Of whom is the above passage speaking? It is speaking of those who at one time had been sanctified through the blood of Christ and who since that time have continued to sin willfully.

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)

All the Apostles of Christ agree with this point of view.

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. (II Peter 2:20)

The human being who rejects Christ initially, who will not receive the benefits of Calvary, will face an angry God in the Day of Judgment.

There is no question whatever about that.

The misunderstanding arises concerning those persons who have joyfully received the Divine pardon. Do their actions in the world after they have received Christ seriously affect their eternal destinies?

"No," responds the fundamentalist of today. "The Christian shall not reap what he sows because Christ has borne his judgment on the cross."

"Yes," thunder Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, the writers of Hebrews, James, and Jude.

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach that human beings are judged and recompensed according to their deeds. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary does not alter the fundamental Kingdom law of sowing and reaping, except that God will forgive our sins when we confess them and truly repent of them in Christ's name. This concept is altogether different from the current belief that if we profess faith in Christ we will not reap what we sow.

To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: (Romans 2:7)

The difference between those who have heard the Gospel of Christ and those who have not is that those who have heard will be judged with greater strictness.

If people hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and do not obey its freely given pardon, and also its requirements of discipleship under Christ, they will be judged more severely than those who never heard and yet practice iniquity (Luke 12:47,48).

Greater opportunity (the Gospel of God always is an opportunity) brings greater responsibility. To whom much has been given in the way of Gospel light, much shall be required.

The Christian salvation does not release us from the common obligation of mankind to please God by our conduct. Rather, the Christian salvation forgives us and then sends us on our way rejoicing, now possessing the wisdom and power to overcome the evil in the world.

To be continued.