If Christ finds us worthy we will be admitted to His new heaven and earth reign. We will be given eternal life at that time, just as in the case of the sheep nations of Matthew, Chapter Twenty-five.

We must remember also there are fates other than the Lake of Fire that are reserved for the Lord's servants, such as outer darkness and lashes. How and when these will be administered we are not certain. However, it seems reasonable that outer darkness, the loss of our talent, salvation by fire, and lashes are not the same as that ultimate punishment—eternal incarceration in the Lake of Fire.

The Scriptures do not speak only of Hell and Heaven but of a diversity of possible destinies ranging from a position in the Throne of Christ all the way down to the Lake of Fire. According to the Scriptures, it is our behavior that determines our destiny, how we use our talents, whether we did the Lord's will, and so forth.

We can see from this that our contemporary teaching has removed grace from its proper role in the Divine redemption and is using it as a blanket amnesty, a huge screen that prevents God from seeing our conduct. The way we are using grace is making Jesus Christ the minister of sin, the destroyer of God's intention to make man in His image.

"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!" (Galatians 2:17—NIV)

No, the New Testament in numerous passages reveals that we determine our destiny in the Kingdom of God by our behavior today. To teach otherwise is to take a few verses, deduce "another gospel" from them, and ignore the bulk of God's Words to us.

The Lord is going to reward Christians, as well as all other human beings, precisely according to their works. Those who patiently practice righteousness will attain glory and immortality. Those who persist in wicked behavior will reap indignation and wrath. The Scriptures cannot be changed.

God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Romans 2:6-8—NIV)

We may read the above passage and immediately reject it because our perceptive processes have been violated by the current teaching of grace. We think it does not apply to us.

But the above stands true whether or not we have received Christ. The believers attain eternal life by persistence in doing good. If this is not addressed to believers then we are saying the unbelievers can attain eternal life by persistence in doing good. The truth is, God will reveal His Christ to those who persist in doing good, just as He did to Cornelius and his household.

To be continued.