We have seen that there were those in the early church who understood God’s grace in all its truth (Col. 1:6), yet there were failures to live out that truth, and we find repeated admonitions in Scripture designed to prevent Christians from falling into error or personal sin.

When we use the apostolic church as a microcosm of the church in any age, we can understand how it would be possible, over time, to lose sight of grace entirely. Often I am asked how it can be that the early church, shaped by the teaching of the apostles and buttressed by the systematic thought of the early church fathers, especially St. Augustine, could depart from that teaching. We see the development of the Roman Church with its emphasis on salvation by works, claiming that God’s grace flows through sacraments administered by men. People ask how it could happen.

The point we have stressed throughout this study is that the continual teaching of fundamental theology is an absolute necessity if the church is to persevere in grace. Legalism and works-righteousness are natural to the fallen nature; grace is supernatural. The understanding of grace today does not assure its understanding tomorrow, though God will ultimately preserve His elect from final and fatal deception.

The strength of Christianity in the early days was Asia Minor, and now the number of Christians in Turkey is miniscule. Western Europe fell under the sway of the pope and a works system, while Eastern Christianity succumbed to mysticism and muddy theology. Areas of Europe and America that once were alive with “the grace of God in all its truth,” areas like Puritan England and New England, Reformed Geneva and Holland, and evangelical Germany are dead in the water with religious liberalism.

The responsibility for re-enforcing the gospel with sound teaching falls heavy on the teaching ministry of the church. God promises to preserve His elect to eternal life, but He makes no promises about continuing the vitality of the church in any one area. God’s secret counsels are unknown to us, but our responsibility is to preach the word in and out of season, to “correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction because the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:2-4).