The new covenant, rather than making fewer demands on our conduct makes infinitely greater demands on our conduct. God always requires that the people who would have fellowship with Him (and who would want to go to Heaven and not have fellowship with God?) do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. God never has had a different requirement and never shall have a different requirement.

The requirement that those who would have fellowship with God must behave righteously reflects God's righteous Character. God's Character is eternal—it never changes. Were God's Character ever to change it would be far, far better for us that we had never been born!

God's plan of salvation includes more than our conversion to righteous behavior, more than our being conformed to the moral image of Christ, more than our being brought into untroubled union with Himself.

God is building an eternal house for Himself. The Lord Jesus is the chief Cornerstone of the eternal temple of God. We of God's elect are living stones in that temple.

In order to be a stone in the eternal house of God we must be righteous in behavior and also be in union with God through Christ. Do you understand that an unrighteous person could never remain as a part of the house of God, part of the Body of Christ? This is why at the end of the present age the angels will cast out of the Kingdom of God all who are wicked.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, (Matthew 13:47-49)

Notice that the division is between the wicked and the righteous, not between those who believe in the Lord Jesus and those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus.

This passage applies to Christians, to people who have been drawn up in the net of the Kingdom of Heaven. If we claim that the verses are speaking of people who are not Christians, then we are saying that people can be part of the Kingdom of Heaven who are not part of the Lord Jesus, who have not been born again of Christ. They were righteous apart from the Lord Jesus and so they remained in the Kingdom while the wicked were cast out. Can you see this?

It is true rather that these words are speaking directly to believers.

If a believer continues to practice wickedness after the Lord has attempted to lead him to righteous behavior, then he can expect Divine judgment to come upon him.

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (I Corinthians 11:31,32)

Does the above passage sound to you like God is interested primarily in imputed righteousness or in actual righteousness of behavior?

Compare:

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26,27)

To those who would claim the above passage does not apply to Christians, even though the entire Book of Hebrews is written to believers who have grown careless, we have no more to say.

To be continued.