First, we note that the Lord Jesus preached three things: faith in Himself, righteous behavior, and the coming and nature of the Kingdom of God. He did not emphasize any one of these three concepts at the expense of the others. The Lord did not present faith in Himself as an alternative to righteous conduct. In fact, Christ placed great stress on our behavior, showing that at His return from Heaven He will severely punish those who practice iniquity.

Some are teaching today that the commandments of the Lord Jesus, given before His resurrection, are directed only at the Jews. This is truly a destructive teaching but it is consistent with the current Christian understanding of the grace of God. It is a part of the wretched dispensational concept that God deals with Jews differently than He does with Gentiles.

If it were true (which it assuredly is not!) that the words of the Lord Jesus are directed only at the Jews (how about people who are half-Jewish), what are we to do with the Lord's statements about being born again? Is this addressed only to Jews? Or the commandment to abide in Him? Or the commandment to eat His flesh and drink His blood?

Or are the Jews the only ones who are to keep the Sermon on the Mount?

One wonders if such teachers have ever read the Bible? To remove the four Gospel accounts would be an awful loss for us Gentiles.

But let us continue with our discussion of the necessity for godly behavior.

A study of the Book of Acts will reveal that the Apostles preached faith in Christ, righteous behavior, and the coming and nature of the Kingdom of God. The Apostles stressed repentance. Paul's words to the worldly Felix did not come as "good news." Felix trembled, because Paul was insisting that he must repent or face the judgment of God. So throughout the Book of Acts.

The Epistles of Paul, of John, of Peter, of James, of the writer to the Hebrew saints, of Jude, thunder against the ungodly behavior of the believers in Christ. Did the writers of the Epistles assure the churches that all would be saved anyway, or did they warn the saints that those who did not press forward to the inheritance were in danger of dying in the wilderness? Read their writings and judge for yourselves.

What did Paul mean when he wrote to the churches that the believers in Christ cannot enter the Kingdom of God while they are practicing ungodly behavior? Did he mean a person will perish unless he receives Christ as his Savior? Or did Paul mean a believer in Christ cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless he stops sinning?

To be continued.