Dennis: Please note that the “Federal Vision” controversy is over—in essence—what the definition of “continue in the faith” means in that passage. Is Paul referring here to the invisible church, the personal faith that is between God and an individual person? Or to the visible church, a public statement of faith, that visible church which all would concede contains some (or many, depending on your skepticism level) who are not members of the invisible church (“the elect” I would say, preferring biblical language, but some people get all wiggy).

So what does it mean to continue in the faith? Given that it’s only be the grace of God that any of us do so, and that even the faith itself is a gift from God. In what sense do we continue in that faith? Michael’s answer seems to be that, based on the context of the Tanakh, it is a willful choice to serve another god instead of God, which is not the same as the more-common foolishness of attempting to serve another god in addition to God.