Make Inheriting Your Goal (1 Corinthians 6:10)
Question I am finally coming around to the Free Grace movement. However, I am still so confused about sanctification and why I tend to go backward in areas of my life and forwards at the same time. I have been a Christian for ten years now. I feel that some areas of sin in my […]
Impossible Interpretation of the Parable of the Four Soils
“Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while […]
Jesus Wants You to Think! (Luke 18:18-19)
Jesus wants people to think. He especially wants them to think more deeply about Who He is. Consider Luke 18:18-19: Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” An anti-Trinitarian person […]
Opposition All Around
Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him (Mark 3:6). Mark 3:1-6 is the fifth of five encounters Jesus has with religious leaders. None of these encounters go well. Here, in 3:6, we see the conclusion. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, decide that Jesus must die. […]
What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus?
After a recent blog (see here) showing that faith in Christ is not a decision, a reader asks: I’m confused. Is it believing in Jesus that saves, or is it believing in Jesus and knowing that believing in Jesus saves? Though a bit complicated, that is a very good question. Read the question again until […]
Gordon H. Clark on Propositional Truth
What is truth? What can be true? Christians should be people of the truth. But to be that, we need to know what it means for something to be true or false. To that end, I was reading a 1974 book review written by the late Gordon H. Clark where he gave a very nice […]
What Did the Lord Mean When He Said We Should Pray “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven”?
A few weeks ago I heard a radio preacher quote part of the Lord’s Prayer. He quoted, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). He said that the Church today is not just sitting by and watching the world go to pieces. We are seeking to change the world […]
Four Examples of Patience (James 5:7-11)
Do you find it hard to be patient? If you ever need inspiration in that area, consider the four examples offered in Jas 5:7-11. First, there is the patience of planting. “The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains” (v 7). […]
Is Faith a Decision?
In a recent blog you can see here, entitled “Might a Fuzzy View of Faith Lead to a Lack of Assurance,” I suggested that faith is simply being persuaded or convinced that something is true. Saving faith is being convinced that the Lord Jesus was telling the truth when He said, “He who believes in […]
How the Will Can Influence Your Beliefs
Free Grace is sometimes dismissed as a form of “decisionism.” That’s a mistake because faith is not a decision. Not everyone in Free Grace circles agrees with that. Some claim they can choose their beliefs. The idea that you can choose your beliefs is called doxastic voluntarism. There are “direct” and “indirect” versions of it. […]