This does not mean God brings to our attention the sins we committed before we became Christians. The guilt of our sins is gone forever provided we follow Christ.

There is a double work. First, the Lord forgives the sins of the past and covers our sinful personality. He no longer "sees" our sinful personality because of the righteousness of the blood of the Lamb.

However, the Kingdom of God does not consist of people who have rebellious and lawless personalities that the Lord cannot see because they are protected by the blood of Christ. Such a condition is temporary, being a necessary beginning phase of the Divine redemption.

The new covenant primarily is one of transformation. It is not primarily a covenant of forgiveness (Hebrews 8:8-12) although it often is preached as such today.

The Lord forgives us initially so He may proceed with the work of creating us in the image of Christ, for it is to such transformation that we have been predestined (Romans 8:29).

This double work, first a forgiveness, and then a bringing out and slaying of evil, is typified by Joshua's tactic with the five kings of the Amorites.

First, Joshua imprisoned the five kings in the cave at Makkedah (Joshua 10:18). The rolling of stones against the mouth of the cave portrays the covering of our lawless personality by the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus.

At a later time Joshua brought out the five kings and slew them (Joshua 10:26). This typifies the work of judgment and reconciliation, the baptism with fire that the saint experiences as he follows the Lord.

At this point in our study we have come to what, from our point of view, is one of the principal errors in Christian theology. This one error has kept the churches of Christ in a state of babyhood.

The error is in viewing the salvation that is in Christ as only a forgiving and covering of us so God cannot see our sinfulness. It is taught that God no longer sees the kind of person we are but only the righteousness of His Son, Christ. This commonly is held to be a perpetual, eternal state, rather than what it is, a temporary legal device while we are being transformed.

There are many fine Christians who follow the Lord into powerful ministry and spiritual maturity even though their doctrine is limited. We think multitudes more would profit from the correct understanding of the Divine redemption.

As we work outward from this commonly-held concept, in the drawing of conclusions and in application, a part of the writings of the Apostles becomes unintelligible.

If God no longer sees us but only the righteousness of His Son, we need have no fear at the Judgment Seat of Christ—and this is what many Christians are teaching. Their conclusion is consistent with their fundamental concept.

But this is not what the Scripture teaches!

To be continued.