There is far too much emphasis on "free grace" today and not nearly enough on works of righteousness. Turning toward God in repentance and works of righteousness are a major part of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, being on the same level of importance as forgiveness through faith in the blood of the Lamb. Today we seldom emphasize repentance and righteous behavior with the same seriousness as we do grace and forgiveness.

The principal message of the Apostles, as recorded in the Book of Acts was repentance, that is, a change of behavior. Forgiveness was preached only in association with repentance. This is not true today, and the result of our unscriptural preaching is the moral horrors that are filling the earth.

Christian people are becoming upset with what is taking place in the secular governments, and indeed they should be upset! But the fault lies in the churches. God is dealing today with the lack of repentance on the part of the believers in Christ.

The major subjects of the Book of Acts appear to be the proclaiming of the mysteries of the provisions and truths of the Divine redemption including the forgiveness of sins, repentance from the sinful behavior of the world, and a righteous life lived in faith toward God.

During the Christian Era the original preaching has been altered. The alteration has largely destroyed the effectiveness of the Christian witness.

There has been a removal of the emphasis upon repentance and righteous behavior in the Kingdom of God as a necessary part of redemption.

An abstract grace virtually unrelated to behavior (accompanied by a flight to Heaven of the fleshly believers) appears to be the primary emphasis of the Christian teaching and efforts of today. Yet such an emphasis cannot be found in the Book of Acts.

In many instances we have succeeded in creating churches and denominations. But it appears we have not been nearly as successful in producing disciples and teaching them to keep the New Testament commandments.

We have departed from the Word of God!

The almost exclusive emphasis on a warped presentation of the provisions and truths of salvation rather than the creation of righteous people has succeeded in removing the lampstand of testimony from numerous Christian efforts.

The fundamentalist churches of today alternate between raging against the practices of the secular governments and proclaiming the imminent departure of the believers to live in golden mansions in the spirit realm. They are missing God on both counts.

The secular governments are reflecting the moral weakness and confusion of the churches.

The Christian churches have failed the Lord and the world by presenting Divine grace as an alternative to godly behavior in place of teaching the commandments of Christ to the nations of the earth, thus ignoring the directive of Christ in the Great Commission.

The presentation of Divine grace as an abstraction that operates independently of the behavior of the believer dates back to the first century of the Christian Era. One can take certain verses from Paul's arguments against the Judaizers and construct a "salvation" that is a mental position rather than a new righteous creation.

To be continued.