TULIP or ASSURE?
By Shawn Lazar and Bob Wilkin We are all familiar with the Calvinistic acronym TULIP which stands for: Total depravity Unconditional election Limited atonement Irresistible grace Perseverance of the saints. At a recent meeting of Wesleyan scholars Shawn heard a paper presenting an Arminian response to TULIP, called ACURA. That stands for: All have sinned […]
Self-Control: A Virtue That Wins Rewards (1 Cor 9:24-27)
What is the secret to a prosperous life? In their controversial bestseller, The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America, Amy Chua and Jeb Rubenfeld offered to explain why some cultural groups do better than others. They put it down to possessing three traits: a superiority […]
Initial Assurance or Reassurance? (1 John 5:13)
Question: If assurance is of the essence of saving faith, why does 1 John 5:13 imply that these believers might never have known that they had everlasting life? Answer: Does the text really imply this? What we know is that John desired that they possess absolute certainty of their everlasting life. Does he suggest that […]
Saved From What? (James 2:14)
By Keith Pesce Introduction As most students of the Bible know, James 2:14-26 is a very controversial passage. Much of the difficulty revolves around the meaning of the word save in Jas 2:14 and the way many people equate salvation with salvation from hell. I believe that is a serious misinterpretation that compromises the free […]
A Tribute to Dr. Earl Radmacher
By Hersh Lange and Shawn Lazar The Autumn 2013 issue of The Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society was a special festschrift published in honor of Dr. Earl D. Radmacher. Many of our readers know Dr. Radmacher from his long tenure at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary where, for thirty-four years, he taught systematic theology, and […]
Don’t Shoot the Messenger!
Our Works Will Be Evaluated One of the distinctions of Free Grace theology is the teaching about the believer’s judgment for rewards. All Christians will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Jesus will evaluate every Christian’s service record, “whether good or bad” and we will receive payment for services rendered in this life (2 […]
Saving Your Soul by Doing Good (James 1:21)
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). This verse certainly is confusing for the person who understands it as dealing with how a person obtains eternal salvation from hell. Note there are two conditions. The first is […]
Woe to That Man (Matt 18:7; 26:24)
While doing a Logos search I discovered that the expression woe to that man (ouai tō anthrōpō ekeinō) occurs only four times in the NT, twice in Matthew (18:7; 26:24) and once each in Mark (14:21) and Luke (22:22). I wondered whether the Lord might have a specific man in mind in all these places, […]
God’s Grace and Our Works (2 Corinthians 8-9)
Grace and Works Free Grace theology emphasizes that eternal salvation rests upon the grace of God. We receive eternal life as a free gift through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from our works, the moment we believe in Him for that life. Unfortunately, throughout Church history people have taught that works are […]
Jesus Props Up Unfruitful Believers (John 15:2-3)
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He props up; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:2-3, author’s own translation, emphasis added). Perseverance theology distorts John 15 by suggesting that […]