What Type of Salvation Is James Talking About?
Earlier today I read a blog someone wrote criticizing GES and me for our stand on the Free Grace message. Among other things, the author said that our view that salvation in James refers to deliverance from temporal judgment is so ridiculous that by itself it repudiates our position. I’ve read books and articles which […]
Created and Re-Created Freely
“Luther’s doctrine of justification has frequently been attacked for being monotonous, empty, and even obsessive.” So notes Oswald Bayer in his article, “Justification as the Basis and Boundary of Theology.” Sound familiar? GES’s emphasis on the promise of everlasting life has faced the same criticism. Bayer continues to explain that Emmanuel Swedenborg caricatured Lutherans in […]
Can We Be Sure That We Will Persevere in Faith and Good Works?
Recently I ran across a quote by a Calvinist. He said that he was sure he was born again and eternally secure “without a doubt.” He went on to say that he was sure he would persevere, going so far as to say that even if he tried to walk in rebellion against Christ, he […]
Are you a Joy or a Burden to Your Pastor? (Heb 13:17)
I belong to a Facebook group for small church pastors (see here). It includes pastors from every denomination. Theologically it is all over the place. But I still find it very helpful to see what other people are dealing with. I can tell you that, based on that group, there are many discouraged pastors out […]
Institutionalized in Galatia (Galatians 5:1, 6)
There’s a scene in The Shawshank Redemption in which an old inmate named Brooks is about to be paroled after fifty years of incarceration. But he’s scared of getting out. Prison is all he knows. So he attacks another inmate in order to stay. Some of the other prisoners think that Brooks has gone crazy. […]
Dr. Wayne Grudem Says that John 2:23 Refers to “Genuine Trust in Christ”
Today I received a call asking me about something Dr. Wayne Grudem said in his book Free Grace Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel. In a footnote on page 110 (note 14), Grudem writes, “It seems to me that there is room for disagreement over the meaning of ‘many believed in his name’ in […]
Why Preaching Doesn’t Scare Me Anymore
There was a time when I’d rather face a firing squad than speak in front of a crowd. Public speaking terrified me. But God has a sense of humor. I remember in high school history class, we did a re-enactment of the Estates-General during the French Revolution. I played the role of a Catholic priest. […]
Recording Radio Programs Has Been Fun and Challenging
For the last three days Shawn and I have been recording 15-minute radio programs. We’ve had the help of a producer and post-production specialist, Danny. It has gone well. We recorded twenty-nine shows in three days. There are twenty-one shows in an average month, so we have a good start. We plan to get sixty-three […]
Gentleness Can Reach the Unreachable (1 Thessalonians 2:7)
I know a man who used to be a pastor, but over time he became bitter towards God and left the faith. I find it difficult to talk to him. We’ve tried talking, but it quickly turned into debate about philosophy, politics, Christianity, where we are polar opposites. It was unpleasant for both of us. […]
The Ten Commandments in Ephesians?
I was reading through Ephesians last night, and in chapters 4-6, I began to notice that Paul restated several of the Ten Commandments. Sometimes the restatement was explicit, such as when Paul explicitly quotes the command to honor your parents (Eph 6:1-3). Other times, the restatement was implicit. Paul did not quote the Decalogue but […]