Is Forgiveness of Sins Synonymous with Having Eternal Life?
I sent Grant my blog in which I responded to his question about forgiveness and salvation. He wrote this in reply: Thank you so much for the quick reply. I see what you are saying—Jesus repeatedly promised that anyone who believes in Him has everlasting life and He didn’t mention that they necessarily have the […]
Lessons from Lot’s Wife
In Genesis 19 we read the account of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In this famous story, Lot, his wife, and their two daughters are unwillingly dragged out of their hometown by the angels sent from God. They are given the opportunity to be saved from the coming judgment on the city. […]
How Can Someone Be Saved Without Being Forgiven?
Grant, a listener to our Grace in Focus podcast, asks a super question: I have a question about the recent podcast that was done concerning Acts 2:38. Towards the end of the answer to the question, Bob said that Saul (Paul) needed to be baptized to receive the forgiveness of sins, but that he had […]
Discussing the Greatness of Christ (Luke 3:21-22)
Luke uses only two verses to record Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist. I was reading some commentaries on these few words and was amazed at how many opinions there were on pretty much every phrase. For example, there are numerous opinions as to why was Jesus baptized in the first place. He had no […]
Do You Have the Hope of Eternal Life?
“Paul…in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior” (Titus 1:1-3). “…that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of […]
Riding with the General (Revelation 3:4)
When I was an Army chaplain, I served for several years at the Army’s jump (parachuting) school, located at Ft. Benning, GA. In my capacity as chaplain, I often jumped with the students who were going through the training. It was an exciting job, but one of its bad sides was what happened when each […]
Do You Have the Hope of Salvation?
“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should […]
Nipping Pride in the Bud (John 1:20; 3:28)
One of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century was a man by the name of Barney Fife. It may be surprising to discover that one with such a brilliant mind worked as a deputy sheriff on The Andy Griffith Show. But his wisdom is seen in the advice he gave some temporary workers in […]
What Is the Hope of Righteousness by Faith?
“For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal 5:5). I’ve written about similar Pauline expressions—the hope of eternal life and the hope of salvation—in recent blogs. What about the hope of righteousness by faith? That’s an odd expression. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t sound like something Paul […]
Cloudy Perspectives
The Boeing 747 was empty. Whole rows stood vacant and the handful of passengers that were on the plane could fully stretch out on their surrounding seats. It was the summer of 2021, and no one was traveling if they could help it. Yet, I found myself flying solo, on an international trip. I was […]