Spiritual GPS
By Marcia Hornok Finding the will of God can be a conundrum. One wise saint said, “I didn’t know it was lost.” Indeed, it isn’t. Many Scriptures tell us God’s will. For example, that none of these little ones should perish; that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; […]
Where Did We Get the Term “Free Grace”?
By Shawn Lazar We believe in Free Grace Theology—which is distinct from Calvinism, Arminianism, Lutheranism, Thomism, and other -isms. But where did the term “free grace” come from? Historically, the expression “free grace” was used by both Calvinists and Arminians. Arminans Have Used the Term For example, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, preached a […]
No Man Is an Island
By Bob Wilkin In 1624, English poet John Donne wrote a poem whose first line reads, “No man is an island entire of itself…” He went on in the same short poem to write, “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell […]
The Greatest of These
By Bill Fiess and Pam Esteven In a recent study, I noted that some form of the Greek word family agapaō (verb, noun, participle, adjective) occurs in every single book of the NT. As many Grace in Focus readers know, agapaō and its various forms denote love in the highest sense of the word, both […]
Francis Chan’s “Letters to the Church”
By Lucas Kitchen Summary Francis Chan’s book Letters to the Church begins with the story of the rise of Chan himself. He recounts his days building one of the fastest-growing churches in America. For the reader who doesn’t know Chan, this is an excellent primer on why everyone else knows him. Eventually, he became discontent […]
Two Types of Filling of the Spirit in the New Testament
By Bob Wilkin When I was on college ministry staff with Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru), I was confused about what the filling of the Holy Spirit was. According to some of the CCC literature of the time, the filling of the Spirit was when the Holy Spirit took control of a person’s life. […]
Seeking God: Hebrews 11:6 and 2 Chronicles 15:2
By Ken Yates I have a confession to make. Sometimes it is difficult for me to determine how to apply a passage in the OT to my life. I know that all Scriptures are profitable (2 Tim 3:16), but when I try to ask what certain passages addressed to the nation of Israel have to […]
Lamad in Psalm 119
By Bill Fiess The Hebrew root LMD (teach) is found 94 times in the OT. But there is no chapter in the Bible that contains as many occurrences (13) of this verb as Psalm 119 (vv 7, 12, 26, 64, 66, 68, 71, 73, 99, 108, 124, 135, 171). Listed below are a few representative […]
Romans 1: A Concise Commentary*
*The following is a condensed version of the full-length commenty by Hodges on Romans. This will be part of the new one-volume Grace New Testament Commentary, due in December. By Zane Hodges I. Introduction: Paul Connects with the Roman Christians (1:1-15) A. Doctrinal Salutation (1:1-7) 1:1. The salutation reveals Paul’s sense both of his position […]
A Testimony to Grace
By Kelley Easley A Heritage of Grace I guess you could say that I’m both old and new to Free Grace theology. Old, because I grew up in a Free Grace church. New, because for a good long while, I forgot what that even meant, wandered around in a fog of doctrinal error, and only […]