The purpose of this book is to awaken a generally torpid and negligent modern evangelical church out of its doctrinal stupor. In particular it is designed to reassert the clear gospel - the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes - and to set it against several of its present-day corruptions.

The title comes from Philippians 3:2, and Colin Eakin takes Paul's warning as a pattern: any attempt to please God by one's own efforts, drawing attention away from Christ's accomplished redemption, falls under the same judgment. The treatment is direct and names the errors it has in view rather than gesturing at them.