Is Belief in the Pre-Trib Rapture the Same as Belief in Jesus for Everlasting Life?
MG asks, I was studying 1 Thess 4:13-14, and it reads that believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection is all that’s required to be raised out of the grave. However, the Scriptures are clear that believing in Jesus for eternal life is the correct condition (John 3:16, John 5:24, etc.). Is it correct […]
Love One Another as Jesus Loved (John 13:34-35; 15:12)
Is it true that “All love is love”? No. Not everything that calls itself love is loving. And what’s more, not all loves are equal. Did you know that non-Christians can be examples of what it means to love others? As Jesus said, “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that […]
How Can There Be Regret at the Bema?
MM writes: I am a student at Colorado Christian University, and I am currently doing a project on the eternal state. I was wondering about the doctrine of eternal rewards. My question is—will believers who are not as good of servants here on this earth experience more regret than those who were? Because I think […]
Is It Hard to Believe That Jesus Gives Everlasting Life to the Believer?
Michael wants an explanation for a comment in a recent blog: I really liked how today’s blog post simplifies the Christian life into three elements: believe, abide, and love. However, the following statement from the conclusion of the post is confusing: It is hard to believe that Jesus gives you eternal life as a free gift. As […]
In What Sense Do Unbelievers Die in Their Sins? John 8:24
David from Mississippi writes: I see in The Grace New Testament Commentary where John 8:24 has been addressed. As it is stated in the Bible, Jesus took away the sin of the world–believers and unbelievers. He thereby gave every person the chance to receive God’s free gift of eternal life. But we know not everyone […]
Why Christians Shouldn’t Be Klingons (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
“What makes a man like Ringo, Doc? What makes him do the things he does?” Wyatt Earp asked. “A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of him. He can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it,” Doc Holliday replied. “What does […]
Money Can Buy Love (Matthew 6:21)
We have all heard the saying that money cannot buy love. I think the basic meaning of the phrase is that if we try to gain the affections of another person, we cannot do it by showering that person with gifts or money. The other person will simply use you. He or she will act […]
How Can You Know That You’ve Actually Believed in Christ?
Claudia asks about assurance of salvation: As adults and new believers, my husband and I are trying to learn to be Christians. We found a good church (______ Bible Church) and we are starting to get involved, but how do we live our daily life for Christ? Also, we often have doubts that we have […]
Solomon and Tolstoy on the Problem of Death and Eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
King Solomon repeatedly pronounced that everything under the sun was vanity—it was meaningless. In an earlier blog, I said that Solomon’s argument could be put in the form of a syllogism: Premise 1: All labor is under the sun (Eccl 1:3). Premise 2: All under the sun is vanity (Eccl 1:14). Conclusion: Therefore, all labor […]
Why Do Churches Make Up Their Own Evangelistic Messages?
Today I received an email from Rick asking me to evaluate a church’s statement on what a person must do to be saved. Here is the statement he sent for me to evaluate: To be saved and forgiven, God needs two things from you, FAITH and REPENTANCE. All those who are willing to repent of, […]