Christians are accustomed to viewing their salvation as somewhat of a legal state, in that while they do not always behave righteously, God ascribes righteousness to them on the basis of the blood atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet we know that at some point the imputed righteousness must turn into actual righteousness or else the holy city will be holy in name only. It will not be an unblemished bride.

The concept that the Christian salvation consists of a "state of grace" in which God views the believer as righteous, independently of his or her behavior, is the bedrock of Christian theology.

There are a couple of facts associated with our Christian faith that we should keep in mind. First, when we come to Jesus, turning away from our former way of life, believing He died on the cross for our sins, and then being baptized in water as we have opportunity, our sins are forgiven completely. This is imputed, or ascribed, righteousness.

Second, most of the text of the Bible, Old Testament and New, does not emphasize imputed righteousness but actual righteousness and holiness of personality and behavior, and obedience to God.

When we think about the new Jerusalem, or the Kingdom of God, we do not envision people who act as they do today. We suppose those who are saved into the new Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God, actually are righteous and holy in behavior. I think there may be very few people who believe Heaven is a sinful place.

But how are we going to get from here to there, from ascribed righteousness to actual, observable righteousness of behavior? After all, according to the Lord Jesus the light of our testimony is composed of the good works that people can see—works of righteousness that will cause them to glorify God.

If I am correct, there are two assumptions commonly made by Christians concerning how we are to pass from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness of behavior.

One assumption is that although we sin today, after we die we will not sin any longer.

Another assumption is that when the Lord Jesus returns He will banish our sinful disposition by the Word of His power.

I do not know of any other idea as to how Christian believers will finally become righteous.

Let us look as the first assumption—that we will become righteous by dying, by entering the spirit realm.

The problem here is, sin originated in the spirit realm around the Throne of God, as Satan chose to follow his own will instead of God's will. Even today our normally sinful personality is inflamed by pressure from unclean spirits.

Not only is there no passage of Scripture that suggests we will be made righteous by dying, it also is illogical that when we pass into the spirit realm, the source of the sin that has invaded mankind, we will magically be made righteous and holy.

Did you ever go on a picnic or trip to a certain area, believing you would have a good time when you got there? Yet nothing of the kind took place. The family members fought with each other the whole time. The environment was beautiful but the people were miserable. We had hoped that the fighting that had been going on in our house would stop when we arrived at our destination, but it did not. We brought our trouble with us.

To be continued.