We of today have a false idea of sin in relationship to Heaven. We believe once we are in Heaven we no longer will be able to sin. The truth is, sin began in Heaven around the very Throne of God.

It always, for eternity, will be possible for us to sin. God never will remove our will so that we are puppets. The reason we will not sin is that through Jesus Christ we have gained victory over sin in the present world. God knows that if we can gain victory over sin now, in the cesspool in which we currently are attempting to live, then, when we no longer are under the pressures of Satan and the world, and are abiding in Christ, we will choose to walk in the righteous, holy ways of the Lord, always being sternly obedient to the Father.

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 8:2—NIV)

Nothing impure will pass through the gates into the city, nor will anyone who practices what is shameful or deceitful.

Our present interpretation of Divine grace is leaving the impression that people who still are impure, who still do what is shameful and deceitful, will be part of the new Jerusalem or be able to enter through the gates into the city.

This is not at all true. The Bible means exactly what it states. Christians who are trusting that because of grace God does not see their impurity, their shameful ways, their deceit, because righteousness has been imputed to them, and thus will be permitted into the city, have believed a lie.

There will be no impure person in the new Jerusalem.

There will be no person who acts shamefully in the new Jerusalem.

There will be no person who practices deceit in the new Jerusalem.

Such will never be part of the city or permitted to enter the city for eternity.

Here is the great Christian error—the belief that "accepting Christ" does away with the warnings of the New Testament.

We now are in a reformation of Christian thinking. The first area that must be reformed is that of the definition of grace as the Divine substitute for righteous behavior. While grace includes the forgiveness of our sins, its main purpose under the new covenant is to enable us to gain victory over impurity, shameful practices, and lying.

The blood of Christ does not cover us so God cannot see our sins; this is not the way the atonement operates. If we continue to walk in the light of God's will, confessing our sins, our sins will be forgiven through the blood of the cross. But the concept that the blood hides our behavior from God's eyes is not biblical.

God always is instantly aware of what we are doing. Perhaps you have noticed this during your days as a Christian.

Christ receives us as we are when we first are saved. We are forgiven right then. Immediately the Lord goes to work to cleanse us from our sinful nature, that is, if we are following the Spirit of God.

To be continued.