The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. The Law of Moses was issued as a provision for the sinful nature of man until the Seed should come who is the Heir of all the promises of God. The Divine Seed is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has come and has shed His blood as an atonement for our sins. Then God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in Heaven.

We who at one time were under the Law of Moses have now, in the drama of water baptism, reckoned ourselves dead on the cross with Christ and alive with Him and seated at the right hand of God in Heaven.

Having died in this manner we now are legally free from the Law of Moses in order that we may be married to Christ, and not be considered an adulteress in so doing.

Our union with Christ always will result in the fruit of righteous behavior. If our receiving Christ does not result in a new creation, in a transformed moral nature from which proceeds righteous behavior, then we are not abiding in Christ. We are not working out our own salvation. We have changed the grace of God into an excuse for immorality.

The preachers of today are saying to Christian people, "You shall not surely die even if you do not serve the Lord Jesus, because you are saved (will go to Heaven when you die) on the basis of a supreme, sovereign, unconditional grace." When the ministers of the Gospel teach this doctrine they are misunderstanding the goals, and the program for attaining those goals, of the Apostle Paul. They are leading themselves and their hearers to destruction.

We understand therefore that the present doctrinal and moral confusion of the Christian churches springs from a simple misunderstanding of the Apostle Paul. We think that Paul was saying God has chosen to bring Gentiles to Heaven if they believe in Jesus, and how the Gentile behave is not very important.

We really should know better than this. Our common sense tells us something is wrong here. We know instinctively that when we commit adultery or fornication, when we use filthy language, when we rob, steal, lie, or slander our neighbor, that this is not pleasing to God. Does God take us to Heaven in the midst of our filth and rebellion because we have taken the correct theological position regarding Jesus Christ?

In fact, when a minister falls into sin his denomination will defrock him until he has had a chance to get straightened out. If salvation were by belief alone, there would be no need to remove a sinning pastor from his flock. So our common sense prevails even though our practice is inconsistent with our doctrine.

Paul was turning the Jews from Moses to Christ, not advising Gentiles that God does not care whether or not they continue in sin.

It is your responsibility to study the New Testament, particularly the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans, making certain that no individual steals your crown of life by convincing you that the God of Heaven does not require righteous, holy, sternly obedient behavior of His saints. (from Grace—Replaces the Law or Replaces Righteous Behavior?)