Chapter 44

The Cost

Salvation is the free gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

ìFor by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of

yourselves: it is the gift of God.î Ephesians 2:8

Standing in the truth of the Word of God against the idolatry and error that has
crept into the Church is no small task. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit
operating in the life of a believer to enable them to do so.

ìFor our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in

power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye

know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.î

1 Thessalonians 1:5

ìFor the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.î

1 Corinthians 4:20

If we read the epistles of the Apostle Paul, we see how much time he spent
dealing with the errors that had crept into the fledgling church. Speaking about
those teachers that wormed their way into the Church at Corinth, he wrote.

ìAre they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are

they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of

Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant,

in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice

was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered

shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In

journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in

perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in

perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea,

in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in

watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold

and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which

cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.î

2 Corinthians 11:22-28 (emphasis mine)