The Effects of Reading the Bible Four Days a Week
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). How important is it to read your Bible on a regular basis? In 2009, the Center for Biblical Engagement issued a report that concluded that people who read the Bible at […]
Priestly Celibacy Nullifies the Word of God
The issue of priestly celibacy is being debated again in the Roman Catholic Church. For one, there is a shortage of priests. Reformers think that allowing for married priests would encourage more men to take the role. But that would go against a thousand years of Church tradition and law (by contrast, in the East, […]
Sin-Based Assurance?
“I used to have a struggle with sin, but not anymore,” the man said. We were talking about assurance. He was explaining that his past struggles with addictive substances had caused him to doubt his salvation. How could he be saved if he was getting drunk all the time? But since he had overcome drunkenness, […]
Are You Discipling Your Family? (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)
My kids are getting to the age where they can ask serious questions about the faith. Recently, we attended the funeral for Abby’s grandfather, Roy Whisler. It was a good funeral. Jesus was front and center. Roy’s nephew officiated, and Abby’s brother gave a eulogy. They both made it clear that Roy believed in Jesus. […]
Don’t Treat Jesus Like a Spiritual Product
Do you ever feel like you have to “sell” Jesus? Or church? Or youth group? You want to have a spirit of excellence in all you do, of course (cf. Col 3:23). If you want to preach or write or publish or make PowerPoints or put on a conference or make music or do anything […]
Contradictions in a Family Catechism
I’ve been reading Winfield Bevins’s Grow at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Family Discipleship. It is a simple introduction to every parent’s responsibility to teach his or her children about Jesus. The book (or booklet) contained little new information for me, but it might be helpful to a family thinking about this issue for the […]
Does “Dead” Always Mean “Unable”? (Luke 15:11-32)
One area of theology that needs to be rethought is the doctrine of total depravity, particularly the ability or inability of the unregenerate to respond in faith to God. Often, Calvinist and Lutheran theologians will appeal to the use of the word “dead” to prove that someone is unable to respond. After all, how can […]
Paul Had Nothing
Those of us in the Free Grace movement tend to come from small churches and work in little ministries, with few resources, and even less (worldly) prestige. And that can be discouraging, especially when we look at the big ministries churches and their cool, cutting edge, and expensive buildings and activities and programs (as recommended […]
Does Faith Create a Relationship?
Readers of this blog are well aware of the danger of Lordship Salvation or works salvation, which denies that you can be eternally saved by faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. But are you also aware that it is also possible to emphasize “grace” to unbiblical extremes? That, in fact, some people emphasize […]
The Bible and the Fundamental of the Fundamentals
Our upcoming National Conference will be on the Great Doctrines of the Bible. I will be speaking on the Bible (i.e., Bibliology). How important is the doctrine of the Bible to the rest of theology? More specifically, how important is the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy to the rest of systematic theology? Here’s a great quote […]