There are Christian people who have embraced Romans 10:9,10 and continue to gossip, slander, backbite, criticize, hate people, refuse to forgive those who have offended them, who are proud, arrogant, haughty, unteachable, who lie, steal, seek preeminence, who do immoral things, who cause division among the church members, who manipulate circumstances insuring that they always get what they want.

Because of our incorrect theology we do not pay too much attention to such behavior in the churches. But the Lord Jesus Christ is extremely upset with these attitudes and actions and sends judgment upon us because of them.

Do you know any Christians like this? Do you believe they are saved because of their belief system? What do you mean by "saved"? Are they ready to dwell with the saints in glory? Are they going to be carried up to Heaven in a "rapture"?

If you believe this I think you might consider reading the New Testament to see what Jesus and His Apostles said about such people. People who are careless about righteous, holy living actually have never been converted although they have obeyed Romans 10:9,10, unless you think of conversion as mental acceptance of theological facts.

This type of Christian may have the manual but one can't say much about his garden. He certainly is not growing the fruit of the Spirit. He is growing thorns and thistles, and according to the Book of Hebrews he or she is nearer to cursing and the fire than to Heaven.

But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. (Hebrews 6:8—NIV)

Remember that the above verse was addressed to experienced Christians.

I know from the New Testament that Jesus and God will never accept believers when they are in this condition. Their statement of faith has not saved them at all.

When we do not keep Christ's commandments we do not love Him. When we do not bear the fruit of Christ's moral image we are cut from the Vine. When we have hatred in our heart there is no eternal life dwelling there.

No, knowledge may save the Gnostics (however they view salvation) but it doesn't save Christians. Christians are saved by dwelling in the living Jesus and He in them. When they do this, moral transformation occurs. Then they know they have eternal life.

First we shall discuss the formation of Christ in us. Later, the coming of the Father and the Son to dwell in us.

The Lord's parables were about the Kingdom of God, of Heaven. No parable teaches us about going to Heaven. The idea that salvation has to do with going to Heaven comes from Gnosticism, not from the Scriptures—Old Testament or New.

Consider the parable of the sower. The central parable of the Kingdom of God is that of the sower. If we do not understand the parable of the sower we will not understand the other parables.

Perhaps the greatest miracle in all of nature is that of the seed. How the seed of a plant or animal can contain in itself all the attributes of the parent only God understands.

The Kingdom of God is the Seed that comes from God Himself. It contains in itself the attributes of the Parent, God. Doctrine and statements of faith orient us to the Kingdom. But the Kingdom of God is not in the doctrine any more than the garden is in the manual. The Kingdom of God is the Divine Seed.

To be continued.