If the new world to come is one of imputed righteousness instead of actual righteousness it will prove to be like the present hour. Then there is no hope for the individual who loves God and righteousness.

The actual purpose of Divine grace is to forgive our sins and give us a fresh start. Included is the wisdom and strength to turn away from sin and begin to sow the seeds of righteousness. In its truest definition, Divine grace is Christ Himself.

Christ did not come to forgive us and fill Paradise with unrighteous, self-willed people but to enable those who will receive Him to flee the wickedness of the world and become new creatures of righteous, holy, obedient behavior. This is the true grace of God.

If we have denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, have lived soberly, righteously, and in a godly manner in this present world, then, when the Lord Jesus comes, we will be raised from the dead and clothed with righteousness and godliness. All the elements of eternal life we have mentioned above will be ours in glorious fullness. We then will have the more abundant life the Lord mentioned. This is the mark toward which the Apostle Paul was pressing and it is to be our mark also.

Spiritual Principles or Fellowship With God?

We have identified several elements of eternal life. The modern temptation is to seize upon these and try to make them "work." A number of books are published each year telling us how to use the Lord Jesus to gain joy, peace, happy prospects, health, strength, fulfillment and so forth. We have placed the cart in front of the horse, so to speak.

Our goal ought to be fellowship with God. The Lord Jesus came to bring us into fellowship with God. When we have God we have eternal life and all of its elements. To seek to use God to gain the various elements of life is idolatry.

A good example of the difference between seeking to understand and use principles, and seeking fellowship with God, may be found in the first chapters of the Book of Genesis.

Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It may be true that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the eternal moral law of God, which is summed up in the Lord Jesus Christ. The tree of life also is the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know from the Scripture that both trees were good for food.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)

The Lord warned Adam that in the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die. Adam ate and he died, as we have pointed out previously.

One can look at this incident in two different ways. One way is to notice that the sin of disobeying God brought death in that the fellowship between God and Adam was destroyed.

To be continued.