal is changed for any reason whatever, no matter how "correct" the reason may seem to be, we know that Satan has been at work.

If we are saved by belief alone, then God will not recompense "every man according to his deeds." God will render to every man according to his deeds except the men who have believed in Christ. God will not repay the believers according to their deeds.

The current Dispensational teaching is that upon receiving Christ the spiritual laws of cause and effect are done away. The Christian will not be held accountable for his behaviour in the world. He will not reap what he sows. His lies, his stealing, his fornication, his rage, his gossiping, his self-will shall not be dealt with as will the wickedness of people who have not accepted Christ.

According to the current deception, the inhabitants of Heaven and of the new Jerusalem will not be people who practice righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. They will lie. They will steal. They will bear malice in their hearts, and they will not forgive.

Their behaviour is not of critical importance because they all are saved by grace—"saved" meaning they have been allowed to enter Paradise. For ten thousand years, according to one commentator, the believers will be praising God for His grace, meaning they still are filled with wickedness but God has brought them into Paradise.

It is maintained by deceived teachers that the main thing God is searching for is our statement of belief in His Son. What kind of character we demonstrate is important, but not critically so—at least not as far as Divine judgment is concerned.

The Dispensationalist holds that a true Christian saint is one who possesses the correct statement of faith concerning the Lord Christ. Whether or not he or she practices fornication, stealing, self-will, self-exaltation, disobedience to God, murder, covetousness, or strife will not have a significant bearing on his or her destiny when death comes and Divine judgment is administered.

Do you truly believe this?

It is not what Paul, James, Peter, and John taught. It is not what Paul meant when he taught that we are saved by grace through faith.

The Scripture states:

Who will render to every man according to his deeds (Romans 2:6).

Our question is, does Romans 2:6 (above) apply to the new-covenant saint?

The writer’s conviction is that it does, with the following two provisions:

The sinful man or woman, boy or girl, on coming to the Lord Jesus for salvation, receives total forgiveness of all sins committed. This is a full pardon. God remembers these sins no longer.

When a Christian sins he is to confess the sin to the Lord and repent of his conduct, receiving Divine grace to enable him to resist the devil in the future. Upon confessing his sin he is forgiven and cleansed, and the particular behavior will never be mentioned to him again provided he does not resume practicing what has been confessed and repented of.

The above two provisions apply to the Christian. There is no provision for the individual who has not believed in Christ, who has not come under the new covenant.

If Divine grace is not an indulgent attitude on God’s part such that the behavior of Christian people is being overlooked, what relationship doesgrace have to the Divine standards of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God?

Divine grace, which is the Virtue of God imparted to men through Christ, includes within itself the supernatural wisdom and power which, when received by the saint, enables him or her to meet the Divine standards of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God.

God’s requirements are not some fantastically difficult and complicated program beyond the mind of man to conceive. God has showed us what is good, and all He requires is that we behave righteously, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. This is all. Not so hard at that!

God has given us His Word, the body and blood of His Son, and the eternal, incorruptible resurrection Life of His Holy Spirit. He has given us these so we will have the wisdom and strength to behave righteously, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

God expects that we will accept His forgiveness and also the provisions He has made so we will live in obedience to His will. God never allows any saint at any time to be tempted beyond God’s provisions. There always is a way of escape that has been constructed for the particular temptation.

To maintain we are debtors to the flesh to walk in the flesh; to say we are condemned to disobey God while we are in the world; is to deny the ability of the new covenant to make us new creatures in Christ.

If we will study the Scripture, examining the provisions God has made for us and mix faith with the Word that we read, we will find that God is expecting each saint to grow in grace. To grow in grace is to mature in the ability to distinguish between good and evil and in the strength to choose the good.

The mark of maturity is skill in the word of righteousness (Hebrews 5:13).

Now you have become aware of two different viewpoints of Divine grace. The first viewpoint is that Jesus saves us in our sins so we can go to Heaven. The second viewpoint is that Jesus saves us from our sins so we no longer will be incurring the wrath of God but can have fellowship with Him throughout all the marvels of the ages to come. Which viewpoint do you choose to believe?

Your choice may determine whether or not you decide to conduct your life as the Lamb and His Apostles taught us; and as a result whether you enter the Kingdom of God.

As we proceed in our study of the Book of Romans you may notice that the writer of this Study Guide favors the second viewpoint, and will interpret Paul’s statements in the light that Divine grace (which in its fullest sense is the Lord Jesus Himself) includes the power to overcome sin.

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