Whenever the Word of the Father is given to a person, and the individual receives that Word in faith and embraces it, he is born from above, from Heaven. He no longer is a part of the world system. His spiritual life from now on is at the right hand of the Father in Christ. He has become a part of the Kingdom of God, the family of God, the Church of the Firstborn.

As the Word begins to grow in him he commences to act, speak, and think in a manner the world hates. He becomes the feared enemy of the world system because he testifies of the world that its works are evil. Satan stands before him and resists Christ who is being formed in him.

His citizenship is in Heaven, and until the Lord returns he is a stranger and pilgrim in the world. It is the Word of God that creates separation from the world in each of God's elect.

It is our point of view that many, if not most, of the "Christian" people of today have never been born of God. They were born of the churches, not of the Spirit of God.

The period of time in which we now are living is one of shaking, of separation. The fires of persecution and tribulation are testing the genuineness of each individual who professes Christ.

It appears that the Divine shaking will produce two separate churches: one, the Church, the Body of Christ, formed from God's elect, His remnant; and two, a much larger group of Christian "believers" who will appear in many ways to be members of the Christian faith. They will have the reputation of being "alive" but will be spiritually dead.

There is a willingness on the part of professing Christians to believe unscriptural concepts, such as an emphasis on "grace" to the extent that behavior is not critically important; on the love of God to the exclusion of the fear of God; on the "rights" of people to the neglect of the adoration and service of God; on the catching up (rapture) of immature believers to the neglect of the spiritual life that is absolutely necessary if we are to participate in the first resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11).

It is being taught and believed that Christians always must be comfortable and must not experience suffering or tribulation of any kind.

There are those who fear God who believe that this entire trend of preaching and teaching has no part in Christ even though its proponents are "fundamental" in doctrine, aggressive in evangelism, and, in some instances, speak in tongues, claiming to be filled with the Spirit of God.

It may be true that the Charismatic (Pentecostal) believers, of whom the writer is one, may be the most vulnerable to deception. We tend to look toward spiritual experiences rather than toward stedfast adherence to the Word of God.

To be continued.