Receiving Christ as Savior?
From my In-Box: I have a question for you. Do you think Receiving Christ as Savior is just as powerful as Believing in Him? The reason I say this is, because for an unbeliever it may make it easier for him to transition into Christ and feel welcomed into Heaven. Just a thought I’ve […]
Grace Among the Anglicans?
Question. I was brought up in the Anglican church in Australia but have come to believe that salvation is a free gift. Around the middle of last year, I also came to believe that the Calvinism taught in many Anglican churches is wrong. Now I am coming away from that, and I am trying […]
Don’t Add to the Book! — Revelation 22:18
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book (Rev 22:18). Question. Does Rev 22:18 prove people can lose eternal life? Answer. Thanks for your question. Let me address two issues. […]
Everlasting Salvation and Abraham
What did Abraham believe? What was the content of his faith in God? Did he believe in God for lots of grandkids and great-grandkids, or did he also have everlasting salvation on his mind? When Abraham believed, could he have believed in God for something eternal? I wish there were an explicit verse that answered […]
Decisionism Is Not Consistent with Faith-Alone in Christ Alone
Did you know that people still write letters by hand? I got a handwritten letter in the mail asking about something I wrote in A Gospel of Doubt. I was discussing Dr. John MacArthur’s criticism of decisionism (p. 38). I indicated that I too do not believe in decisionism. Decisionism is where people indicate […]
The Samaritans and Everlasting Salvation
Did the woman at the well understand that Jesus was offering her eternal life? Is that the kind of salvation she, and other Samaritans, were expecting from the Messiah? Were they thinking in eternal terms? Or did they believe in Him with no thought of salvation, let alone of eternal life, at all? Well, […]
More Questions about the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16
On April 2, 2018 we published a blog I wrote about the rich man’s preaching in hell as found in Luke 16:19-31. See here. Since then two major questions have arisen. First, several people have suggested that the account is a parable and not an historical event as I suggested. Second, one person suggests […]
God and Temptation — James 1:13
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt any one (James 1:13). Where does temptation come from? Apparently, James knew believers who thought it came from God. Some Christians still think that today, because of how […]
If Trust Is Not a Good Word for Faith, What Is?
I received a handwritten letter (yes, some people still do that!) asking the question which is the title of this blog. The question concerned a November-December 2017 Grace in Focus magazine article by Bill Fiess and me entitled, “Saving Faith Is Not Heartfelt Trust.” The article was not discussing trust per se, but heartfelt trust. […]
A Mixed Crowd — John 8:33
Question. Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say that the speakers are not the new believers in John 8:33? I still do not get it. Answer. In chapter 8 Jesus is talking to a large group of people. There are many unbelievers in the crowd (see v 19 and v 23). But […]