The Lord's servants who were beaten with lashes did not do His will. It was their behavior, not their belief system, that was at issue.

The Lord told the believers in Thyatira that He would repay them according to their deeds. He said nothing about their belief in Himself.

The Lord did not place much emphasis on the beliefs of the seven churches in the province of Asia, that they did not believe in Him. The bulk of His admonitions concerned their behavior.

Whenever the Lord spoke of coming and chastening His people He never once raised the question of doctrine or of believing in Himself, it always had to do with their behavior.

The eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews, which is a long definition of "the just shall live by faith," describes obedience and behavior, never belief.

Where, then, did we get the idea that making a statement of faith about Jesus saves us from Hell and brings us to Heaven? Where did this doctrine come from, since it is not in the Scripture?

What I am saying is, we are preaching an incorrect message.

Let's look at it from God's point of view.

God created people on the earth. The first two people disobeyed God. They ate something they were not supposed to eat. This is why they were put out of the garden, not because they did not believe in God but because of what they did.

God did not say, "You did not believe in me." He asked, "Have you eaten of the tree I commanded you not to eat from?"

One might object, "By eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they were revealing their lack of faith in God." This precisely is my point. Genuine faith always is demonstrated in appropriate behavior. There is no such thing as an abstract faith, a faith that does not act in some manner. A faith, or belief, that does not respond in some type of behavior is not faith at all. It is a mental assent to a doctrine or fact. Faith apart from works is dead, and a dead faith produces nothing in the Kingdom of God.

When God dealt with the patriarchs and prophets it always was in terms of their behavior. God always rewarded righteousness and punished wickedness.

Am I correct so far?

Now I understand both Jesus and the Apostle Paul stressed believing in Jesus. This is a fact. The famous John 3:16 stresses belief in Christ.

But there are two aspects we must consider. The first is that the emphasis on Christ was to turn the people from faith in Moses to faith in Christ, not to present belief in Jesus as an alternative to righteous behavior. This was true of the statements of both Jesus and Paul.

How could Jesus point to belief in Himself as an alternative to righteous behavior after He gave the Sermon on the Mount? Would He tell us to build on the rock of obedience to His teaching and after that tell us such obedience no longer is necessary? This is ridiculous!

To be continued.