How Can Faith Not Produce Good Works?
I was recently asked, “I am a little confused as to the relationship between faith and works in the Free Grace understanding. My own understanding is that faith naturally has a corresponding action. It’s not that the action proves or adds anything to salvation, but that grace-born trust in Jesus could not fail to be […]
Bind Him and Cast Him into the Outer Darkness (Matthew 22:13)
Here is the hot question for the day from my in-box: First, I’d like to say that I appreciate GES, and I’m in agreement with much of what I’ve read and heard so far. One thing I am not currently understanding clearly is the phrase ‘bind him hand and foot’ pertaining to the outer darkness […]
Jesus’ Last Week in Light of Daniel 9:25-26
After centuries of promising to send a Messiah, God finally gave a concrete timeline in Daniel 9:24-27 for when He would come. And vv 25-26 give us specific information about what would happen to Messiah at that time: “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem […]
Unless You Believed in Vain (1 Corinthians 15:2)
I received the following question in a comment to a blog I wrote: “Why does Paul say you can believe in vain, 1 Cor. 15:2?” The questioner doesn’t seem to believe in eternal security. He implies that Paul was saying that you could believe in Christ, be born again, and then end up going to […]
Foundation Crumbling
Over the summer, I’ve been re-reading Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. Haven’t read it since high school. The series is set 20,000 years into the future. A Galactic Empire is spread across the stars. But it’s crumbling. Hari Seldon, a “psychohistorian,” foresees the empire will fall, leading to a long period of barbarism. So Seldon puts […]
“My Way”—Frank Sinatra Spirituality
In “My Way,” Frank Sinatra famously sang, Regrets, I’ve had a few But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption. I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway, And more, much more than this, I did it my way. … […]
Assurance and Faith
Beware of what you say. You may contradict yourself. Or, you might contradict your mentor. Here is a great question from a reader/listener: At the beginning of the July 4th episode of Grace in Focus Radio on Discussions on Christianity for the Emotionally Damaged, Bob stated that assurance is another name for faith or belief. […]
Four Free Bible Study Resources
I am amazed at the number of free Bible study resources that are available online. Of course, the pre-eminent Bible study software is Logos, but it is expensive. If you’re a pastor or Bible teacher, it may be worth the expense. However, for everyone else, these websites can help you with your studies. At least, […]
The Role of Determination to Obey in Progressive Sanctification
One of the comments put on an earlier blog pointed people to some articles on our website explaining John 2:23-25 and John 8:30-32. I went to one of the articles on John 8:30-32. I found the following section, which I think is worthy of repetition and expansion. Here is what I wrote (you can see […]
Satan’s Sifting
In Job 1, hasatan—the Adversary , Opponent, or Accuser—traditionally identified as Satan—asked God to afflict Job. Satan wanted to test Job’s faithfulness to prove he feared God for the wrong reasons: So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around […]