A Complicated Relationship (John 17)
How would you describe the Christian’s relationship to the world? How about this: it’s complicated. In His high priestly prayer, Jesus described our messy relationship to the world. He was speaking about the apostles, but it also applies to us. Jesus said the apostles were given out of the world (v 6), but still in […]
Accept No Additions
“Is the answer 5?” Daphne asked. “No. Try again,” I said. “7?” “No. Just look at those two numbers, what are they?” “3 and another 3,” she said. “And when you add them, what do you get?” “I dunno. Why can’t it be 7?” “Because there’s only one answer!” Daphne will be starting kindergarten this […]
Two Burials (Exod 2:11-14)
There is a big difference between acting in your strength, according to your plans and acting in God’s power, according to God’s plans. Think of Moses and two very different burials that happened in his life. Remember when he killed an Egyptian who was attacking a Hebrew? Now it came about in those days, when […]
Preview of the Spring 2018 Journal
We publish the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society twice a year. The Journal is where we publish longer, more academic articles, as well as book reviews. But the articles are written at an undergraduate level. In the current issue—the Spring 2018 Journal—there are some articles you might be interested in. Ken Yates addresses what […]
Five Practical Examples of Godly Speech (James 5:9-16)
“Some things are better left unsaid”—is what I generally realize right after saying them. The Epistle of James has much to say about the tongue. One of the signs of spiritual immaturity or carnality is that every time you open your mouth the “old man” comes out. What you say will often reveal the state […]
Jesus Wants You to Think! (Luke 18:18-19)
Jesus wants people to think. He especially wants them to think more deeply about Who He is. Consider Luke 18:18-19: Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” An anti-Trinitarian person […]
Gordon H. Clark on Propositional Truth
What is truth? What can be true? Christians should be people of the truth. But to be that, we need to know what it means for something to be true or false. To that end, I was reading a 1974 book review written by the late Gordon H. Clark where he gave a very nice […]
Four Examples of Patience (James 5:7-11)
Do you find it hard to be patient? If you ever need inspiration in that area, consider the four examples offered in Jas 5:7-11. First, there is the patience of planting. “The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains” (v 7). […]
How the Will Can Influence Your Beliefs
Free Grace is sometimes dismissed as a form of “decisionism.” That’s a mistake because faith is not a decision. Not everyone in Free Grace circles agrees with that. Some claim they can choose their beliefs. The idea that you can choose your beliefs is called doxastic voluntarism. There are “direct” and “indirect” versions of it. […]
You Should Be Reading The Grace New Testament Commentary
People regularly send in questions about grace issues and related problem-passages. I am very happy to answer those basic questions for people who are brand-new to Free Grace issues. However, I often get asked the same questions by people who are not brand-new to Free Grace. They’ve been around the issues for a while, and […]