In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, "We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!" (Isaiah 4:1)

Sometimes it is claimed that all there is to being "saved" is that of "identifying with Christ." In fact, some have gone so far as to state that all we have to do to be an overcomer is to "identify with Christ."

It seems to me that the greatest portion of the Christian formula for salvation is that of claiming we belong to Christ, that of identifying with Him by belief, or confession, or faith, or by however we choose.

Perhaps we use the request of the thief on the cross to prove that all we have to do is acknowledge Christ as King and there is no more to be done.

Those who take such a position understand neither the new covenant nor the Lord's program of salvation.

There certainly are verses in the New Testament that, when isolated from their context, can be used to prove all we have to do is make a proper confession of Christ and the work is finished. We now are on our way to a glorified body, rulership over the nations, and a splendid mansion in Heaven.

We ignore the commandment to "to fight the good fight of faith." We ignore Paul's determination to lay aside all else in order to attain the resurrection from the dead. We ignore the fact that Christ, in the Second and Third chapters of the Book of Revelation, speaks of the need for a change in behavior if we would be a victorious saint. We have found a quick, cheap way to gain all the glory of God, so why trouble ourselves with the bulk of the admonitions of the New Testament?

Jesus warned us it is not enough to cry "Lord! Lord!" He insists we do what He says. How frustrating it must be to Jesus to see His people content themselves with proclaiming His lordship, and then follow their own way of life.

We of today simply do not understand what God is doing. We do not, multitudes of us, have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Christian churches.

We have been saved through the blood atonement. We have received the Spirit of God. But now God is requiring a third step, the crucial step in the establishing of the Kingdom of God. God is requiring that we surrender to Him our self-will.

We can be saved from wrath, filled with the Spirit, and still maintain our own way before the Lord.

The whole world is moving rapidly toward the one-world government of Antichrist. The end result of this movement will be the destruction of the ability of the Christian family to bring up its children in the ways of the Lord. The Antichrist government will not permit this.

We have been lulled to sleep with the thought we will be "raptured" into Heaven before the Antichrist government is established. In this we have been deceived. The evil day indeed is upon us and we have been exhorted to arm ourselves so we may be able to stand.

The major issue is obedience to God. We must keep all the commandments issued by the Lord Jesus and His Apostles, and we also must grow in our ability to find the Lord's will for ourselves each day, and we must faithfully, diligently do all He tells us.

To be continued.