How can one be assured of his or her salvation? This question has worried many Christians for centuries. Yet, the answer provided by the teachings of the New Testament is that every Christian can be certain that eternity will be spent with Christ and the Heavenly Hosts. Modern evangelical doctrine typically states that once a person recites the "sinner's prayer" and accepts Jesus, there is nothing he or she can do to be eternally lost. Unfortunately, that idea is not supported by what one reads in the New Testament. Although Jesus said concerning His disciples "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand," he also warned "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Thus, the idea presented is that as long as one chooses to remain in Christ no force will be able to separate him or her from God's grace. However, one does retain the freedom to walk away from Jesus and walk into being separated from His grace. Jesus effectively summarized His expectations in His message to the church at Smyrna: "Be faithful until death."

A second question concerning salvation is "What does it mean to be faithful?" In the New Testament, John answers this question saying that a Christian needs to "walk in the light," meaning that we live our lives within the light of Christ by following Him, maturing in Him and keeping His commandments. As we "walk in the light" several things happen to us to pull us away from being carnal beings. We are transformed by the renewing or our minds. We develop a Christian personality, which is not centered on self. We learn to worship and serve our Creator. We find peace and contentment that surpasses human understanding. In totality, we discover the best way to live the few years we have been given upon the earth.

John chapter seventeen records Jesus' prayer for unity among his followers, which did not appear to be answered in the affi rmative. In the eighteenth century a movement began in the eastern United States to address the obvious division of Christendom. This Restoration Movement was inclusive, inviting people to leave Christian denominations and return to the Bible alone for spiritual guidance. Thus, "speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent" became their mantra.

In 1801 this movement kindled a large revival centered at the Cane Ridge Meeting House (cover of book) near Paris, Kentucky. Churches birthed by this movement grew and spread rapidly to both the frontier and the cities. However, within fi fty years, conflict and division began to arise in these churches as some became more sectarian and others more legalistic, resulting in three primary groups: the Disciples of Christ, the Independent Christian Church, and the Church of Christ. Of these groups, the Church of Christ was the most conservative, with many congregations taking silence of the Scriptures as prohibitive of everything not written in the two thousand-year old text, resulting in more confl ict and division.

Thus, the Restoration Movement had run amuck, becoming mired in its own swamp of legalism. Th is book seeks to identify what went wrong, and what changes in attitude, behavior, and conversation are necessary to get the unity train back on its track.