It is taught that we ought to make an attempt not to sin. But if we do sin, if we leave our wife or husband and commit fornication, if we steal, if we lie, if we disobey the call of God on us, we still will receive the inheritance because we are saved by grace and not by works. If the Christian does yield to temptation he will suffer no significant loss. This is the current position of numerous Christians.

A corollary of the "grace" concept is the belief held by numerous Christians that all believers will receive the same reward. This notion is maintained in spite of the teaching of the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation.

The current basic misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God, the poison that weakens the will of the Christian to resist sin, to overcome the devil, and that has led to so many other destructive teachings and practices, is a perversion of the Apostle Paul's doctrine of grace.

Such ideas as the pre-tribulation rapture, the overemphasis on the love of God, the "faith" and "prosperity" errors, and the division of the one Body of Christ into a "Gentile Church" and a "Jewish Kingdom" have produced a foolish, morally weak set of "believers" who know neither Christ nor God the Father, who are smug, arrogant, presumptuous, and well on their way toward becoming the False Prophet of Revelation, Chapter 13.

The sixth chapter of the Book of Romans teaches that the Christian salvation consists of a set of choices we make and continue making every day of our pilgrimage. Either we are choosing constantly to yield our body to righteousness or else we are choosing to yield our body to sin. The unsaved person, not having received the Virtue of God, is unable to choose to yield his body to righteousness. He is compelled to rebel against God because of the spirit of Satan who holds him captive.

He who receives Christ possesses the authority and power to choose to obey righteousness. Through the authority of the blood of the cross he can leave the kingdom of Satan and serve God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit he can overcome the desires of Satan, the world, and his own lusts and self-will, and walk in righteousness and holiness.

If the believer chooses to walk in righteousness and holiness he gains eternal life. He is allowed back into Paradise, so to speak, where he can partake of the tree of life and gain immortality.

But if the believer, having received Christ and been baptized in water, chooses to obey the lusts of sin, he destroys his own salvation. The Christian must choose each day to obey Christ, to abide in Him, to live by and in Him, to sow to the Spirit of God. If he does he will attain the first resurrection from the dead. He will be revealed together with Christ in that Day (Philippians 3:11; Colossians 3:4; II Thessalonians 1:10).

But if he does not choose to walk in the Spirit of God he will reap corruption. He will die spiritually (Romans 8:13; Galatians 6:8). He will slay his own resurrection.

To be continued.