Do Not Provoke or Envy One Another (Galatians 5:26)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking […]
Making the Word of God of No Effect by Our Traditions (Mark 7:1-16)
How do you apply Scripture? Do you wait for a preacher to give you an application? If so, do you consider the possibility that the preacher (local church, radio, TV, books) might sometimes misapply the Word of God? Here are three application questions: Is it okay for women to be elders in the local church? […]
The Historical Argument Against Justification by Faith Alone
The Reformation began in AD 1519. The teaching of justification by faith alone is powerfully proclaimed in the New Testament. However, we have no surviving documents which indicate that anyone between AD 100 and AD 1519 believed in justification by faith alone. This has led to an interesting logical argument. We have no proof of […]
Do Not Bite One Another (Galatians 5:15)
In a classic scene from The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Inspector Clouseau walks into a German hotel and notices a small dog by the counter. “Does your dog bite?” he asks the hotelier. “No,” the old man answers. When Clouseau goes to pet the dog, it viciously attacks him and tries to chew off his […]
How to Respond to a Works-Salvation Friend
A reader, R. E., talks about his interaction with a works-salvation elder. He asks me to explain how I would answer the question: Thank you for your email/newsletters concerning works–based salvation. I work with a Church of Christ elder who adamantly defends the five steps to salvation. When I give him several verses that only […]
Rapture in Revelation
Here is a question on the Rapture from a regular reader: “When analyzing the Book of Revelation, at what chapter(s) would you insert the Rapture taking place?” Revelation 4-22 discuss the time after the Rapture, with chaps. 4-19 dealing with the Tribulation, chap. 20 discussing the Millennium, and chaps. 21-22 covering the eternal kingdom on […]
Assurance in Acts 2:36-38
Z. P. asks this important question: Bob, you said in regard to Acts 2:37-38, that when the Jewish hearers of Peter’s sermon were “cut to the heart,” that is the time they believed that Jesus is the Christ. I’m struggling to see assurance as the essence of saving faith in this passage. Are you saying […]
Will There Be Atheists in Heaven?
Q: As I understand your premise in Grace in Focus, you believe that if a person makes a sincere profession of faith but later became an apostate that he/she is still saved. If that is true, will there be non-believers in heaven? ~D.T. A: So, to clarify—a sincere profession of faith is not enough to […]
The Significance of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
For some people in Christianity, baptism and the Lord’s Supper have lost their meaning. When babies are baptized, as they are in many groups (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed, Lutheran), they are not confessing anything. The parents are promising to raise the child in the Christian faith; the one baptized has no say in the […]
It Can’t Be That Easy (John 8:30)
In John 8:30, it says that “As He (Jesus) spoke these words, many believed in Him.” This is one of those places where many people use the phrase we often hear. That phrase is, “They didn’t really believe.” The reason some say that these people didn’t really believe when John says they did is because […]