Over the last twenty or so years I have not been emphasizing Christ in you as much as I used to. The emphasis has turned toward righteous behavior. I have pondered why the change of emphasis but I think I have the answer now.

One of the first books I wrote is titled "The Tabernacle of the Congregation." One day while writing a chapter on the holiness of the Tabernacle the thought flashed into my mind (I wonder where it came from!) that there was something amiss in Evangelical teaching.

As I stated previously, I was converted in 1944 while in the Marine Corps, stationed on Oahu. I came under the influence of strong Christians, particularly some members of the Navigators. They taught me to go by the Word of God, a lesson that has stuck with me from that time.

I also was given a Scofield Bible. I was taught the traditional Evangelical message, that we are in a dispensation of grace and God does not require us to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

Also in Bible school I was taught the dispensational model of biblical interpretation along with the pre-tribulation "rapture" of the believers. Naturally I trusted what I was told by mature Christians.

I was writing a chapter of the book "The Tabernacle of the Congregation" and something struck me. I thought, "Does the New Testament teach us that we are supposed to keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles or are we in a dispensation of grace such that if we strive to do what the New Testament says we are guilty of the ‘filthy rags' of religious self-righteousness?" Do you ever ask radical questions like this? My dear wife, Audrey, says I just enjoy being different.

I had noticed a verse that implied we indeed were supposed to keep these commandments. So I began to search the New Testament to see if it emphasized salvation by forgiveness alone or if we were supposed to live righteously.

Pretty soon I stopped listing the verses that stressed righteous behavior. There simply were too many. So I looked up the verses (mostly in Chapters Four and Five of the Book of Romans) that emphasized righteousness apart from works (which I noted later were not the works of righteous behavior but the works of the Law of Moses—another tremendous Evangelical misunderstanding).

You can imagine my consternation to discover Evangelical teaching was off the track. Then I questioned the pre-tribulation "rapture" and discovered this also was unscriptural. My next move was to get rid of my Scofield Bible, which to my way of thinking should be banned from Christian bookshelves.

Then I became angry because everyone was preaching error. Isn't this sensible? My anger and raging did not help my students in any manner. I have gotten over my anger now.

I said to the Lord one day, "They are all heretics," referring of course to the entire church world.

The Lord asked me, "What is heresy?"

I responded, "A misunderstanding of doctrine." Then I calmed down because I have always said if the student does not understand something it is the fault of the teacher.

To be continued.