Is There More Than One Type of Christian?
I just got a book called No Quick Fix: Where Higher Life Theology Came from, What It Is, and Why It’s Harmful. It is by Andrew David Naselli. My review will appear in the next issue of our journal. In this blog, I just want to focus on one of Naselli’s main concerns. He believes […]
Ministers of Satan — 2 Cor 11:14-15
False teachers emphasize good works. Let me repeat that. False teachers emphasize good works. Listen to Paul: No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds (2 Cor 11:14-15). […]
Michael L. Brown on Once Saved, Always Saved
Michael L. Brown is the Charismatic and Arminian version of John MacArthur (the two have actually clashed on the issue of sign gifts). Brown is known as a conservative Christian voice in print and on the radio, and a defender of things like the Biblical sexual ethics. There is much to commend him on a […]
Assurance Undermined
When the Gospel is so presented that the necessity for ongoing good works is stressed, it becomes a gospel that can no longer offer true assurance of eternal life. The individual who professes faith in Christ cannot possess, at the moment of faith, a certainty about his eternal destiny. Under some forms of theology, he […]
R. T. Kendall and the Lost Gospel
R.T. Kendall is known in Free Grace circles as an FG friendly writer. He wrote two books that have been useful in FG circles: Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649 where he argued that Calvin taught that assurance was the essence of saving faith; and Once Saved Always Saved, defending eternal security. In a recent […]
No More Slavery to Sin — Romans 8:1
Paul now develops the only solution available for the Christian to stymie the effects of sin and live victoriously. He begins by stating that there is therefore now no condemnation [katakrima] to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk rightly. Most interpret no condemnation to refer to deliverance from eternal judgment. But as we […]
What Motivates You?
From a human perspective, man will not live as God desires him to live unless he is threatened with uncertainty about his eternal destiny. As popular as this notion is, however, it is false. It reflects a weak view of the power of God’s truth to create a new creature at the moment of saving […]
The Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality Is Excellent, But Watch Out for the Last Point
A friend sent me the Nashville Statement. A coalition for Biblical sexuality met to draft a statement on marriage and sexuality. The statement does a good job of promoting marriage as between one man and one woman and of denying that homosexuality or transgenderism are consistent with God’s purposes in creation. They also distinguish between […]
How to Choose a Seminary Today
I recently read a book called Surviving and Thriving in Seminary by Daniel Zacharias and Benjamin Forrest. Nearly 40 years ago when I went to seminary, I had no background in theological studies other than a few summer courses when I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. So I could have used a […]
No Laughing Matter — Legalism
Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. (Gal 4:30-31) If we were to define legalism, we would say that […]