Part Two What is Paul’s answer?....2

Can you understand the distinction between these two different comparisons: grace compared with the Law of Moses as distinguished from grace compared with the righteous and holy conduct of life? It is worth one’s while to consider the distinction between the two comparisons. Paul was stating that because we are under grace we no longer are required to observe the Levitical statutes (the "works" to which he was referring).

If, however, Paul had been maintaining that because we are under grace we no longer are required to crucify the flesh with its lusts and appetites, we no longer are required to observe the eternal moral laws, then most of the New Testament writings, including the Sermon on the Mount, would not be part of the new covenant. Some theologians teach that Christians are not obligated to observe the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount because Christians are saved by grace and not by works. This perversion of Paul’s intention and doctrine has destroyed the moral strength of the churches.

The Dispensational purists are teaching that the New Testament exhortations to holiness are not a part of Christianity, since we are saved by grace and not by godly behaviour. They are teaching error, and the result is that the testimony of many of the Christian churches has been ruined in the latter part of the twentieth century. Modern Christian teaching is a mixture of humanism, Gnosticism, and Dispensationalism (the most dangerous of the three).

Righteous behaviour must proceed from both the old covenant and the new covenant or else Divine judgment certainly shall follow. If righteous behaviour does not proceed from the new covenant, while it did in many instances proceed from the old covenant as we know from the godly lives of the saints mentioned in the Old Testament, then the old covenant is superior to the new covenant in accomplishing the eternal purpose of God.

However, righteous behaviour indeed does proceed from the new covenant. Righteousness and holiness are revealed in the behaviour and teaching of the Apostles of the Lamb.

The eternal purpose of God is the creation of both righteous conduct and praise to Himself in the earth. The covenant that best accomplishes these two goals is the superior covenant.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations (Isaiah 61:11).

The nucleus of the present theological confusion probably has to do with the goal of the covenants. The goal of both the old and new covenants is people who behave justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. however, present-day theology perceives the goal of the new covenant to be that of gaining entrance to Heaven when we die.

No covenant of God ever had going to Heaven when we die as its aim. This incorrect goal well may be the main reason for our difficulty in understanding the Apostle Paul. The goal of the old covenant was to create righteous individuals. The goal of the new covenant is to create righteous individuals, not to attain residence in the spirit realm. The goal of current theology is unscriptural.

Current theology maintains we are saved by grace, not by righteous behaviour, so we can go to Heaven when we die. However, if the goal of the new covenant is not to go to Heaven but righteous behaviour (which it assuredly is!), then to teach that God is saving us by grace apart from our works is to maintain that God is saving us apart from saving us.

The mythological view of eternal residence in Heaven as the goal of the Divine redemption may have originated in the Catholic churches and undoubtedly was due to the influence of Gnosticism, which teaches that matter is inherently evil and spirit is inherently good. In any case, there is no basis whatever in the Old Testament or the New Testament for the doctrine that life in Heaven is the goal of redemption. The goal is righteous behavior with a view toward resurrection to eternal life and a place in God’s Kingdom on the new earth. Is the new covenant God’s apology for our sinning?

Is Christ the minister of sin?

Is it true that when we commit adultery God sees Christ and not us? Is Christ actually the covering for our wicked actions so God does not and cannot judge them? Do you believe this?

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [immorality], and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:4).

What does "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [immorality]" mean? It means, according to the context, coming into the Christian assembly as a member, as a fellow saint supposedly, and practicing wicked behaviour. When a person who seeks to have fellowship with God’s people practices immorality he is turning the grace of God into lust.

But if Christ is a covering for our wickedness, and God sees us only through the righteous Jesus, how can such grace be turned into immorality, seeing that grace covers our behaviour?

'Well, one may say, the wicked to whom Jude refers never had received Christ but only had made a superficial profession. How do we know this?

By their behaviour, of course. If they had actually received Christ they would not be bound by adultery. Is this our argument?

Then what we are maintaining is that a true saint can be recognized only by his or her conduct, which is the truth of the Scripture. We have come to agree with Pastor James that faith apart from works is dead.

Faith can live only in works of righteousness. In fact, the grace of God saves us so we can practice righteous works, not so we can flee from the earth and go to live in the realm of bodiless spirits.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Does the above passage teach us we are saved by grace through faith so we may be created unto good works, unto good works! If it does, contemporary Christian theology is in error.

Have we not been woefully deceived?

Many godly saints were produced under the old covenant, such as the parents of John the Baptist. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless (Luke 1:6).

"Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

If Zacharias and Elizabeth (and we easily could name many other saints of the Scriptures) were examples of what could be produced by the old covenant, are we to believe the new covenant produces people who are less righteous? Beyond all dispute, God’s purpose is to create people who live according to His standards. Would God call a covenant "better" that is less able to produce godliness in human beings? If we believe so, then we view the new covenant only in terms of our own convenience, not in terms of God’s pleasure or His eternal purposes in Christ.

The truth is, the new covenant is vastly more able to create godly behaviour than was true of the old covenant. This is why we have the new covenant. Therefore being saved by grace does not mean godly behaviour no longer is required of God’s chosen people, His elect.

Paul was aware that his teaching in the third, fourth, and fifth chapters of Romans could be interpreted to mean grace is God’s license for ungodly behaviour. "Let us do evil that God’s grace may be revealed more clearly," some were saying.

Paul responds:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1,2).

No Christian who understands the new covenant would claim we can ease our way into God’s favour by observing the Law of Moses or by performing good works under any moral code. We come into the favour of God by believing and receiving that which He has performed through Christ. To attempt to satisfy God by our own works of righteousness is to make the atonement God accomplished on the cross of Calvary of none effect.

This is what Paul was maintaining. We must receive the atonement made by Christ on the cross. In so doing there is no need for us to go back and pick up the Law of Moses, because the Law of Moses was the Divine means of bringing us to Christ, of causing us to recognize our need of the Redeemer.

Now we come to the issue being presented in the sixth chapter of Romans: After we have been introduced (Romans 5:2) by faith into grace, how are we to live?

What master are we to obey?

We understand from the major portion of the writings of the New Testament that being "saved by grace" does not mean we will be received by the Lord God of Heaven as saints while we are continuing to practice wickedness. This is the assumption being made today but it is not what Paul meant by being saved by grace.

Being saved by grace means we are to come to the cross of Calvary and receive what God is offering there, meanwhile, vigorously and thoroughly repenting of our past behaviour. Having done this we are to make certain we are following the Lord Jesus each day, that we are abiding in Him at all times. We are to live, move, and have our being in the Holy Spirit of God (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18).

The Christian who lives "in the flesh" rather than in prayerful obedience to the Holy Spirit is placing his salvation in jeopardy (Romans 8:5-13). God is looking for fruit. The fruit God is looking for is Christ in us. God has planted Christ in the believers and He expects to reap Christ in the believers.

By reaping Christ we are referring to the righteous, holy and obedient behaviour that shows forth in us as Christ is being formed in us.

If any individual is abiding in Christ and Christ in him, a new creature who practices righteousness is being revealed. What can we say of the "believer" if, after a period of time, no new creation is in evidence? If Christ is not being brought forth in our personality, as evidenced by a transformation of character and behaviour in line with God’s Word, then God’s grace, God’s salvation, is not working in us.

The fruit of godly behaviour is the evidence we are being saved, that the Redeemer is fulfilling the moral law within us. The Christian is known by his fruit.

If no godly behaviour is coming forth in our life, then Christ is not growing in us. If Christ is not growing in us, God’s grace is not growing in us. Christ is the grace of God to us (I Corinthians 1:30).

Being saved by grace does not mean God receives us so we can continue in our sinful, rebellious patterns of behaviour. Grace is not God’s substitute for righteous, holy, and obedient behaviour, for without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

The new covenant is Christ (Isaiah 42:6). The grace of God is Christ. Eternal life is Christ. The resurrection from among the dead is Christ. The way, the truth, and the life are Christ. Christ Himself is our Salvation (Isaiah 12:2).

If Christ is being formed in us the new covenant is being formed in us; the grace of God is being formed in us; eternal life is being formed in us; the resurrection from the dead is being formed in us; the way, the truth, and the life are being formed in us; salvation is being formed in us.

But if we are living "in the flesh," if we are choosing to emphasize our animal characteristics of eating, playing, working, sleeping, and reproducing, all affected by the uncleanness of sin, and are paying minimal attention to the Spirit of God, then Christ is withering in us; eternal life is withering in us; the resurrection from the dead is withering in us; the way, the truth, and the life are withering in us; salvation is withering in us; the new covenant is withering in us; grace is withering in us (Luke 8:13,14).

As we stated previously, one of the principal hindrances to our ability to grasp the principles of the new covenant is that we understand the goal of salvation to be that of going to Heaven when we die.

Going to Heaven when we die is our joyous hope but it is not the goal of salvation. We are looking for paradise but God is looking for righteous people. It is difficult to understand the new covenant when one views Heaven as being the goal of salvation because the new covenant is not addressed to our going to Heaven but to our transformation into the likeness of the moral character of Christ.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people (Hebrews 8:10).

We pass into the Presence of God when we die physically, if we die in Christ. We believe this to be the case although there is a scarcity of Scripture on the subject of what happens to us after we die. In any event, going to Heaven is not the goal toward which the numerous graces and gifts of God under the new covenant are directed. The last two chapters of the Book of Revelation find us on the earth, not in Heaven.

The gifts and graces of the new covenant have to do with the forming of Christ in us. The forming of Christ in us is the new covenant. The new covenant will have been fulfilled in us when Christ has been formed in us, and it is through means of the transformation of our personality that the purposes of God will be fulfilled.

The new covenant is not fulfilled by the fact of our dying and going to Heaven.

The new covenant is fulfilled when Christ is formed in us and we are in the moral image of Christ. It is to this transformation that we have been predestined and it is the transformation of our personality that fulfils the purpose of God in calling us out of the world (Romans 8:28,29).

The old covenant is a set of observances that enables a human being to conduct himself or herself in a manner that God will accept under those terms of limited understanding. When the person fails to conduct himself properly, provision for reconciliation to God has been provided through animal sacrifice.

The new covenant has little to do with the terms of the old covenant, and this is why Paul did not want the believers to attempt to mix the two.

The new covenant is Christ: as our blood atonement, as our Divine Substance whose body and blood we eat and drink, as our Lord whom we serve at all times, as our good Shepherd, as our Baptizer with the Holy Spirit of God, as our Healer, as our Example in all things, as our Redeemer who will return to receive us, as our resurrection Life who will transform our mortal body, as our Hope, our Wisdom, our Sanctification, and as our heavenly Bridegroom who will come for us so we may be with Him where He is forever.

Some of these aspects of Divine grace were included in the old covenant; others were not present at all.

Under the new covenant Christ is with us and in us and we are with Him and in Him. Christ is All in all to us. He Himself is the New Covenant. He is being formed in us until we have been created an eternally inseparable part of Him, the fullness of His Being, the revelation of His supreme Glory. This is the Kingdom of God.

The old covenant produced righteous, holy, and obedient behavior, by commanding the people of the Lord to do in faith what the Lord had written to them by the hand of Moses and the Prophets.

The new covenant produces righteous, holy, and obedient behavior by filling us with the Holy Spirit of God and creating Christ in us.

Both covenants require righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. The new covenant requires more righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God than the old covenant because Christ, the Author of all true righteousness, holiness, and obedience, has been given to us as Savior and Lord and is being formed in us.

Much more grace to do God’s will is available under the new covenant.

To view the new covenant as a plan for removing the requirement of righteous and holy living as an integral and necessary part of the Divine salvation is to misunderstand completely what God is accomplishing in people through Christ.

The writings of Paul can be wrested to mean our continuing sinful conduct is a further opportunity for God’s grace and mercy to be revealed. But to accept such a conclusion is to make Christ an excuse for our rebellion and sin.

The believer who views the new covenant as a plan whereby an individual is released from conscience and law so he can live as he pleases, and then attain eternal residence in Paradise, is misunderstanding both the process and the goal of the salvation made possible through Christ.

Such a believer will be able to comprehend neither the Old Testament Prophets nor the New Testament Apostles. The meaning of major passages of the Scriptures will be hidden from him because he does not perceive correctly the plan or the purpose of God.

The doctrine that the Jews were obligated to behave in a morally correct manner, and the Christian is not obligated to behave in a morally correct manner because the Christian is "saved by grace," is totally in error.

The Christian who does not, after a reasonable period of time, begin to bear the fruit of Christ likeness, will be removed from the Vine by the Father (John 15:2). If we truly are in Christ, a new creation is coming into view. Our former character and behavior are passing away for eternity. A new creation is being revealed and every part of the new creation is of God (II Corinthians 5:17,18).

If we will study the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans we may notice that Paul does not conclude, from his teaching in the preceding chapters of Romans, that because of the grace of the new covenant, righteous and holy behavior need not follow as an essential part of our salvation in Christ.

In fact, Paul’s conclusion is quite the contrary.

In the last few verses of Chapter Six of Romans we can observe that the grace of God leads from slavery to sin, to slavery to God. The person who commits sin is the slave of sin. Slavery to God results in our being set apart to God as holy people: holy in standing before God; holy in character; holy in behavior (Romans 6:22).

Divine grace in Christ enables us to break the yoke of sin. Breaking the yoke of sin results in our sanctification—our separation to God as His special people (II Corinthians 6:17).

It is separation to God in righteousness, holiness and obedience that finally brings about our possession of eternal life (Romans 6:22).

Paul warns the believer in Christ: "If you serve sin you will be paid your due wages. Your wages are eternal death!" (Romans 6:23).

God is offering to us freely the gift of eternal life. We receive eternal life as we believe in Christ, receiving Him into our personality and serving Him with all diligence.

Then, through His grace (the virtue, wisdom, and power He gives to us) we learn to serve righteousness. It is our walking in righteousness that enables us to keep the eternal life given to us, and to add to it until we are filled with eternal life—spirit, soul, and (at His appearing) body.

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