No Man Is an Island (Romans 14:1-26)
In 1624 English poet John Donne wrote a poem whose first line reads, “No man is an island entire of itself…” He went on in the same short poem to write, “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls […]
Are You Saved by Reciting the Apostles’ Creed?
Question Is there a difference between intellectual assent and saving faith? Take, for example, the very many churches each Sunday which have the entire congregation recite the Apostle’s Creed. What percentage of those persons who recite orally the Apostles Creed are saved? Is reciting the Creed orally or silently a guarantee that one has saving […]
Christian Testimonies
Anybody who grew up in any kind of church setting has probably heard hundreds of testimonies. A testimony is the account a person relates of how he or she became a believer. Recently, I was with a group of missionaries, and we were all asked to give our own personal testimony. If you are like […]
The Role of Prayer in Bible Study
When I was in seminary, only one professor that I can recall ever said that we should pray and ask God to help us understand the passage we were studying. His name was Zane Hodges. Zane pointed us to verses like Luke 24:32, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us […]
The Many Fruits of the Tree of Life
If you like fruit, here is an interesting feature about the tree of life, as described in Rev 22:2: In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for […]
Quakers, Scripture, and Justification by Turning from Sin
I read everybody. For example, I was reading this blog on Scriptural authority from “Ramblings of a Country Preacher,” an independent Quaker minister. He is arguing that Quakers—and all Christians—must return to Scriptural authority. Overall, I agree with his position: The perfect standard or Scriptural teachings have over time been consumed by the secular liberal […]
Why GES Praised Dr. Norman Geisler
Here is an email I received: Is there a reason why Dr. Norman Geisler is featured and lionized in the latest Grace in Focus Magazine? In my exchanges with him, he opposed GES soteriology. His website clearly articulates a repentance view. Lots more could be said. Perhaps I’m not understanding something here? While our ministry […]
What Is the Law of Liberty? (James 1:25; 2:12)
Question What is the law of liberty? Answer Thanks so much for your question. As you know, the phrase “law of liberty” is found in James 1:25 and 2:12. The key to understanding what it means is found in the context immediately before its first occurrence (1:25). James has just spoken of the new […]
God Is Omniscient: God’s Middle Knowledge
Imagine that Laura is a doctor. Laura chose to become a doctor because her mother developed Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she had to learn how to care for her mother. That sparked Laura’s passion for medicine. But what if Laura’s mother had never developed the disease? Would Laura still have become a doctor? And is […]
The Tree of Life: One Tree or Many? (Revelation 22:2)
Revelation 22:2 has a puzzling description of the tree of life: In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. The tree of […]