Did Zane Hodges Believe That Saving Faith Is Intellectual Assent?
As I mentioned in an earlier blog (see here), Dave Anderson argues in the book A Defense of Free Grace Theology that Wayne Grudem’s view of saving faith is essentially that of nearly all Free Grace advocates. Anderson even goes so far as to suggest that Zane Hodges agreed with Grudem’s view. Zane Hodges was […]
You Should Be Reading The Grace New Testament Commentary
People regularly send in questions about grace issues and related problem-passages. I am very happy to answer those basic questions for people who are brand-new to Free Grace issues. However, I often get asked the same questions by people who are not brand-new to Free Grace. They’ve been around the issues for a while, and […]
Might a Fuzzy View of Faith Lead to a Lack of Assurance?
Yesterday I received an email from a Free Grace Pastor who likes our writings. He indicated that he was concerned about some things he read in the book A Defense of Free Grace Theology, edited by Dr. Fred Chay, with contributions by Ken Wilson, Paul Tanner, Dave Anderson, Jody Dillow, and Chay. Here is what […]
How to Come Back from Carnality (James 4)
How does a backslidden believer come back into fellowship with God? James 4 gives sound instruction. In vv 1-5, James shines the light on some areas of sin in the lives of these believers. They were engaged in: Quarrels and conflicts (vv 1, 2) Fleshly pleasures (v 1) Lust (v 2) Murder (v 2) Envy […]
How We Decide Where to Hold a Regional Conference
People have often asked, “How do you decide where to hold a regional conference?” Let me shed some light on our reasoning process. There are four basic criteria. First, invitations. Was there an invitation to hold a regional at a given city or area? Those make a big difference in our planning, especially if the […]
Who Took John 5:4 Out of My Bible?
“For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well from whatever disease he had” (John 5:4). A friend sent me Dr. Michael Heiser’s LogosTalk article “Who Took John 5:4 Out of My Bible?” […]
Eternal Existence vs Eternal Life
In my discussions with annihilationists, one of the conceptual roadblocks I’ve encountered is an inability to distinguish between eternal existence and having eternal life. Some annihilationists reason this way: “To have eternal life means to exist forever. Only believers have eternal life, therefore only believers will exist forever. Since unbelievers lack eternal life, they will […]
Efforts to Find Repentance in John’s Gospel
Recently one of the readers of our blog asked me to respond to a Spring 2013 Journal article from The Master’s Seminary Journal. The article was by Dr. David Croteau and was entitled, “Repentance Found? The Concept of Repentance in the Fourth Gospel.” Croteau holds to Lordship Salvation and the necessity of turning from one’s […]
The Arrogance of Control (James 4:13)
The Epistle of James was addressed to carnal Christians. James urged them to come back into fellowship with God. “Submit…to God,” he wrote (4:7). “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (4:8). Clearly, these believers were far from God. That distance was reflected in their actions, in their speech, and in […]
Will We Give Back Our Rewards? — Revelation 4:10-11
A reader wondered: I thought of Revelation 4:10-11, where it says the 24 Elders will cast their crowns down before the feet of Jesus. The Grace New Testament Commentary doesn’t say much on this. I looked at another commentary and it said that maybe we will be so full of gratitude that we will be […]