Did John the Baptist Lose His Faith While in Prison? Matthew 11:2-3
By John H. Niemelä Did imprisonment cause John the Baptist to doubt? Did this courageous herald of the Messiah fail to finish strong? Over 99 percent of Christians would assert something like the following: “Matthew 11:2–3 is clear about John’s struggle at the end of his life. He developed an Elijah complex as he collapsed […]
Kto jest w stanie zagwarantować życie wieczne?
Ewangelia Jana przedstawia Jezusa jako mesjańskiego Syna Bożego, który został ukrzyżowany i zmartwychwstał, aby zagwarantować życie wieczne wszystkim wierzącym. Ci, którzy postrzegają Jezusa jako zwykłego człowieka, lekceważą wszelkie wyobrażenia, że mógłby On zagwarantować komukolwiek życie wieczne. Zwykłe ludzkie istoty nie mogą obdarzać innych życiem wiecznym. Czy to oznacza, że musimy z konieczności najpierw przekonywać ludzi […]
Does the Word Gospel Equal Jesus Christ’s Death and Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15?
By Dr. John H. Niemelä First Corinthians 15’s definition of the word gospel is important.1 For brevity’s sake, I assume the view that saved in 15:2 refers to sanctification, not regeneration. Lowery writes, “As the former message was an essential element in the Corinthians’ experience of ongoing salvation (the pres. tense of the verb saved […]
Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life
Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries that Bring the Bible to Life. By Titus Kennedy. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2020. 254 pp. Paper. $22.99. Titus Kennedy is a professional field archaeologist and an adjunct professor at Biola University, as well as a research fellow at Discovery Institute. He draws upon archaeology and documentary artifacts to […]
To Be (or not to Be) Summoned to the Final Judgment: John 5:28-29 in Light of 5:24
John H. Niemelä1 Message of Life Knoxville, TN I. INTRODUCTION Amen, amen, I tell you, the one who listens to My word and believes the One who sent Me has everlasting life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). Do not be shocked at this, because an […]
Apprehension of Jesus in the Gospel of John
Apprehension of Jesus in the Gospel of John. By Josaphat C. Tam. WUNT 2/399. Edited by Jörg Frey. Tübingen, GER: Mohr Siebeck, 2015. 265 pp. Paper, €89,00. Tam is an assistant professor at Evangel Seminary in Hong Kong. This book is a revision of his 2014 Ph.D. thesis at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. […]
We are His Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
By John H. Niemelä For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). Perseverance theology has treated this verse as a prooftext for Calvin’s infamous 1547 dictum: “It is therefore faith alone which justifies [cf. Eph 2:8-9], and yet the […]
Is Faith Even a Tiny Part of God’s Gift (Ephesians 2:8-9)?
John H. Niemelä Message of Life Ministries Aurora, Colorado I. INTRODUCTION Is faith the gift of God? John MacArthur gives a standard Reformed statement that it is: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no […]
Dortian Calvinism Is Dead Wrong on Ephesians 2: A Review of Timothy R. Nichols’s Dead Man’s Faith
John H. Niemelä President Message of Life Ministries Aurora, CO I. INTRODUCTION1 Dortian Calvinism is known by the acronym T-U-L-I-P. The first point is the T, which stands for total inability. The following sermon by Brian Anderson is typical of those who hold to this theological view. It deceives many into imagining that the unregenerate […]
George Meisinger Memorial
By John H. Niemelä On March 12, 2019, Dr. George Meisinger, a longtime friend of grace, went into the presence of the Lord. He was born in Eugene, OR, on April 21, 1938. George graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1968 and for four decades pastored churches in Minnesota and California. All who knew him […]