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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Heavenly Jerusalem, #42
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. (John 11:44)
At what point are the graveclothes removed? At what point do we enter the Kingdom of God?
We who have received Christ believe God will save us and bring us into His Kingdom even though we have not obtained a full victory. No doubt this is true or who would be saved?
The interaction between God's forgiveness through the blood of Christ, and the Kingdom of God, can be misinterpreted. It is possible to oversimplify this interaction, to overemphasize "grace." In so doing we wrest the Scriptures to our destruction.
It seems obvious the current attitude toward the behavior of the believer, that he can act pretty much as he will and still enter the new Jerusalem, is not based solidly on the written Word of God.
We believe also that God will save many people who have not made a full success of the overcoming life; for we are confident that many weak believers are loved by the Lord and He will save them.
Again we ask, "At what point are the graveclothes of sin removed?"
In the early chapters of the Book of Romans, Paul teaches we are saved by the gift of God's grace, through the blood of Christ. The doctrine of justification by faith is derived largely from these chapters. (Please keep in mind concerning the early chapters of Romans that Paul was not contrasting grace and righteous behavior but grace and the Law of Moses—an exceedingly important distinction that Gentile believers must keep firmly in mind.)
Then in many other parts of his writings, Paul holds the sinning Christian out of the Kingdom of God.
In addition James, Peter, John, and Jude insist that godly behavior is an integral part of salvation.
Perhaps the resolution of the seeming inconsistency regarding the importance of righteous behavior can be found in a clearer understanding of what the Kingdom of God is. A confused understanding of the Kingdom of God may result in our leading the kind of life that will result in loss at the coming of the Lord from Heaven.
It is not true that belief in Christ is a ticket to Heaven and that the Christian life consists in the main of our waiting to die and go to Heaven. Rather we are to be pressing into the Kingdom of God today. If we are not we may be naked in the Day of the Lord. We may be denied entrance into the new Jerusalem.
For a clarification of the Kingdom of God let us turn to the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John:
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (John 6:27)
The Kingdom of God is bread. Entering the Kingdom of God is not primarily believing the facts about Christ but the continual eating of Christ. As we "eat" Christ we receive the Presence and knowledge of God, which are the basis of eternal life.
To be continued.