Building Thereupon: How Sound Faith and Good Doctrine Are Properly Laid

By Kyle F. Stephens

Christianity has become increasingly careless about Biblical truth, doctrine, and the Christian’s testimony. Building Thereupon demonstrates how, after salvation, carefully laying steadfast doctrinal truths one upon another forms the proper structure for fruitful and victorious Christian living. The Bible admonishes believers to lay precept upon precept…line upon line.

Christian faith and truth are to be built upon the firm Foundation, Jesus Christ. But what happens to faith if the first great truths are misunderstood? Building Thereupon offers an in-depth discussion of Biblical doctrine—the knowledge of the things that relate to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. It shows that believers need to understand the details of their own salvation, or else be vulnerable to deception in other critical parts of the Christian life. The Lord gives truths intended for every Christian, and these truths better equip each child of God to realize steadfastness, maturity, and the will of God.

Building Thereupon presents a convincing validation to earnest Bible believers, demonstrating that the body of correct Christian theology need not be rife with obscurity, contradiction, and inconsistencies. The great Biblical truths flow together, fit seamlessly, and fall into order when doctrine is believingly laid precept upon precept and line upon line.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: May 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781489727855

Kyle F. Stephens

Kyle F. Stephens (B.A., B.D., Th.M., Th.D.) is the pastor of Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, where he has preached for more than thirty years. He was saved at ten years of age, but did not begin to grow in the Lord until his early twenties. He and his wife Marcia have been married over thirty years and have four grown children. He is also the author of The Certainty of the Words.

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Copyright © 2020 Kyle F. Stephens.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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All scripture cited in this book is taken from the King James Version of the Bible

which the author holds to be God’s unwavering and final authority. Each scripture

reference is intentionally italicized to demarcate it as holy scripture, and the spelling

of the Authorized Version’s words is retained. The punctuation and capitalization

of the AV 1611 in all citations are also preserved insofar as the sentence structure of

this book will allow. The author has underscored and boldfaced words in scripture

quotations for emphasis. Any departure from the text of the KJV is unintentional.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2784-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2783-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2785-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020907005

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 05/12/2020

Contents

Foreword

Dedication & Acknowledgment

Preface

Introduction

Section 1 The Commission to Build

Chapter 1 The Lord’s Emphasis on Building

Chapter 2 The Christian’s Part in Building

Chapter 3 The Basics of Structural Integrity

Chapter 4 The Roots of Doctrinal Degeneration

Chapter 5 Where the Building Begins

Section 2 Laying the First Course

Chapter 6 Salvation

Section 3 When Builders Err

Chapter 7 The Words Must Be Certain

Chapter 8 A Dispensational Orientation

Chapter 9 The Godhead

Chapter 10 The Spirit, Baptism, the Body and the Briders

Chapter 11 The Saga of Two Kingdoms

Chapter 12 The Tale of Two Brides

Chapter 13 Eternal Security

Chapter 14 Salvation in Other Ages

Chapter 15 Standing and State

Chapter 16 Terror and Blessings

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

Appendix V

Bibliography

Index of Abbreviations

List of Illustrations

The Trinitarian Godhead — Figure 9-1

The Deity of Jesus Christ — Figure 9-2

The Deity of the Holy Spirit — Figure 9-3

The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation — Figure 10-1

The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God — Figure 11-1

The Two Kingdoms in Biblical History — Figure 11-2

Israel vs. The Church — Figure 12-1

Proofs of Israel’s Future — Figure 12-2

Premillennialism — Figure 12-3

Postmillennialism — Figure 12-4

Amillennialism — Figure 12-5

Pretribulationism — Figure 12-6

Post-tribulationism — Figure 12-7

Midtribulationism — Figure 12-8

Pre-Wrath Rapture — Figure 12-9

The Truth of the Raptures — Figure 12-10

The Four Second-Advent Accounts in Revelation — Figure 12-11

Eternal Security — Figure 13-1

The Church Age Parenthesis — Figure 13-2

Gospel Accounts Refute Eternal Security in the Tribulation — Figure 13-3

Components of Church Age Salvation Common with the Salvation of Abraham and the OT Saints Under Law — Figure 14-1

Components of Church Age Salvation Uncommon with the Salvation of Abraham and the OT Saints Under Law — Figure 14-2

Foreword

There are certain books that are essential to every pastor, preacher, teacher, and serious student of the Bible. These books should be in their library. These books are tools and are doctrinal in nature, not written with the intent of being the typical touchy-feely literary classics. They are not intended to be page-turners or written for entertainment purposes. Nonetheless, they are absolutely imperative for any serious student or teacher of the Bible. This is one of those books.

If there was ever a time that a book like this needed to be written, it is now. It seems there are more seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1) than ever before. If that is not enough, many Bible-believing, KJV-Only preachers and teachers are changing their positions on major doctrinal points. This is done to seemingly become more mainstream and appeal to more people, but in fact it is confusing the brethren. The yea hath God said society has risen once again to cast doubt on many doctrinal truths, from dispensational salvation to eternal security. Some of these truths have been so mistaught that the concrete foundation has been undermined and the once clearly defined doctrines have been significantly blurred.

The battle lines are no more about pants, pork, haircuts, and hemlines, they have grown much deeper and much more dangerous than long hair and miniskirts. The huge doctrinal divide in Bible-believing Christianity brings into question far more than just dispensational salvation; it now tears the very fabric of the doctrine of eternal security and seeks to resurrect Calvinism. To the untrained eye, many will miss this parlor trick that is being used to control people and instill fear and doubt among those drawn into these false teachings. These teachings must be answered to give uninformed believers a chance to decide for themselves. This book will give the reader the answers that he is looking for, along with scriptural support for those answers. The views presented may not be popular or scholarly, but they are biblical. It is a complex book, but it is written in a fashion that makes the most complex of subjects easily understood.

Some modern doctrinal books are written from a background of bitterness, which blinds the mind from the truth. These authors are opposing the truth and endeavoring to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:30). This book, without sarcasm, takes the reader back to the absolutes of the authority of the Bible and lets the Bible speak for itself, directing the reader to the Author of scripture, not the author of this book.

Dr. Kyle Stephens has an unusual way of taking complicated subjects and breaking them down in an understandable manner. He makes the otherwise difficult passages of scripture both practical and easier to understand. You will greatly benefit from reading and studying the foundational material as presented in this indispensable resource.

Dr. David Peacock

Pastor, Bible Believers Baptist Church, Jacksonville, FL.

President, The Bible Doctrine Institute

Dedication & Acknowledgment

This book is dedicated Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Rev. 1:5), He Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9)—the Lord Jesus Christ. May each of us apprehend and feel deeply the responsibility and honor of being made stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1). May the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14) be what animates and motivates each reader.

On the human level, in the writing of this book there has been tremendous effort given, as well as contributions made, for which I am deeply indebted, and I have been reminded of my richness in family, friends, and fellow-laborers:

Foremost, my wife Marcia once again lovingly, patiently, graciously, and without complaint put up with the distractions of mind that accompanied me wrestling with getting my head around the subject matter of this book. She was often left behind when I faded away conversationally or drifted away to my desk in order to read, write, mull, and stew over the things running through my mind. Ever supportive and without taking offense, she prayed for me, often left me alone and let me simmer in my own juices, knowing that was the only way I could get anything done. This was not the first time she has been through these paces. Marvel of marvels: she loves me still!

I am also very beholden to proofreaders, graphics coordinators, and men I consulted concerning doctrinal matters. Mere thanks are not enough for Stephanie, Sarah, Sylvia, and Kim, who proofread for grammar, punctuation, and general writing issues. Sylvia and Nate were the cornerstones for graphics, a subject in which I am a computer idiot. For some reason, several of those I have named planned weddings, got married, and/or had babies during their work on the book. I count it an honor that in profoundly precious times of their lives, they were willing to give effort and focus to this project. Pastor Nolan, Pastor Strobel, and Pastor Walker proofread for doctrine and/or made time in the midst of their ministries to discuss doctrinal matters I was concerned about. Thanks also to all those at The Bible Doctrine Institute who played a supportive role in planning and analysis of the work. In a plateful of vital priorities of their own, all these lent their time, energies, and help to assist in what the Lord had me doing. I am very grateful to you all!

Preface

Beyond the superficial lip service that is expectedly rendered on cue in most spiritual and Christian circles, in these last days there is an alarming detachment and alienation from holy things on exhibition. All while acknowledging a holy God, a holy Savior, and an indwelling Holy Spirit, Who inspired holy scriptures and Who called every believer unto holiness (1 Thes. 4:7), it seems that even true believers in genuine Christian churches are ever more and more disconnected and indifferent toward holy things.

There has been a profound groundswell and ravaging assault for many decades now against all things that are truly hallowed by the God of Heaven. The ever-invasive fables of pseudoscience and pseudoscholarship, the grossly amoral societal degradations of the latter times, and the constant downward spiral of despoiled human nature have taken their toll in Laodicea. The incessant tunes played by the pied pipers who are against the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3) have mustered the lemmings to the precipice.

The holy scriptures were given that we might, by the doctrine contained within them, come to an intimate knowledge of the holy things of God. By this knowledge of the holy (Pro. 9:10), we are called to be partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). To attain sound doctrine (1 Tim. 4:6), hearts set on the knowledge of the holy must be yoked with the careful and conscientious laying of precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little (Is. 28:13). Like building a brick structure, the process is sequential and ordered—one brick at a time. It is also meticulous. All must be built on a firm foundation—level, plumb, aligned, and with uniform tolerances.

In blatant contrast to something so well-built, the doctrine of most of Christianity in the twenty-first century is demonstrably tangled and inconsistent. Often, it is more convoluted and self-contradictory than it is ordered and true. Habitually defiant of contexts, tending to ever criticize the wording and plain meaning of the scriptures as written, readily accepting half-baked notions, commonly building upon preconception, misapplying scripture fragments cherry-picked to buttress predetermined notions, all the while ignoring a lot of scripture that contests their conclusions, Christian scholars have influenced the faith ever closer to shipwreck (1 Tim. 1:19).

As brick must be laid upon brick in a material structure, so one can only properly understand doctrine (Is. 28:9) by building precept upon precept;…line upon line;…here a little, and there a little (Is. 28:13). A precept mislaid early in building leads to a sequence of precepts mislaid. The weakness spawned from the first mistake is magnified more and more as the building progresses. In just this way, a doctrinal error laid down in rudimentary things leads to expanding false conclusions, errors, and heresy.

My point of reference throughout this book proceeds from the absolute conviction that the AV 1611 King James Bible is word-perfect, and that it is indeed God’s final authority in all matters of faith in a world that is profoundly swamped in the last days, in which the Lord saw fit that the universal world language should be the English language. Add to this the fact that it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18), that He does not contradict Himself, and that we are called to understanding (Pro. 1:1–12). We are not called to confusion and contradiction.

My hope for this book is that it might be a convincing validation to earnest Bible believers, demonstrating that the body of correct Christian theology need not be rife with obscurity, contradiction, and clashing inconsistencies. The precepts of right doctrine are not based on preconceptions, scripture wrested from its plain meaning, or exercises of sophistry that destroy the truths to which the words of the Bible bear witness.

The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (Jas. 3:17). So too do the great Biblical truths flow, fit, and fall into order when doctrine is believingly laid precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line (Is. 28:13). Only those with a vested interest in obscurity, confusion, and contradiction could object to unforced doctrinal truths coalescing into a uniform, harmonious, and unconflicted body of truth, correct?

Introduction

The Decline of Sound Doctrine

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron…If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

(1 Tim. 4:1–2...6–7)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(2 Tim. 3:1–2…7)

Plain from the holy scriptures is the fact that these perilous, last times prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ will be marked by a broad and grave departure from sound doctrine. There have been grievous wolves (Acts 20:29) virtually from the beginning, and heresies (1 Cor. 11:19) were an expected and integral part of the battlefield upon which the Church and New Testament Christianity were born. False doctrine has a long, sordid history which has been on open display for the two millennia of church history. Nevertheless, the scriptures promise the increasing influence and threat of corrupt doctrine in the last days. Sadly, in the collective mind of the main body of twenty-first-century Christians, doctrine is associated with stupendous boredom and rank, legalistic hairsplitting about irrelevant things. Such a conception is tragic, because doctrine is the first reason the scriptures were given according to Paul (2 Tim. 3:16), and Webster defines doctrine generally as whatever is taught; a principle or position; learning and knowledge.¹

Biblical doctrine, then, is knowledge and learning about God, our Creator, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the things that relate to them. Christians usually profess to ardently love the Lord with all their being. The knowledge of Him and of those truths surrounding Him and exuding from Him should be a cherished and zealous quest for every regenerate sinner. Sadly though, modern civilized man is a stunning and pathetic example of the concerns of this life—the thorns (Matt. 13:22)—having choke[d] the word (Matt. 13:22). In superabundance in America is the soul (saved or not) which nurtures a zealous, obsessive brand of learning (an extensive quest for knowledge as applied to his fantasy football league team, the latest out of Hollywood, or any number of his other compulsive interests), but whose ambivalence and haughty indifference concerning the things of God is palpable. It is as thick as butter. The "things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10–11) and the pursuit for the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16) are perpetually relegated to the back seat in lapsed Laodicea.

In the verses cited to open this introduction, we find good doctrine inextricably linked to the words of faith (1 Tim. 4:6)—the words of the living God; and to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7)—the indispensable truth of the living God. Though doctrine, in both singular and plural forms, occurs a total of fifty-six times in the scriptures and is attested to from Moses’ law through the book of Revelation, it occurs twenty-two times in Paul’s writings, with particular emphasis in the pastoral epistles, where it is aimed seventeen times at the hearts of latter-day believers. Of those seventeen times, Paul puts particular emphasis five times on sound doctrine and good doctrine. Doctrine remains the battleground in the general epistles and the book of Revelation, occurring another nine critical times.

It is the Holy Spirit that speaketh expressly that this departure from the biblical faith is attributed to seducing spirits, and these false doctrines proceed from devils (1 Tim. 4:1). This unabashed judgment emanates from the Godhead itself, and is not merely the apostle Paul expressing an irksome opinion. The basis for saying that spirits speak both to and through man is scriptural and thoroughly well established; if little appreciated. Paul attested to God’s Holy Spirit speaking through his preaching: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor. 2:4). Peter concurs when he says, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. 1:21). Zechariah tells how it worked for the Old Testament prophets: Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone…and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets (Zech. 7:12). Jesus Christ testifies of the spiritual nature of God’s words: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (Jn. 6:63). Job’s insightful query should give pause to frivolous counselors and teachers, as well as to those who heed them: To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee? (Job 26:4).

Finally, for brevity’s sake, John Zebedee warns…Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 Jn. 4:1). Three tremendous lessons are set forth in that last, singular, short verse.

1. Spirits speak and teach through prophets.

2. There are other spirits and prophets besides God’s Spirit and prophets.

3. The spirits are to be tried according to what they teach and say.

Since more will be said later about our times, and why men are in full flight from sound doctrine, let it suffice for now to acknowledge that pure and undefiled doctrine is a great rarity, even among those who call themselves Christians.

Nobody expects the world’s unsaved masses immersed in paganism to have come to sound doctrine. Hindus, Taoists, Animists, Buddhists, and Pagans certainly are led by spirits, not the least of which is Satan himself…an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), the god of this world [who] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (2 Cor. 4:4). Nor is any truth to be expected from the cults and orthodox unregenerate. These, by vast proportion, are Christians and believers in name only. This part of the doctrinal continuum is inhabited by the Mormons, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and great segments of Protestants of all varieties. Overall, these have subscribed in varying degrees to certain limited elements of the eternal truths of the Bible (faith, grace, the virgin birth, Heaven and/or Hell, and even moral living), yet they have so entangled what is true with such great and grave doctrinal errors, that what truth they acknowledge and have left unmolested is ineffectual to save the soul. Out of these first two main categories of mankind, are vast numbers of eternal souls, securely held in the shackles of falsehood, who blithely plunge into everlasting damnation as the sands run out of their dial.

While we surely anticipate that those mentioned above would be without a pure life-giving body of doctrine, it is tragic how deeply Christianity has been doctrinally compromised.

The megachurches might much more accurately be classified as meganurseries for carnal, narcissistic Christians.

Consider what is sometimes called mainstream Christianity. Out of what was once known as Denominationalism, Non-denominationalism, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, and Neo-evangelicalism, has morphed an entity that at one time embraced, for the most part, the spirit-quickening verities of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Enormous and disproportionate growth in numbers and popularity has made the modern megachurch movement a necessity to mention. Generally speaking, it cannot be denied that chief among the reasons for the force behind the great popular momentum of this movement in latter-day Christianity, is a de-emphasis of the unwavering doctrinal truths of the holy scriptures, along with a magnification and cultivation of man’s preoccupation and obsession with his flesh—his carnal nature.

While the Megachurch and Emerging church movements at present still may contain in their number a proportion of genuinely regenerate attendees, the marketing appeal is the proud and barefaced absence of steadfast dogma, the deficiency of stringent scriptural truth, and the bankruptcy of divine expectations for true disciples of Jesus Christ. There is an appalling absence of eternal, plainspoken authority as a rule of faith. The megachurches might much more accurately be classified as meganurseries for carnal, narcissistic Christians. What tenets and precepts actually are on exhibition, center and rest in large part around self-absorption—one’s own happiness, comfort, feelings, self-esteem, and (heaven forbid we forget) one’s own journey. The calling of pastoral staff often devolves to little more than motivational speaking, an avoidance of negativity or anything that smacks of judgment, and an attempt to clothe eternal truths in garb that offends no one. The rock band, the worship team, the theater/nightclub atmosphere, the hip dress, the lubricated tonal qualities of new bible versions and oily speech are very easy on the corrupt nature of man. The saved among the herd have too often merely settled on their lees (Zeph. 1:12), no longer desiring the conflicts, pains, and battles that must accompany spiritual growth. Many among the throng are lost and don’t really know it, but are still misled to feel good about themselves. They do not hear enough substantial doctrinal truth about their sinful corruption to shake them from their unregenerate dream state. As for their coming exposure at the judgment, or their onrushing eternal damnation, the Spirit of truth (Jn. 15:26; 16:13) has great difficulty in being heard over the din of carnal sound and the cacophony of voices that manage to assure the damned that all is well. The rock band, the self-obsession, and the sugar-sweet drool overwhelm their senses so that if they are ever converted, it must be in spite of their church, their pastors, and their worship teams instead of because of them.

Neither are Fundamentalism or Conservative Christianity any longer vigilant keepers of sound doctrine. The invasive work of the leaven of corrupt doctrine has been at work for a long time. Increasingly, there are great numbers in Fundamentalism that are willing to sell their birthright for the sake of numbers.² For many years the Bible has been the rallying cry for churches and Christian schools publicly, but the bitter truth is that in the classrooms and the preachers’ studies, absolute doctrinal truth has been spurned for hidebound tradition, Bible correction, and safaris into the original languages.

Many other categories of Christians might be scrutinized and evaluated, but it is important to acknowledge that there is a portion of the body of Christ that is striving to be found faithful at the coming of the Lord Jesus, and which longs to be found faithful in the day of Christ (Phil. 1:10). It is with all sincerity that we wish to bolster and support those that are in the fight for souls, holiness, a personal walk with God, and for the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15—the Church). For those of us who believe the eternal truths of the word of God are our most precious commodity in this temporal life, and that such truth is the purpose for the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12), it is important that we not adopt an attitude of proud condescension or superiority. It is nonetheless plain that there is a war being waged over the eternal truths of the Holy Bible in these last days, and there are casualties being exacted with eternal consequences in the spiritual lives of lost souls headed for hell. I hasten to add that though the genuine Christian’s everlasting life is more than secure, the quality of his reward and inheritance (Col. 3:24) is an open question until the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:11–15; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).

There are many things to be concerned about when the regenerate, blood-bought bride stands before her Bridegroom at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Focusing on the matter at hand, Timothy was exhorted to Study to shew thyself approved unto God…rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), as well as being charged to keep that which is committed to thy trust (1 Tim. 6:20). The writer to the Hebrews admonishes that we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip (Heb. 2:1). The Thessalonians were reminded that we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel (1 Thes. 2:14). If we are to have fulfilled in us Jesus’ own words to His Father, Sanctify them through thy truth (Jn. 17:17), then we must be intimately familiar with the truth! If thy word is truth (Jn. 17:17), then the Bible must be more to us than a book that fits in a slot in a pew or underneath a theater seat. One’s standing at the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to depend upon his relationship with the words of that Book. The things which have been absorbed and with which the heart and soul have been nourished, will be on display before the One who commissioned the saints with those words. Where each has stood in relation to those words, how each has fought the good fight, what fruit has been borne by those words, and how carefully each has aligned and conformed himself to the ideal of Christ as set forth by those words will be the issue at hand.

Who having ever read the admonitions of God written to His people, could ever genuinely think that specifics and details of doctrine and faith are of secondary importance? It should be obvious to all that unhinged, wild-eyed, gnat-straining, over-irrelevant minutiae are neither edifying nor profitable, and that brethren being vehemently at odds over minors in which God Himself did not major is a vain exercise. It is also indispensable to remember that Every word of God is pure (Prov. 30:5) and that Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).

It is no different for a modern Christian today than it was for a first-century Christian initially receiving the words of God from the hands and mouths of the apostles. Consider that the children of God are called:

• To be stewards of the mysteries of God and…be found faithful (1 Cor. 4:1–2)

• To [search] the scriptures daily, whether those things [are] so (Acts 17:11)

• To fully understand that My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6)

• To be sound in the faith (Tit. 1:13)

• To speak things which become sound doctrine (Tit. 2:1)

• To be rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught (Col. 2:7)

• To Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them (1 Tim. 4:16)

• To respond thus: If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to…the doctrine which is according to godliness…from such withdraw thyself (1 Tim. 6:3…5)

• To mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them (Rom. 16:17)

In anticipation of a charge that is certain to be leveled by those who do not think that the things of God can be known and understood with such precision and certitude, it should be obvious to any regenerate child of God that has been nourished in the holy scriptures, that the Bible in no way promotes the concept that the Christian life be reduced to intellectual wrangling and disputing about high-minded and heady points of doctrine. Christians and disciples of Jesus Christ were never intended to be scholastic pinheads, desk-bound internet warriors, theoretical heroes of the faith who might be great hearers of the word, but who pitifully fail at the doing of it. Some may charge that Paul’s statement that knowledge puffeth up (1 Cor. 8:1) is some sort of universal prohibition against the God-intended, intimate, and comprehensive knowledge of the scriptures. To those who think that way, thanks may be given that surgeons, pharmacists, engineers and physicists have not approached their vocations (Eph. 4:1) so glibly and superficially as so many Christians approach the revelation of God. Isaiah says but the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little...(Isa. 28:13). Whether it be mathematics, chemistry, physics, agriculture, computer technology, or small engine mechanics, every successive step of advancement or personal knowledge proceeds from the step prior to it. The purpose of this writing is not to undermine the zeal, energies, and labors involved in the living of the Christian life or of doing the work of the ministry. It is not to magnify theory or ideals (theology or doctrine) at the cost of minimizing real life doing and practice.

However, it cannot be doubted that what Christianity is called to do, practice, obey, and accomplish, must flow from the faith, knowledge, and understanding of its mission. Briefing a Ranger or Seal team unit on the strategic and tactical goals of a particular mission is little more than irrelevant gibberish if not for the extraordinary physical and intellectual rigors of long, intense training: the knowledge of how to get it done. Without knowledge, understanding, and ceaseless training in insertion techniques, fire plans, demolition methods, infiltration, ex-filtration, usage of equipment, and intelligence pertaining to the opposing forces, the hopes for success are slim indeed. You might as well send in the cheerleaders and hope distraction does the trick.

It is paramount that we must do, go, obey, fight, build, and—by God’s grace—win; but, successful action in God’s sight depends upon a structured and disciplined knowledge and understanding of expectations and how things work, that we might war a good warfare (1 Tim. 1:18). Such knowledge and understanding mean sound doctrine, wisdom, reproof, and instruction.

There has never been a time in church history that key doctrines of the Bible have not been debated. From the heresies of the biblical Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:20), the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6), Jezebel (Rev. 2:20), Balaam (Rev. 2:14), and Diotrephes (3 Jn. 9), we proceeded in time unto the heresies of the historical Marcion, Constantine, Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and the popes. Doctrinally earth-shaking controversies over the deity of Christ, the doctrines of salvation, and the nature of spiritual things cut and slashed their way through church history, leaving great swathes of eternally damned souls and entire generations of deceived adherents in their wake.

The reason?

The reason is that often those who formulated the doctrine were themselves lost and spiritually unenlightened men (1 Cor. 2:14). Of those who were saved, but erred from the truth of the scriptures, it can be stated simply enough that they misapprehended, misconstrued, and misunderstood the tenets and precepts of their respective subjects. Precept was not built upon properly built precept, and line was not added to properly conceived line. Thus, the doctrinal structure they built was faulty and ill-founded.

Today, we have the advantage of the labors of true spiritual pioneers who have gone before us, but the age-old heresies in the devil’s armory are still spit-shined and polished to a sheen by continual use. The words of the living God carrying the truth of sound, New Testament doctrine have come to us through the furnace of the Roman persecutions, the rise of the Great Whore, the ascension of papal debauchery, the fires and torments of the Dark Ages, the unholy influences of the Renaissance, the partial truths of the Reformation, and the insidious elements of the Enlightenment and German Rationalism. We benefit greatly from the blood, sweat, and stewardship of those who kept His word (Rev. 3:8) and passed the truth along to subsequent generations, but the works of the false teachers survived and flourished too, and are well represented in the cracks and crannies of many Christians’ doctrine. We have unprecedented access to the truths of the word of God thanks to printed material galore, electronic sources, technological tools, and the worldwide web. And yet for all our advantages of access to the truth, historical perspective, and spiritual insight of generations past, it is in our watch that the scriptures peal the alarm and sound the klaxon about perilous times and the great departure from the faith.

This work cannot possibly address or catalog all departures from sound doctrine, as it is not intended to be an encyclopedia, exhaustive in its extent. It is the goal, rather, to demonstrate how carefully laying steadfast doctrinal precept upon sure and steadfast doctrinal precept deters and thwarts arrival at such twisted and theologically obnoxious positions as have become the fashion in latter-day Christianity. In defiance, denial, or rejection of sure and firm doctrinal foundations and footings, various strains of hurtful and heretical dogma have wended their way through the Church’s body of doctrine. Some falsehoods have been schismatic and specific; others, general and widespread. These departures from the truth often arise from a false conclusion laid upon yet another prior false conclusion. Often, the effect is as one who whittles off the corners so the square block can be jammed in the round hole, or as one taking scissors to the jigsaw puzzle piece to adjust the fit.

Whether these false conclusions revolve around misapprehending latter-time events, holding to errant and misdirected concepts of the body of Christ, or not grasping the conflicts involving the dual-nature of the believer’s life in Christ, doctrinal impurity now inarguably abounds and prospers. Ever-increasing numbers of saints are pursuing various forms of doctrine that disregard the differences between the Church and Israel, between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, between an Old Testament saint’s salvation and a New Testament saint’s salvation, and between Messianic/apostolic times and the times of the Gentiles. So very many have allowed their thoughts to be captivated or affected in one measure or another by the haughty blundering of Calvinism, the ever-lurking seduction of anti-Semitism, some of the specious claims of Baptist Briderism, and the false characterization of Dispensationalism by its foes.

I have observed certain things during the forty-eight-plus years that I have been saved and seated in Christ Jesus. The thirty-two-plus years that I have been in the pastoral ministry have required that I study the books and things of the Bible over and over again—always evaluating and reevaluating the things of the scriptures so that the flock over which I am the overseer might be fed the right and true things of God. Part of that process is reading and rereading the Bible repeatedly—always checking, probing, questioning, and rethinking things. Again and again the process is repeated. In this way, one does not get stuck in the rut of one isolated strain of doctrine or thought. One doesn’t become marooned in one part of the Bible away from the rest of the truths contained in the whole. One is kept in balance so that he is not just focusing and obsessing on one singular doctrinal trail because the rest of the Bible demands that you attend to all it says rather than something it may state in some sequestered place.

I am among the Bible believers who are wholly devoted to the scriptural certainty that the salvation of every individual soul is achieved by that person placing his faith and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1–4). Believing in Christ’s blood (Rom. 3:25), shed as He died to cleanse all sins (1 Jn. 1:7), and relying on His rising from the dead to assure the sinner that He has the gift of life to bestow (Rom. 1:4), that sinner is born again spiritually (Jn. 3:3–5) and made a son of God (Gal. 3:26).

Many genuine Christians hold this position and are able to rejoice in a completed salvation in Christ, acquired by faith and faith alone. Sadly, that is where the quest for the knowledge of God and the doctrine of the Lord that follows salvation ceases for far too many.

At the root of this book is my observation through the years that unless a Christian—a grandmother, a teenager, a pastor, a missionary or a deacon—gets a handle on the deeper elements (the gears and cogs) of the transaction that occurs between God and the sinner at the instant of salvation, that Christian will be vulnerable to deception in some other critical portion of the Christian life. Doctrine has consequences, and there are truths that the Lord intended every mature Christian to grasp, which will, if understood, better equip that child of God to realize steadfastness, victory, and fruitfulness. If unrealized, much that relates to the Christian life is sabotaged, because deeper truths are founded and built upon more rudimentary truths. All too often, even among Christians of position and mature years, the understanding of what happened at the moment of salvation and the new birth ends with the idea of forgiveness of sins, going to heaven when one dies, and not having to go to hell.

That certainly is a glorious place to begin one’s quest for spiritual knowledge! It is wonderful for new Christians, and it is a joy that a child can understand the need for the Savior in simple terms and be saved. However, if knowledge never progresses from there, it is much like one that learns how to add and subtract, but never troubles himself to grasp multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. In the end, unless the Christian grows to the point that he succeeds in wrapping his mind and heart around the independent details of his salvation, along with the transactions that occurred between himself and the Lord at the instant of salvation, that Christian will be vulnerable to false conclusions and misconceptions about God, the Bible, and the nature of the Christian life. He will have gaps great and small in his understanding of precious spiritual truths relating to this present hour in history. He will be stunted in his grasp of the past. Further, he is much more likely to be confused and deceived about the timing and details about the future (prophecy). The tangle of confused and tortured prophetic views of our day is made possible by basic and rudimentary doctrine ill-taught, sadly misunderstood, and often missed altogether. A poorly laid foundation of doctrine will leave any child of God susceptible to deceptive leadership and doctrinal decline. This is so because just as one sound scriptural precept is laid upon an earlier sound precept, so one false conclusion or untruth leads to another, then another.

In this respect, the Old Testament proclamation by the God of our salvation through His prophet is still hauntingly true:

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

(Hosea 4:6)

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SECTION I

The Commission

to Build

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There is a theme that God, the Creator of all things and the Author of the scriptures, saw fit to place within the Bible in such a way that it wends and weaves itself all through the oracles of God. The theme is multilayered. It affects many aspects of the spiritual history of the Bible and of God’s purpose and dealings with man. It played an integral part in how the Lord fashioned and established the creation. It has had, and will have, literal, material and physical aspects for many of God’s people through time. More than one of the saints spent great portions of their lives fulfilling it. As a nonphysical component, it is very much the spiritual reality that should bind together the lives and hopes of all New Testament, Church Age Christians. Much of Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom will be very literally centered on the fulfillment of the theme, as will the crown jewel of the New Heaven and New Earth—New Jerusalem. In fact, the New Testament reveals that fulfilling that theme is one of the little-appreciated purposes for which the body of Jesus Christ is to be striving till the hour of our bodies’ redemption. It also plays an integral and vital role in the Christian’s earthly calling to come to as complete a knowledge and understanding of the things of God as is possible in this mortal life.

That theme is perhaps unexpected even for Bible believers. It is enough a part of the backdrop of the scriptures that it doesn’t seem to assert itself as an indispensable premise that requires constant attention and attendance. It tends to blend in and become just a part of the furniture. Yet from the earliest of God’s recorded undertakings in Genesis until His final disclosures at the end of the book of Revelation, it remains an unrelenting and multifaceted refrain.

The theme of which we speak is building.

His Building Materially

From the earliest moments in time, God the Creator was revealed to also be the Builder; indeed, the Master Builder. Truly enough, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1), but as in all building, foundations, footers, and supporting understructures are required lest that which is built collapse upon itself. So, the scriptures bear witness to the Lord’s actions in conformity with the principle:

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

(Job 38:4–7)

I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

(Ps. 102:24–26)

When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

(Pro. 8:28–29)

Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

(Job 9:6)

The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

(Job 26:11)

The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

(Ps. 75:3)

It is easy to see that the Lord built both the heavens and the earth upon the most basic of all structural necessities: a foundation. Fast-forwarding from the testimonials of the creation to the majesty of the final word portrait the Lord leaves to His people in the book of Revelation, our Father has John the Beloved describe for us the Lamb’s wife, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of Heaven as the New Heavens and New Earth get underway. Along with its vast dimensions and its crystalline and brilliant glory, the Lord again reveals the details of its foundations:

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb…And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

(Rev. 21:14…19–21)

It is therefore clear and certain that in these two bookends of time—the very creation itself, and the prophetic day of eternity future—God built. However, these two events simply bracket the beginning and the end. There lies much in between.

First, several high points of the Bible bear witness to the details of material, physical structures that the Lord commissioned various of His people to build, providing for them the patterns, plans, and the know-how to carry out the complex labor. Noah spent a lengthy portion of his lifetime building the stupendous engineering marvel of his day: the three hundred-cubit-long ark. According to Genesis 6:15, the Lord provided Noah the fashion of it. The sheer mass and dimension of the ark made it a daunting thing, plainly requiring enormous supports and underpinnings, and further necessitating knowledge that the Lord supplied Noah regarding materials, dynamic, and static forces, as well as the physical handling of such volume and tonnage. Aside from the utter size and mass, think too of the skill and workmanship required to fashion such a vessel to be watertight. Consider how, while the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah (1 Pet. 3:20), and while the world watched the painstaking and seemingly crazy project creeping toward completion, the Lord watched and directed the building of the singular structure that would save all flesh that drew the breath of life (Gen. 6:17).

Next, having spoiled man’s plans to build his self-willed tower in Genesis 11, and having delivered Israel from the clutches of Pharaoh, the Lord God gave Moses and nomadic Israel the pattern (Gen. 25:9) and mandate to build the sacred Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai. With only materials they could access in their wanderings, or that they had carried with them from Egypt, God supplied men such as Bezaleel the son of Uri (Exod. 31:2) with the wisdom to undertake and build in the middle of nowhere an ornate, much adorned, and holy structure that could be readily taken down and re-erected efficiently and at any time.

It is also worthy to mention (in contrast to what the Muslims teach)³ that while Abraham was never directed to build a city or an edifice, for the balance of his lifetime after leaving Ur of the Chaldees,…he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10).

Though King David nourished a great desire to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, the Lord forbade his doing so saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name (1 Chr. 22:8). Instead, the honor and duty fell to Solomon, David’s son: He shall build an house for my name (1 Chr. 22:10). The Lord gave David the inspired details—the pattern (1 Chr. 28:11–12)—but Solomon did the actual building. King David’s specification was that the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical (1 Chr. 22:5). So superlative a structure was Solomon’s temple, that it took the workmen seven years to build (1 Kings 6:38), even though David had gathered the materials.

It is obvious to Christians who are familiar with basic biblical history that in time, the nation of Israel was taken into captivity by the Babylonians due to her disobedience and idolatry. The Lord’s temple, built by Solomon, was brought to ruin by Nebuchadnezzar. Seventy years later, as narrated by Ezra and Nehemiah, the city wall of Jerusalem was built again, as was the temple. Though not so elaborate or as grand as the structure during Solomon’s time, the Jews of Jesus’ day were swift to inform Him, as though He needed a history lesson, that Forty and six years was this temple in building (Jn. 2:20).

Now, as the last days grow prophetically darker, with the Rapture of the Bride of Christ imminent and the wicked ministry of the Antichrist soon to come thereafter, yet another temple must be built, which will be the site of the Jews’ covenant sacrifices through a part of Daniel’s Seventieth Week until the Son of Perdition (Antichrist) breaks his covenant with Israel and shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (Dan. 9:27). After the glorious and fiery return of Christ to begin His millennial reign, there is one final, resplendent and glorious earthly structure to be built: the millennial temple described in intricate detail in Ezekiel 40–47. At that time, it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it (Mic. 4:1).

There, the visually stunning edifice will be the crown jewel to which every nation must journey yearly (Zech. 14:16) for one thousand years. Her magnificence will only be surpassed by…the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2) during the New Heaven and New Earth. Described as being fifteen hundred miles cubed (Rev. 21:16), she is a city of twelve foundations and of God’s own making. This is apparently the Father’s house (Jn. 14:2) Christ mentioned when He promised us that He was going to prepare a place for us. We may safely understand His preparations to involve some building! Considering that He laid the foundations of the heavens and earth in a day, just imagine what awaits us in that city wherein He has made preparations for two thousand years!

The creation itself—the macrocosm; the universe as we know it—has foundations and pillars set by the Master Builder. Plainly, the Lord commissioned men at critical crossroads of time to build earthly, physical structures. These were built upon physical principles men generally understand well enough. In investigating this line of thought, it is important to recognize that the Lord is also the master of other forms of building and construction besides the common methods of stone, brick, wood, and steel.

His Building Nonmaterially

One example of this is Matthew 13:35, where Christ said, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. A further statement regarding Jesus Christ says, For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 9:26). From Matthew 24:3 and 28:20, we know that the end of the world foresees the second advent of Christ and the establishment of His reign upon the earth—commonly known as the Millennium. Less obvious is the meaning of the foundation of the world, a phrase used eight other times in the New Testament besides the two verses cited above.

The end of the world does not refer to the end of the physical earth (which will actually be around another one thousand years after the end of the world), but rather to the end of the system of governance and of the cultural, societal, political dominion of the nations in this world when the Lord Jesus Christ sits down on His throne in Jerusalem to reign over the world. In this light, the foundation of the world would most likely not refer to the forces and laws that physically underlie the material creation—the planets, stars, and solar systems. Instead, the reference is probably to the structure of the system by which men are governed and live as a whole. It started with two, Adam and Eve, but soon enough, burgeoned out to include many millions (or more) of people. Noah’s flood temporarily interrupted the mushrooming population, restarting the process again at a mere eight people (1 Pet. 3:20). The Bible reveals that behind the superficiality of mankind reproducing, spreading, and devising his own ways of administering his affairs in this world, there lie spiritual influences that rule the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). These are known as principalities and powers (Eph. 6:12). These entities have an undoubtable spiritual aspect (Col. 2:15), but there is a manifestation of these powers in the physical world where flesh-and-blood men are allowed power and dominion as kings, presidents, lawmakers, and magistrates (Tit. 3:1). Ultimately and finally, Jesus Christ is at present the head of all principality and power (Col. 2:10), but since the fall of man, God has allowed Satan to be the administrator and god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). Even at the hour of the Lord Jesus’ temptation, the devil was authorized to take Christ Jesus up into an high mountain, to [shew] unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it (Lk. 4:5–6).

This spiritual oversight, interference, and influence in the affairs of men is seen in Daniel 10 where Daniel had prayed, fasted, and sought God’s face for three full weeks (Dan. 10:2), at which point an angel from God appeared and told Daniel he had come in answer to Daniel’s prayers but had run into an obstacle—an adversary. The angel said, But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia (Dan. 10:13). The explanation by the angel clearly exposes a spiritual entity (the prince of the kingdom of Persia) that is dark and adversarial to Daniel and the Lord, and yet another entity (Michael) that assists the angel in overcoming the influences of the sinister prince. The implication is that there are dark spiritual forces besides the devil himself that are assigned power over either countries or geographical areas.⁴ These forces are countered by the Lord himself, or in this case Michael, an archangel (Jude 9), who also is said to be the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people [the Jews] (Dan. 12:1). At the coming of Christ on the great and dreadful day of the Lord, these satanic principalities are punished, along with the sinful powers of this world: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth (Isa. 24:21).

This is a very bare and superficial treatment of what could be explored at much greater depth, but the purpose is to show that there is a foundation and structure to things in this universe that the Lord set in place, even though the foundation and the things involved are not physical.

In reference to God’s enduring people, Israel, the Lord promised through Jeremiah to build again the nation after her Babylonian Captivity. The promise is now only fractionally fulfilled in history, but the full realization of the pledge lies in the near future: For I [God] will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up (Jer. 24:6). Again, I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry (Jer. 31:4). And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD (Jer. 31:28). This building of the nation has to be understood to surpass not just her population and numerousness, but must also include her establishment as an unassailable world power.

With Israel’s historic rejection of her Messiah at Christ’s first coming, the Lord’s spiritual blueprint brought into play another entity that has taken the center of the earthy stage in the affairs of men for the last two thousand years. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). The plain promise is that the Lord will build His church. The haughty and confounded claims by the Catholic Church that she is the church to which the Lord refers, are brought about by her desperate pride and complete incapacity to grasp the meaning of the last half of the verse: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Most Protestants and Baptists have obviously rejected the Catholic position, but at the same time many of them still routinely misapply the troublesome last half of the verse. See Appendix I for a deeper explanation. For now, the emphasis must be that the Lord builds His church. The Church has a foundation (1 Cor. 3:11), pillars (Gal. 2:9), walls (Eph. 2:14), framing (Eph. 2:21), and stones (1 Pet. 2:5). In fact, she…groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:21–22). If she is a holy temple and an edifice made for the Almighty’s habitation, the structure and architecture must be extraordinary indeed!

This Church is a body made up of individuals who have been taught from the New Testament scriptures how they might, by hearing the words and sayings of Christ, be as the wise man… which built his house upon a rock…and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock (Matt. 7:24–25). As such, we… also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5). In fact, we…are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone (Eph. 2:20). This is further seen in 1 Corinthians 3:9: For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

His Building Personally

For every regenerate and born-again child of God, it is our part to cooperate fully with the Spirit of God in being individually built as Christians: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith (Col. 2:7). Jude 20 is