There is no such thing as a state of grace that is not revealed in a transformed personality. This is a historical error that always destroys the testimony of the Christian churches.

When we first receive Christ the grace of the blood atonement forgives our sins of the past. After that the grace of the Spirit enables us, a step at a time, to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

I have thought and thought about what the Apostle Paul taught in the first eight chapters of the Book of Romans. I can see there is something amiss in current Evangelical teaching. For one thing the way we interpret Paul in the early chapters of Romans conflicts with the bulk of his teaching concerning the absolute necessity for righteous, holy behavior.

For another thing we Christians are not paying nearly enough attention to the commandments issued by Christ and His Apostles. It is as though such commandments do not exist. Yet God wants them obeyed, as He helps us, for it is only as we obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles that we can enter the actual new covenant which is the forming of Christ in us.

I am presenting the following statement which I believe to be a comprehensive, core presentation of the Apostle's doctrine. I am putting it in italics so you can distinguish it from the remainder of the text. See what you think of it, because any statement such as this must not conflict with any passage of Scripture in the Bible.

No person can be received of God apart from Christ by obeying the Law of Moses, or by obeying the commandments of Christ and His Apostles, or by observing any other moral code of any kind whatever.

However, every transgression of the commandments of Christ and His Apostles is sin whether committed by a Christian or non-Christian and must be dealt with appropriately if the individual is to live in God's sight.

The non-Christian deals with sin appropriately by coming to Christ for forgiveness. The Christian deals with sin appropriately by confessing his sins and turning away from them, praying for grace to help him do so.

To my way of thinking, the above condensation embraces the major exhortations of the Epistles and does not conflict with any clear passage of the New Testament.

The condensation does indeed conflict with Evangelical tradition. If I am correct, Evangelical teaching is not scriptural in many areas and has resulted in the pitiful state of the American churches—pitiful in terms of producing intense disciples of Jesus.

The truth is, we have two kinds of believers in America. We have the churchgoers and the disciples. Both are termed "Christians." The truth is, only the disciples are Christians. The average churchgoer is not a Christian although he would be shocked and would reject out of hand such an accusation.

To be continued.