The Four Phases of Salvation
People often confuse the one condition of being born again with the many conditions of being a disciple of Jesus. In Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth, C. I. Scofield explained it as the difference between “Salvation and Rewards” (chapter 9). In Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship, Charles Bing explains it as A Truth and B […]
Wrath and Righteousness
Did the cross bring an end to the wrath of God? How can God still be angry at sin? After the cross, aren’t we in the clear? Why would believers experience the wrath of God? There is a movement in Charismatic circles known as Hyper-Grace that has many similarities to Free Grace Theology. They believe […]
Withered Grass or Eternal Word: Bo Giertz on Preaching
Bo Giertz was a Swedish Lutheran theologian, bishop, and author of my favorite Christian novel, The Hammer of God. He was known as a someone who fought for orthodox Christian faith against a tide of liberalism in his country. In this quote, Giertz reflects upon the need for the pastor to preach the eternal Word […]
How God Deals With Sinners — John 13:1-30
Judas was one of the world’s worst sinners. He committed the world’s worst betrayal: he arranged for Jesus’s murder. If you want to know how God treats sinners, look at Judas. We catch a glimpse of it in John 13:1-30. God loves sinners. “He loved them to the end” (v 1). Even Judas. God loves […]
Ministers of Satan — 2 Cor 11:14-15
False teachers emphasize good works. Let me repeat that. False teachers emphasize good works. Listen to Paul: No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds (2 Cor 11:14-15). […]
Michael L. Brown on Once Saved, Always Saved
Michael L. Brown is the Charismatic and Arminian version of John MacArthur (the two have actually clashed on the issue of sign gifts). Brown is known as a conservative Christian voice in print and on the radio, and a defender of things like the Biblical sexual ethics. There is much to commend him on a […]
R. T. Kendall and the Lost Gospel
R.T. Kendall is known in Free Grace circles as an FG friendly writer. He wrote two books that have been useful in FG circles: Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649 where he argued that Calvin taught that assurance was the essence of saving faith; and Once Saved Always Saved, defending eternal security. In a recent […]
Assurance of Salvation and the Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent
There are two standards for evaluating a logical argument. First, is it true? And second, is it valid ? When an argument has true premises and is deductively valid, it is called sound. According to the first standard, in order for a logical argument to be true, the premises must be true. That’s common sense. […]
Three in Ten
Matthew Hennessey reported on a Pew study for The Wall Street Journal. Here is an interesting statistic: “Catholics aren’t the only ones dealing with religious illiteracy. Pew found that 53% of American Protestants couldn’t identify Martin Luther as the man who inspired the Reformation. (Oddly, Jews, atheists, and Mormons were more familiar with Luther.) Fewer […]
Worthy to Reign: The Cross and the War for Dominion
I. INTRODUCTION Why did Jesus have to die? For whom did He die? What did His death accomplish? Of all the ways that God could have saved the world, why the cross? Theologians have given different answers to those questions. Their answers are commonly called theories of the atonement.1 Discussions of the atonement among conservative […]