Years ago in the rugged Australian Outback, an explorer’s body was found where he had died of thirst. Scratched on his empty canteen were these words from his own fingers: My tongue is sticking to my mouth-lost for want of water-I can say no more-God help me. Unfortunately no one was able to get to this man with the one thing that he desperately needed to save his life: water.

Water is so very vital to our physical lives, but it is even more so in the spiritual life. The very last invitation to salvation in the Bible specifies that very salvation as the water of life (Rev.22:17). We can be certain that when we come to Christ for salvation that we will receive that salvation from Him. But, what if the water is mixed with something poisonous? What then? I believe we all know the answer to this question. If the water is mixed with something that may not be that healthy but is not poison, it will reduce the water’s benefit to us, but will not be destructive. But if the water is mixed with poison, then we will be greatly harmed by it. The analogy is obvious in the spiritual realm. If the water of life is mixed with destructive heresy such as the denial of Christ’s absolute deity as well as His sinless humanity, or adding human works to salvation, then the water becomes poisonous.