I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1,2—NIV)

The Conventional Interpretation Does Not Conform to the Scriptures

The conventional interpretation, that the new covenant presents a "state of grace" such that we are eternally forgiven no matter how we behave, is denied by a multitude of passages from the New Testament.

For example, notice the two passages above.

There is no way in which these two passages can be reconciled with the interpretation that the new covenant is limited to forgiveness. The heavenly Farmer is looking for fruit. That fruit is the moral image of the Lord Jesus Christ created in us as we are delivered from the bondages of sin and transformed by the Presence of Christ. Apart from such deliverance and transformation there is no evidence of the operation of the new covenant.

The interpretation that is in line with the Old Testament types, the Gospel accounts, the Epistles, and the Book of Revelation is that when we receive Christ as our Savior we are forgiven all our sins. Then we are placed under a protective guard until the time shall come when actual salvation will occur, that is, when we will be delivered from our sins and Christ will be formed in us and will dwell in us. Indeed, we shall be forgiven eternally provided that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the work of sanctification, that is, the work of delivering us from sin.

Notice this qualification in the following verse:

In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4—NIV)

Again:

Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:14—NIV)

We can see clearly from the above two verses that it is not true that we just accept Christ and then we are forgiven for eternity. In order to abide in the state of perpetual forgiveness it absolutely must be true that we are not living according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. It absolutely must be true that we are being made holy. If we are not following the Spirit of God in the program of sanctification, as is the case with numerous American believers, it is not true of us that the righteous requirements of the law are being fully met in us. We are not recipients of imputed righteousness.

Rather, we are subject to Divine judgment—now and in the Day of the Lord.

The perpetual forgiveness that is preached today in Christian churches is not scriptural. The New Testament declares plainly that if we as a Christian choose to serve sin we will die spiritually; we will not inherit the Kingdom of God; we will be removed from the Vine, from Christ.

This is the warning that is being proclaimed by the watchmen of today. Those who heed the warning shall save themselves from destruction. Those who do not shall die in their sins, whether or not they name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To be continued.