A Critical Examination of Seven Bible Translations (Part 1)
There have been many articles which have evaluated modern Bible translations in light of theological concerns, in light of their handling of the Old and New Testaments, and in terms of their use of English style.1 In this article, which is a modified version of a journal article I wrote on this subject a decade […]
The Usefulness of Faith (James 2:14-26)
By David Janssen Do you have china dishes in a china cabinet at your house? We do. My wife was given a set when she was young, and ever since we got married, we have been moving boxes of them around with us. Now in Sandy, Utah, we even have a nice oak cabinet to […]
Salvation by Installment Plan?
Many Bible teachers are fond of a saying that goes like this: “You are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” Doesn’t that sound neat? It states a fundamental truth—that we are saved by faith alone—then turns around and states that while it is faith alone that saves us, that […]
Examine Yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Major League baseball players are wise to fear being cut. Few make it to the majors and many don’t stay long. Players need to do everything they can to perform their best day in and day out. We don’t need to worry about ever being cut from God’s team. Our divine Manager has promised that […]
The Current Crisis in Assurance: An Interview with David J. Engelsma
Doubt. For some of us, it is a momentary feeling of anxiety that eventually passes when our circumstances change. For others, it is a way of life born out of the barrage of insecurities created by our families, jobs, the economy, or the current state of the world. Life is full of doubt. But of […]
Serving God Is Important Work (Haggai 2:2-9)
Most people in Christendom believe there will be a final judgment at which each person will be judged by their works to determine if they will be a part of God’s eternal kingdom. Some think true believers automatically perform good works and these works prove they are believers. Others believe that the good works done […]
Can Christians Wield the Sword?
Recent News has been dominated by stories of war. War in Israel. War in Ukraine. War in Syria. Currently there is a movement led by the Islamic State to establish a new Caliphate in Iraq, and thousands of Christians have been murdered or exiled in the process. In light of this news, a reader asked: […]
Repentance and Faith in the New Testament
It is a bit surprising, in light of how often people say that repentance and faith go hand in hand, to discover that they are only found together four times in the NT. The words believe (pisteuō) and faith (pistis) occur 266 and 299 times respectively in the NT. That is over 560 uses. Yet […]
Possessing the Kingdom (Matthew 5:3)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3). With these words the King opens His famous Sermon on the Mount. He has been proclaiming a message that declared: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). So He opens the Sermon with a reference to […]
What Do You Need to Know?
By Staff How Do Our Sins Affect Our Rewards? Q : We all sin and we all sin every day. We are not going to stop sinning as long as we are in these bodies. We practice some sins more than others. As I understand it, sin is sin to God, whether it’s a little […]