By John H. Niemelä For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). Perseverance theology has treated this verse as a prooftext for Calvin’s infamous 1547 dictum: “It is therefore faith alone which justifies [cf. Eph 2:8-9], and yet the

By John H. Niemelä On March 12, 2019, Dr. George Meisinger, a longtime friend of grace, went into the presence of the Lord. He was born in Eugene, OR, on April 21, 1938. George graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1968 and for four decades pastored churches in Minnesota and California. All who knew him

By John H. Niemelä The-just-by-faith shall live (Hab 2:4, Author’s Translation). A Controversy Paul’s use of Hab 2:4 in Rom 1:17 is controversial today. What did Paul mean? What did Habakkuk mean? Did Paul quote Habakkuk out of context? Traditionally, many Evangelicals have followed Martin Luther’s interpretation. Luther argued that Paul was right to quote

By John H. Niemelä1 Believe it or not, there are rumblings against the idea that John’s Gospel is evangelistic. What does John 20:30-31 say? Thus Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these signs have been written so you may believe that Jesus

Many Christians find our Lord’s Gethsemane prayers perplexing, even downright troubling. Seemingly, Jesus tries to convince the Father into allowing Him to avoid crucifixion. How could that be? The Cross Was Unavoidable Jesus’ repeated predictions of the cross and resurrection—starting with John 2:19—prove that He knew that His death on the cross was unavoidable. Note