If you say to someone "no matter how you run you will win the race," the runner will not push himself to the last searing thrust.

If you say to a boxer "no matter what you do you will win the fight," he is not going to drag himself up off the canvas and throw a few more punches.

If you say to a person "whether you work or not all your bills will be paid," the individual may lay in bed and not make an effort to earn a living.

This is what Satan has done to remove zeal from the Christians. "It is true Revelation says you will get the crown only if you overcome, but don't worry—you will inherit the Kingdom by grace." This is the current assumption.

The lie of eternal security may be the most damaging of all the unscriptural traditions.

Let me tell you that a person can accept Christ, be born again, speak in tongues, work in the ministry, and then turn away from God, not pressing forward into the rest of God. What will be his portion at the return of the Lord? Outer darkness!

The Kingdom principle is given in the Book of Ezekiel. If the wicked turn from his wickedness and begin to practice righteousness, his wickedness will not be mentioned to him. If the righteous turn from his righteousness and begin to practice wickedness, his righteousness will not be mentioned to him.

Salvation, the program of forming us in the image of Christ and bringing us into untroubled rest in the Father through Christ, has a specific beginning, a specific program, and a specific conclusion. You cannot say you are finally "saved" until you finish the program. Is this what the Son of God said? "He who endures to the end shall be saved."

The footnotes of my Evangelical edition of the Scriptures says it is not true that we must endure to the end to be saved. The Son of God said we must endure to the end to be saved. The Evangelical tradition has much error in it—error that God wishes to correct in our day.

We can truthfully say, "I was saved at the time I received Christ; I am working out my salvation now; and I hope for the salvation that is to come with the appearing of the Lord." We are saved by hope, the Bible tells us.

Salvation is transformation. Salvation is rest in God's perfect will. To say we are saved when we are not being transformed, when we are not doing God's perfect will (there is no such thing as a permissive will of God—another lie from the Pit), is to reveal a Gnostic view of salvation, not a Christian understanding.

For my part, I believe the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. If our traditions are not in line with the Scriptures, then out go the traditions. Only the Bible will keep us steady in the days to come as God challenges the angel of the Evangelical churches and fights against us with the sword of His mouth.

To be continued.