We stand on the edge of a great abyss... for we live in a land a time where many who know much of God have willingly turned away from the basic truth of Christ and have obscured the plain and beautiful truth with the subterfuge of man's wisdom. With religious pretense and with a return to the dead works of sin and self- rejecting the light they run back into the darkness. These first 8 verses are a warning that we dare not speed over. They are also a passage that confuses many- therefore we must carefully consider just what this sure foundation IS, so that we may build upon it rather than building anew on some lesser ground. This whole discussion begins at the point of repentance from dead works-