It is time now for the preachers and teachers of the Christian Church to understand that the forgiveness of Christ is not God's means of bypassing the laws of righteousness. If such were the case, most of the writings of the Apostles would be nonsense. There would be no such thing as a new creature in Christ. There would be only the old creature who is trusting that his salvation consists of a ticket he holds so he will be allowed on the airplane when the "rapture" comes.

What a perversion of the Gospel of the Kingdom! What a wretched, threadbare, misunderstanding of the grace of God under the new covenant!

Not only is righteous, holy, and obedient behavior expected and required under the new covenant, but such behavior was expected and required under the old covenant when there was no indwelling Holy Spirit, and no born-again experience, to assist the saint in righteous, holy, and obedient behavior.

Consider carefully the following:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect (Genesis 17:1).

According to the teachers of grace, Abraham should have said, "I cannot do that. I need to be saved by Your grace."

Is this or is this not nonsense?

What God meant was, do the things you know to do. Make your way as perfect as you can before God. Listen to your conscience. No doubt the teachers of grace will howl in anguish at such an interpretation. But if they will turn again to the New Testament they will discover that the followers of Christ do not have to lie, do not have to commit adultery or fornication, do not have to fly into a rage when they are provoked, do not have to steal.

Under the old covenant we were to refrain from such behavior to the extent we were able, and when we did sin we were to repent and offer our sacrifice. Under the new covenant we are to choose not to sin, and to pray and seek the Lord until He comes and delivers us; meanwhile confessing the sins we do commit and asking the Lord to forgive us and cleanse us.

It is possible, by the grace of God in Christ, to act like a Christian. It was possible under previous covenants to please God in those terms, just as Abraham pleased God by his righteousness, holiness, and strict obedience to God.

James, referring to Abraham, stated that he was justified (declared to be righteous) by his obedience to God.

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only (James 2:24).

Thus saith the Lord!

James was not stating that Abraham was justified by the works of the Law, which is Paul's whole point in Galatians. If James had stated that any person was justified by the works of the Law of Moses there would be a breach in the holy Scriptures. It would not be possible to include the Book of James in the canon of Scripture.

To be continued.