Can You Trust in Simple Salvation?
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” “Nothing is as simple as it seems.” Those are all common American proverbs that reflect our collective wisdom about dubious offers. However, those are also the ideas that lead many people to doubt the promise of eternal […]
Another Look at the Convicting Ministry of the Holy Spirit to the World (John 16:7-11)
Recently I wrote a blog in which I discussed John 16:7-11 and the fact that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. In the blog, which you can see here, I suggested that the Holy Spirit does the convicting work directly. That is, I suggested that every human being knows that […]
George Fox on Grace Before Godliness
George Fox was the organizer, if not the founder, of Quakerism, officially known as The Society of Friends. He traveled throughout Britain and the Caribbean, taking his message to whomever would listen and organizing the bands of followers who left the day’s official churches to worship more simply. Fox’s Journal is very interesting, if for […]
Lessons from My New Year’s Day Marathon
I thought it would be a good way to begin 2021 by race-walking a marathon (26.2 miles). I trained for it for about 6 months. I had finished seven marathons previously, from 1998 to 2019. This marathon was different in several major ways. First, because of Covid-19, I was not sure that we would actually […]
Catching and Cleaning Fish
I’m always on the look-out for simple illustrations of Biblical truths that most people can easily understand. Here’s one— I listened to an evangelist tell the story of how people in his home church grew upset when he started leading people to Christ, and the church began to grow. Some of the old-timers didn’t like […]
From Haran to Moriah: Spiritual Growth Takes Time
I get frustrated at my lack of spiritual growth. But then I think of Abraham. In James 2, we read: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? […]
Tribulation Believers and the Mark of the Beast
P. N. raises a very challenging issue: So…I think it’s wrong to tell people that if they’re saved, they won’t do this or that (such as commit sin). I think that is works based salvation and I publicly tell people that’s wrong. But there is one area where things become inconsistent. Because I think believers […]
The Link Between Believing in Jesus for Everlasting Life and Believing that We Are Sinners
Dick read my recent blog entitled “How to Share Our Faith Clearly and Comfortably by Evangelizing the Way Jesus Evangelized” (see here). That led him to ask this question: Thank you for your ministry, which I have found helpful and encouraging. I do have a question for you, however, centering around the word believe in […]
Two Aspects of the Cross
I have started working in earnest on my next book. As a follow-up to Chosen to Serve, which dealt with the doctrine of election, my next book will show that both Limited Atonement and Unlimited Atonement should be rejected because they both (wrongly) assume the benefits of the cross come as a package. My questions […]
The Word “Son” in the Book of Romans
The word “son” occurs 12 times in the book of Romans (1:3, 4, 9; 5:10; 8:3, 14, 19, 29, 32; 9:9, 26, 27). Seven of those times it refers to Jesus as the Son of God. One time it refers to Isaac as the son of Abraham. One time it refers to the Jews as […]