Salvation is not a joke. It is war, in the deepest and widest and truest sense of the word. In war, they do not just use strength and weapons, but also strategy. The very foundation of salvation is the atonement, the work of Christ. Therefore it is of the utmost importance to our bitter adversary to create a misunderstanding or distortion of the significance of the work of Christ in one way or another. Unfortunately, the adversary has succeeded to a terribly large extent in this. Through his wily attacks he has, by and large, derailed almost all believers. They begin quite correctly with forgiveness on the basis of the atonement, which is based on Jesus Christ’s obedience. However, instead of continuing in obedience to Him who was the first One who was obedient until His death on the cross for us, they remain disobedient and cover themselves with the obedience of Christ, thinking they are saved by this alone, which is contrary to God’s clear Word. Thus they have been deceived and have been derailed from the way of life. Where can most of God’s people be found? They are found in the ditch, having left the way. There they preach and sing to each other, imagining they are walking on the way of life, which is absolutely not the case. Virtually all delusion, all apostasy, supports itself on some words of Scripture. Let us look at one of the scriptures in particular that is employed in this main delusion. Romans 5:19. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” We freely admit that if nothing more were written concerning this matter, there would be an excuse for going astray, for being deceived. However, it is not at all the case that nothing more is written about this matter. We have to add one scripture to another in order to find the true meaning of this word. When we add Hebrews 5:9 to Romans 5:19, all reason for misunderstanding and derailment falls away. There it is written of Christ: “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him . . . .” In other words, salvation is for no one else except for those who obey Him! Christ’s obedience and atonement brought salvation to the world. They gave every man the opportunity to be saved. Who, then, is saved? All those who make use of the opportunity, all those who obey Him, or as it also says, all those who have not believed in vain. 1 Cor. 15:2. When faith in Christ’s obedience and our love for Him because of His great love and work causes us to obey Him, then we are saved. As confirmation of this, we read that when Christ returns, He will take vengeance on those who did not obey His gospel. 2 Thess. 1:8. The apostles and all His true servants were therefore tasked with the work of leading souls to the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5, 16:19, 26) and teaching them to keep all that Jesus commanded them. Matt. 28:20. The Scriptures testify everywhere about this. However, our bitter enemy has still succeeded in derailing almost all of confessing Christendom. They are in the ditch, beside the road. There they exult and praise Jesus with their mouths while their hearts are far from Him. This is proof of their disobedience! They are completely comforted by what Jesus has done for them, imagining that they, on account of the obedience of One, are and will be saved despite the fact that they continue to disobey. Irrespective of how much the Scriptures clearly require our obedience, believers do not bother with it. They do not take it seriously, thrusting it from them and even imagining that they are especially pleasing in God’s eyes by covering themselves and hiding under Christ’s obedience, under a pardon, under the fact that God is love. Then, when they sing “under the blood, His precious blood,” they imply that His obedience is sufficient. This is how they are comforted in their sins and strengthened to continue sleeping in their sin. By doing this, Satan has accomplished his greatest achievement! This achievement is greater by far than what HindenburgGerman general on the Eastern Front during World War I who defeated the Russians at the battle of Tannenberg. He later became President of the so-called Weimar Republic. achieved during the World War by luring 90,000 Russians into the Masurian Lake District. But God be praised for all those who in these days have come on an even keel again so they can continue on the way!Elias Aslaksen