It is generally agreed among Bible scholars that Paul wrote his epistle to the Philippians while imprisoned, although the scholars are in disagreement as to if it was during his incarceration at Rome, Ephesus, or Caesarea. Nevertheless, unlike his other letters, this letter is not a letter of reproof nor is it chock full of great doctrinal truths like the book of Romans. It is one of thankfulness to God for the Philippian Church and to the Philippian believers for their graciousness towards him while he was imprisoned and unable to do for himself. It is full of hallelujahs and amens and Paul continually used the term "in you" in the most positive of senses beginning with verse six of chapter one.

(Philippians 1:6)
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

When we consider the diverse teachings in the church concerning our salvation (as well as any other facet of our Christian walk) we should be aware that in most instances of bad doctrine, misunderstandings lie at the root. And these misunderstandings, more often than not, stem from a faulty definition of a theological term. In the case of the doctrinal problems associated with "working for" rather than "working out" our salvation, this theological term is "salvation."

The definition for salvation in the dictionary reads, "a saving or being saved from danger, evil, difficulty, destruction, etc." The word is a noun and it is derived from the verb "save"; and as with all nouns ending in -tion which have been derived from an action verb, the suffix -tion in the word adds to the meaning of the root word. According to the dictionary, when the suffix -tion is used, the resultant noun describes something that is or that has being (e.g., creation, definition, etc.) or something that is considered to be an act or a process. A good example of this would be the term digestion. It has the word digest at its root, and it describes the act of digesting in its fullest meaning, including everything involved in the process. Similarly, the salvation provided for us by our Lord’s life, death, burial and resurrection, includes every act of God in saving His children from the power, the bondage, and the consequences of sin.

Because we need to be saved from sin and its consequences, let’s take a moment and consider the Scriptural term sin. In the Bible the word sin is used to express two totally different aspects of man’s rebellion against God and His righteous law. There is the nature of sin that is inherent in all born of Adam and there is the act of sin that is the product of that sin nature. Because no one of us had any say as to the sin nature we were born with, the responsibility for the sin nature in us belongs to our Creator who created us knowing we would inherit that nature. (The sin nature in man is the consequences of man’s [Adam’s] free will; and it is this free will that makes life so precious to us and so precious to our God.) The responsibility for our acts of sin, though, is ours; for God’s perfect law has been placed in the heart of each of us so that we are totally alerted as to what we should and shouldn't do. In addition, God has given each of us a conscience (Romans 2:1, 12-16) designed to work in conjunction with the law in our heart to heighten our awareness of right and wrong. And He has also given us an intelligence (Romans 1:20-25) that understands that God is and that His righteousness requires that He judge sin. For these reasons alone, the Apostle Paul declares that mankind’s ungodliness is without excuse. If we add to this the fact that God sent His Son to seek and to save the lost—His awful death on Calvary being the price for our redemption—then we can understand what Paul meant in the third chapter of Romans when he said:

(Romans 3:21-26)
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Truly, this had to be the most awesome moment in all of creation—the day the Son of God by Whom God created all things (Eph 3:9; Col. 1:16) died on a cross for His creation. This moment in time was ordained of God for it was in the fullness of time that Christ came (Gal. 4:4). We know that Christ had to come to the earth and die in order to undo the damage that the sin nature would produce on the earth—we know this because it is written that Jesus was the Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world (Rev. 13:8; I Pet. 1:20; Heb. 4:8). In other words, in His foreknowledge—before He created all that He created—it was predetermined that He would have to come to the earth and eradicate the problem of sin by taking its curse upon Himself (Gal. 3:13). For this reason, Paul could write that Christ has both proven Himself to be just (He has fully met his responsibility in the matter of the sin nature that Adam brought into His creation), and has qualified Himself to be the justifier of all who will believe in what He has done for us at Calvary (Rom. 3:26).

"God...now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30). Because of the work of Calvary, the salvation of each of our souls is in our own hands—especially if we have heard the gospel of Christ. Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, said Jesus, and those who believe shall be saved and those who believe not shall be damned; i.e., they shall have literally damned their own souls. This may seem to be a little heavy, the eternal destiny of our souls being in our own hands, but this seems to follow the pattern of our existence in this life. For example, he who jumps into the front of a speeding bus will surely be killed, while he who removes himself from harms way will continue to live.

As to the destiny of those who have not heard the Gospel, there are different ideas floating around in the church.  Some conclude from Paul’s discourse in the second chapter of Romans that all who live and die without hearing the Word shall be judged by their attitude toward the law written in their heart. If this is so, they say, then God would also be justified in justifying them because of the finished work of Calvary; for when Christ died on the cross for the sin of all of all time, He made it possible for a just God to forgive the sins of all who fear their Creator and who would want to serve Him if they knew Him. Others reject this contending that God will move heaven and earth to see to it that all who would believe the Gospel get to hear the Gospel.  Still, others feel that every soul on the earth is the responsibility of the Church.  That if we will obey the Great Commission and take the Word to the world, souls will be saved that otherwise would be eternally lost.  Whatever our thoughts on the matter, as most of us in the church can attest, before Christ found us on the mountain side, we had no thoughts of pleasing God or of being righteous in His sight, but were drowning in the things of the world and the flesh. In fact, it was through the prayers and the witness of believers or by the preaching of the Word that Christ was able to turn our attention to Him and to heavenly things. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 18:18). Church, let’s be honest—how many of us can truthfully say, along with Cornelius the centurion, that God sent someone to us with the plan of salvation because our prayers and fasting had come up to Him for a memorial? (Acts 10). In fact, how many of us now safe in the fold are glad that somebody cared for us while we were still in the world living for ourselves? And again, how many of us are thankful enough to reciprocate by giving our prayers, time, and resources so that Christ might be able to reach out through us and take His salvation to another who is still as we were? In other words, how many of us can look at our own commitment to Christ and to the lost, and honestly say that we wouldn’t mind being born in a country that is under Satan’s blanket of darkness—having our eternal soul at the mercy of someone like ourselves?

Before we leave this matter of the different understandings in the churches concerning God's gift of salvation, and especially as that understanding effects our witnessing, let's look at another problem that the believer finds himself having to deal with: the practice of asking people if they are "saved." This is a problem because the majority of people who bother to witness usually ask the question: "Have you ever been saved?" To many, the implication of this question is that if you once were, but are now lost, you need to be saved again—a concept that when viewed in the light of the following Scripture must be deemed ludicrous.

Now it is true that when we ask people "if they are saved," technically, we’re not in error. In fact, in the book of Acts we see the word used several times when the early Church was spreading the Gospel. And there was no harm done at that time because the early disciples had been taught by the Master and they were sure to teach their converts the continual and eternal components of God’s plan of salvation. But Church, let’s face it; when the world looks on us they see confusion, disarray, glorified flesh, fallen heroes, and con men at work. And when they do try to tune in to us, they hear fighting churches, the vain puffing and blowing of egos, a myriad of things that must or must not be done, and only God knows how many plans of salvation. Let’s just think for a moment about a few of the things that the churches are laying on the world!

• You must be baptized in a certain way or you cannot be saved.

We need to be careful lest we seem picky at this point, but in the light of so much confusion emitting from the church world, perhaps there is wisdom in using phrases other than "Are you saved?" or "Have you been saved?" Perhaps in our witnessing, we can better communicate what we’re about if we use such questions as "Are you born again?" or "Have you surrendered your life to Christ?" (This author also finds this approach helpful in that it disarms those who are ready to argue that they are Christians by virtue of being a citizen of a "Christian nation" or because they were born into a religious family.)

Church, we can thank God that our salvation is never presented in the Scriptures as the work of man; for then it would, of necessity, be feeble, inadequate, and unsure. Consequently, if we want the Spirit of Christ to honor our witness, then we, too, need to present the salvation of the Scriptures as the work of Christ and as the gift of God! If we have been witnessing and the fruit of our labors have been less than what we would desire, then we should examine our witnessing in the light of the following checklist to be sure that we have been presenting the Christ of the Bible.

• Are we presenting the One Who redeemed "whosoever will" by paying in full the price of our redemption when He died on the cross (Rom. 7:14 cf. I Pet. 1:18-19)?

• Are we presenting the One Who brings His free gift of salvation to the repentant heart by His Holy Spirit; giving His salvation to each individual who exercises his or her faith, and this with no respect of persons (Eph. 2:8-10 cf. Rom. 2:11)?

• Are we presenting the One Who is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2)?

• Are we presenting the One Who abides perpetually/forever with the believer via the Holy Spirit, making all things work together for his or her good (Jn. 14:16-17; Ro. 8:28)?

• Are we presenting the One Who opens doors that no man can close (Rev. 3:8; Col. 4:3)?

• Are we presenting the One in which we are to labor, or our labor is in vain (Zech. 4:6; II Tim. 1:6; I Cor. 2:4-5; I Cor. 15:58)?

• Are we presenting the One Who has gone on before to prepare a mansion for us in His Father’s house, and this before we ever believed?

• And Are we presenting the One Who will come again and receive us unto Himself that wherever He is, we may be also (John 14:2-3)?

"Yes, I know it’s by faith," we hear, "but what if we quit believing?" To this reasoning I would answer, "What if God could make a hole so big that He couldn’t fill it?"—my point being that both questions are absurd, as would be any answer we might try to form!

"But what if we committed a sin and died before we got around to asking God for forgiveness?" one might ask. Although I can’t think of any "quick quip" with which to answer this question (and I shouldn’t if I could, for those who ask these kinds of questions are usually very serious), the question itself does let me know that the person has a doctrinal error in his belief. In fact, this particular question is just a generic form of many such questions asked by those who are bound by some form of the law. When ministering to those who ask such a question, I usually respond with a question—something like, "Let me ask you, if under the circumstance you’ve just given, do you believe that God would send you to an eternal hell for letting your temper flare at your wife? or would He send your son to hell for telling a "little white lie" when he was under the pressure of the moment? or would He send you to hell because you haven’t been doing something that you know you should? (After all, doesn’t James tell us that "...to him that knoweth to do good , and doeth it not, to him it is a sin."[James 4:17]?) We should not ask such questions to be argumentative, but to get people to think; for when they do, their answer is usually along the line of "of course not, I’m talking about a big sin." However, when pressed to define their big sins, they have trouble deciding just where the little sins leave off and the big sins begin. Of course, the underlying purpose of asking such questions is to get the people to whom we’re ministering to realize that rather than thinking of eternal life as a gift from God, they are either thinking of it as something they must somehow earn, or something that they must keep through some efforts of their own. This understanding is important to both the lost and to the believer. It’s important to the lost because until they see the snare in which they’re taken, they cannot be a recipient of God’s gift of eternal life and its accompanying gift of salvation. And it's important to those who are already the Lord’s because without this understanding they cannot enter into the overcoming life that Christ holds forth to all believers; i.e., the life that is lived by faith (Heb. 11:6).

To really understand the problems with our approaching the lost about spiritual things through logic, we need to remember that those outside of Christ are attuned to the logic of the world. To the born-again believer, however, logic can and should be the fruit of the mind of Christ (I Cor. 2:16). However, as the fruit of today's church will attest, this is not always the case. Concerning the mind of Christ, Paul wrote:

In the light of this passage, how many of us can truthfully say that we have the mindset of Christ and that we put God and our fellow man ahead of ourselves? Oh, we agree that such a life would be ideal; but we have been taught that such idealism is unobtainable—something for only preachers to use to flower up their sermons. Church, once again we have been sold a bill of goods; and instead having the mind of Christ, we usually find ourselves functioning with the mind of the "old man"; and this in spite of Paul’s word to the Ephesians:

So, the believer has the option of walking in the habits of the old man and reaping the corruption of the flesh (Gal. 6:8), or of walking in the new man with the power, the mind, and the logic of Christ. This is not the case with the natural (unregenerated) man, however, for he can only walk after the natural man; and his logic is therefore dominated by the flesh and by the reasoning of a carnal mind. Of this carnal mind, Paul wrote: "...the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:7-8)." However, as we can see from the next two verses, we believers can please God. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (Romans 8:9-10).

Oh, that we might perceive all that Christ has provided for us in the salvation that He has given so that we might appropriate it by faith! Church, not only are you and I a "new man" in Christ Jesus, but we need to also understand that God reckons our "old man" to be dead, considering it to have died with Christ at Calvary. True, the habits and the ways of the old man are still lurking around in our flesh and in our minds, testing us and trying our faith; but we need to agree with God and, by faith, reckon our old man to be dead—and then treat him accordingly.

As any of us know that have tried to reckon our "old man" to be dead, it is easier said than done. But the problem with our failures to apply this or any other Scripture to our lives is not with our salvation or with the promises of God, but with our choice of whom to believe. We saw this problem in the very first transgression when the first couple chose to believe Satan’s logic over God’s Word, a choice which brought sin and death to us all; and we can see it in the bad choices which bring about our failed testings!

We all know that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; and concerning this test God said, "...in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). But then the devil came hissing in Eve’s ear with his "Hath God said?" and gullible Eve fell for the devil’s version of what God had said. But we shouldn’t be too hard on Eve, for if we’ll be honest with ourselves, we’ll have to admit that in our day to day existence there are times when we are at least as gullible.

If we doubt this, let’s consider the following questions. Do we believe that the accumulation of wealth brings one peace of mind, or do we believe God’s Word when it says that the satisfaction of the true riches belong to those with a living faith who are rich towards God (Lk. 12:16-34)? Do we believe that true joy belongs to those who are the most successful in seeking their own, or is it really more blessed to give than it is to receive (Acts 20:35)? Do we want to use God’s good gifts appropriately (with His blessings), or do we choose to believe that the devil’s perversions of them is better? Do we believe that we can walk in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit, or do we accept the limitations of our flesh and live in doubt (the devil’s playing field)? And concerning our old man, do we agree with God and reckon him to be dead (lifeless and powerless); or do we believe the devil’s lie and succumb to its appetites, saying to ourselves that we can’t help it because our flesh is just too weak? Church, just as Adam and Eve, we, too, have choices to make!

In all of this we must wrestle with idealism vs. realism. After all, most all of us will agree that we should be rich towards God, etc., but what do we say by our actions? Church, we can believe the lies of the devil; or we can believe the Bible when it says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry [from wanting anything more than we want to please God] (I Cor. 10:14).

Oh, that God would allow us to hear and to apply these words of Paul to the church at Colosse.

(Colossians 2:20; 3:1-4)
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Which all are to perish with the using;) after the doctrines of men?
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour [but] to the satisfying of [the vanity of] the flesh.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth,
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory

Church, it’s true that if any man says he is without sin, he is a liar and the truth is not in him (I Jn. 1:1-10); but God did not give us this understanding so that we might be justified in making provision for the flesh (Ro. 13:14)! Rather, the ideal and the practical outlook for the child of God is to live this temporary life as did our Lord and Savior (II Tim. 2:3-4): striving always to please God and to serve our fellow man, and being careful not to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit as we so endeavor (I Th. 5:19; Eph. 4:30). If ever there were a time that the world—and the church—needed to see the Body of Christ be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22), it is now.

What a different world it would be if every believer could proclaim as did the Apostle Paul: 

(Gal. 2:20). I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Contrary to what many teach, to what the devil would have us to believe, and to what most experience, this lifestyle is not impossible; for this is the life God had planned for His children before the world was ever made. From the very beginning God had planned for all believers to be priests and kings and to rule with Him over His domain (Ex. 19:6: Rev. 5:9-10). In fact, His goal for each Grace Age believer is that of being conformed into the image of His Only Begotten Son (Rom. 8:29). All of this is what God has said, but the devil would twist His Word to have us believe that only the Apostle Paul and maybe a couple others could live such a life. Nevertheless, Jesus said that He would send His Spirit to us so that greater things than He did, we would do (Jn. 14:12). But the devil lodges in our mind "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (the state of the "sleeping" disciples before they were given the Spirit), and if we’re not careful, that’s where we’ll live.

Church, as with Adam and Eve, we have but one thing to do if we want to please God and prosper; in fact, our test is the same as was theirs. We can believe God and be obedient to His Word or we can believe the devil’s lies—the choice is ours.

We could go on and on debunking those teachings designed to confuse the Church and to make it powerless, but, hopefully, we’ve imparted to the reader enough understanding of the ploys of darkness to MARK THEM whose teachings are in error. Again, let me emphasize that one’s doctrine is not necessarily synonymous with one’s character; and judging one’s teaching is not necessarily judging the person himself. After all, the only person ever to have perfect doctrine was the only perfect man to have ever lived; and that was the Lord Jesus. And again, let me reemphasize that our doctrine should not be the main factor in our fellowship with other believers. In fact, if we are waiting to find someone who thinks just as we do before we unite in a Christian fellowship, then we will end up being spiritual hermits and cheating ourselves of one of the greatest gifts given to the believer: the fellowship of others who are also trusting Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Let me sum up by saying that rather we like it or not, we are all creatures of habit; and just as we are all creatures of habit, we are also all creatures with doctrines that support our habits. And although we all have inherited parts of our doctrine from family members, from friends, and from those authority figures that we have been taught to respect, nevertheless, the responsibility for our doctrine and its subsequent life style rests fully with each of us. Consequently, is it not logical that we should examine our doctrine in the light and authority of the Scriptures to be sure that we can live with it, and that we can die by it?

It has been the purpose of this book to, as the title suggests, MARK THEM who might effect our doctrine in a negative way. And because our doctrine is a dynamic thing that is subject to change on a daily basis, we should be aware of the forces that shape and reshape our doctrine. With this in mind, perhaps it would be helpful in closing if we considered the following questions concerning any new (or old) teaching that we’re asked to subscribe to.

• Does the teaching we’re asked to embrace make sense in the light of all the Scriptures regarding the subject?
• Does it cause the listener to want to praise and glorify God or is it delivered in a haranguing spirit of fight, making the listener feel uncomfortable and distraught?
• What is the fruit of the teachings: is it peace or torment, faith or fear? And does it lead to a sure-footed walk on the path of faith or does it cause one to vacillate between hot and cold, and stumble along the way?
• And finally, does it make us to rejoice in God’s infinite love for us; or does it cause us to doubt His love, which in turn causes us to doubt His precious promises?

May the Lord Jesus grant us all the wisdom to understand that a successful life is the life lived for Christ, but that it is impossible to live this life apart from a viable faith in the love of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The bottom line for each of our lives will be what have we done for Christ, but we need to remember that every man’s work will be tried though as by fire. Our works are compared either to hay and stubble or they are likened unto precious gold; and the fire, of course, consumes the hay and stubble while it only serves to purify the gold. Moreover, the kind of works we will have will depend upon our doctrine. It is true that men speak with their mouths from the wealth of their hearts, but it is also true that the substance of our hearts is filtered by the mind. May God grant us all to have the mind of Christ, the heart of David, and the doctrine of the Apostle Paul; for then like Paul, we would be consumed with our concern for the lost and our love for the Church; and like David, we would be a man after God’s own heart; and like the Lord Jesus, we would have our minds set to serve the everlasting God, even unto the premature death of this finite body.

And all of God’s children said, AMEN.