The conqueror in Sardis will not have his name blotted from the Book of Life.

If we, as believers in Christ, are compromising with the demands of our fleshly nature, the world, and Satan, and are participating in a human-oriented church program that is not living and working in the Spirit of God, we are faced with the possibility of being blotted out of the Book of Life—a fearful prospect indeed!

When the Lord states that the conqueror in Sardis will not have his name blotted from the Book of Life, there is a clear inference that the defeated believers in Sardis stand in danger of this worst of all fates.

There are numerous errors in the evangelical doctrine of today. One of the erroneous concepts is defended fiercely. The concept is that once an individual makes a profession of belief in Christ he or she never again can stand in danger of being lost to the Kingdom of God.

Since the Scripture clearly teaches the opposite, one wonders at the source of this error. It certainly is from Satan ("thou shalt not surely die!") because the idea that no professing believer can ever be lost to God's Kingdom has had a very weakening effect on the determination with which believers pursue the Christian life. The multitude of passages that warn us of the danger of not serving the Lord lose most or all of their intended impact on our sincerity and behavior.

It is commonly taught that no believer will be punished at the Judgment Seat of Christ. There are some who teach this who reject the doctrine of eternal security (we can never be lost), not realizing that they are being inconsistent. If we teach that no believer will be punished or could lose his salvation at the Judgment Seat of Christ, then, whether we realize it or not, we are a proponent of the doctrine of eternal security—no believer can be lost to the purposes of God.

The argument that those who are lost were never saved in the first place is neither sound nor scriptural. If this were the case, no believer could know if he were saved until he dies and goes to his destiny in the spirit realm.

The doctrine of eternal security comes from Satan. But what is Satan's motivation? It is to keep the Christians morally weak, foolish, careless, lacking in the iron resolve necessary for gaining the rewards assigned to the conqueror. It is the warlike remnant who keep God's commandments who pose a threat to Satan's kingdom.

Another motive of Satan is the hope that by creating resistance to the concept that God actually will punish people, he himself will escape the judgment written.

Whenever we seek to turn people away from the suffering that accompanies entrance into the Kingdom of God, the suffering that humbles us under the hand of God, we are speaking with the voice of Satan. Whenever we insist that God will not punish the wicked with extreme severity, that we ought to reverence God but not fear the punishments described in His Word, we are speaking with the voice of Satan. It is the influence of the philosophy of Humanism on Christian thinking.

To be continued.