Yes, or no?
Yes, or no?
Two conditions must be observed concerning the passage above.
If the Father sends Christ to someone in order to make that person a member of the elect, and the individual rejects Christ, then no matter how honorable and righteous the person may be, he or she is under condemnation.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (John 3:18)
The first law of the Kingdom of God is belief in and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The second condition is that the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ must live a godly life in order to inherit eternal life. Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:6,7)
It appears to be the way of religion, including the Christian religion, to stress its belief system and obedience to its liturgical practices. These are held to be more important than godly character and righteous behavior.
We see this principle magnified in the behavior of the Pharisees at the time of Christ.
I do believe that many Christian preachers and evangelists have forgotten what godly character is. They preach "grace" and not godly character. Sometimes they lack integrity, or behave in an immoral fashion, or lie, or steal, or engage in denominational politics, or falsify their income tax return. This lack of godly preaching and character is an error of enormous magnitude.
How can they represent the Lord Jesus when they do not have integrity of character or preach righteous behavior? I know the Lord Jesus is deeply grieved over this lack of character in His representatives!
God is not impressed with the teaching of "grace." God is impressed with godly character and righteous behavior.
Grace is a device God uses to enable us to leave the Law of Moses and pursue the Lord Jesus without distraction.
In the case of a weak individual who loves God and longs to do His will, grace can be as a cable that supports the window-washer of a 100-story building. God loves His weak children.
But today the "gospel of grace" is preached to people who could be strong, mature Christians of godly character and righteous behavior, if the preacher and evangelist would announce the true Gospel of the Kingdom.
God is concerned about what kind of person we are, about honesty, integrity, truthfulness, faithfulness. What does "grace" have to do with these?
There has been no change from the Old Testament standard of godly character, except that now the Lord Jesus Christ will enable us to live a life far more righteous than was true under the Law of Moses, and to have a character resembling His own.
The moral infancy of so many people who claim to be Christians is evident to people of the world, and they are not impressed.
They see the "diaper crowd," waiting to be carried up to their unscriptural mansion in an unscriptural "rapture," trusting that God will change their diapers without any effort on their part.
God loves His babies I am sure. However, they neither are qualified nor competent to be co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.