How many people have started out believing in Christ, and then have turned away because the path that leads to life brought pain to them and they were required to give up that which they desired so intensely!

Yet, it is the way of the transgressor that is hard. It is true that the way of the disciple requires much self-denial. But everyone suffers. We cannot escape suffering by turning away from Christ.

There were three crosses on the hill. God was crucified. The saved thief was crucified. The unsaved thief was crucified.

You are going to suffer while you are in the world. If you spend your entire life attempting to have your own way, to save your own life, to escape suffering, you will betray those who trust in you, harm many others in your mad plunge toward self-gratification, and when you die (or perhaps even before you die) you will suffer at the hands of an angry God who is disgusted with your lack of integrity.

Let us, therefore, patiently work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. It will not be too long before we stand in joy before a glad King who invites us to share His Kingdom.

A few more weary steps and we shall be home. Don't quit. He has kept for you the best wine until now.

"I have told you these things, so in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33—NIV)

Conclusion

Of the various errors present in current Christian teaching, the common denominator probably is the misunderstanding of the role of imputed righteousness. This misunderstanding has created an unscriptural "state of grace." The concept of the "state of grace" is that God has given a covenant (not found in the New Testament) by which a Gentile can make a profession of belief in Jesus Christ and on this basis, apart from any significant moral change, be admitted to Heaven upon his or her death.

It is not possible that a more deadly interpretation of the Apostle Paul's explanation of the transition from Moses to Christ could be advanced. The product of this error is people who believe in a doctrine but are not practicing righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. Thus we have an effect opposite to God's purpose in providing a new covenant.

The very foundation of Christian thought is unscriptural. The blood of Jesus Christ, instead of being a means whereby sinful man may begin the process of transformation into a new righteous creation, is presented as an alternative to moral change. We are being conformed to the image of Christ legally, not in actuality.

Current Christian teaching is much more Gnostic than it is scriptural.

The Kingdom of God is a real kingdom in which God's will is performed on the earth as it is in Heaven. It is at hand. Jesus is coming soon. Therefore God's people must begin to make the change from imputed to actual righteousness, for our assignment is to appear with Christ and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14—NIV) (from Fifty-two Kingdom Topics)