Bob Wilkin – Page 246 – Grace Evangelical Society

Beware of Interpreting Backwards

March 19, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

A friend who is near ninety called me the other day to talk about Simon the magician in Acts 8. My friend said, “He was really born again, wasn’t he? After all, Luke says that ‘Simon himself also believed…and was baptized.’ (Acts 8:13). But, some of the people at my church are saying that Simon

Does James 2:24 Break the Broken Record Approach?

March 15, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

I recently responded to a question about whether the broken record approach can be turned against us. The questioner asked if a person we were witnessing to might just keep quoting James 2:24, or a similar verse. Then you’d have dueling broken records! As I said in that blog, the people who you talk with

Hunting for Souls — Ezekiel 13:18-23

March 14, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

I hadn’t given this passage much thought in the past. Then I got an email asking who hunts souls and what that is talking about. Ezekiel 13:18-23 talks about false prophetesses who “hunt for souls.” These false prophetesses were involved in occult practices. The word occult means hidden or secret. They used magic charms (vv

The Gospel in the Gospels

March 9, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

Recently our church completed reading through the four Gospels. I noticed as I read that the word gospel is used in the four Gospels in a way that is different than how it is used in Christian-speak today. For example, did you know that the word gospel does not appear in the text of the

If Unbelievers Actually Believe, Then Isn’t There Room for Them to Boast?

March 7, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

I received the following email question that I think is super: A Calvinist friend said that if saving faith isn’t a gift, then it would seem to give a man who exercises faith a right to boast, because somehow he wasn’t as dead in his sins as his unbelieving neighbor. He also said we

Can the Broken Record Approach to Evangelism Be Turned Against You?

March 2, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

In the January-February 2018 issue of Grace in Focus Magazine, I wrote an article about the value in repeating clear evangelistic verses over and over again. I just received a helpful question about that article that gives me a chance to explain further what I mean. D from Colorado writes: It seems to me that

Longing for the Pure Milk of the Word — 1 Peter 2:1-3

March 1, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Grace in Focus Articles

By Bob Wilkin Introduction How does growth occur in the Christian life? Is it by having an accountability partner? Prayer? Being in a small group? Attending church? Memorizing Scripture? Reading Christian books? A one-time commitment to serve God? Daily commitments to serve God? The answer, as we shall see, is that God’s Word, if gladly

A Response to J. Paul Tanner’s “The Outer Darkness in Matthew’s Gospel”

March 1, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Journal Articles

Bob Wilkin1 Associate Editor I. INTRODUCTION The expression the outer darkness is found only three times in the Bible, all in Matthew’s Gospel (8:12; 22:13; and 25:30). In each case the Lord says that in the outer darkness there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The majority view among Evangelicals has been that the

Why Are Passages Dealing with Eternal Rewards Missed So Often?

February 28, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

I received this excellent email from B in California: I find it interesting that so many churches or denominations do not see the many references to rewards in the Bible. As a result, sometimes it affects their interpretation of a passage of Scripture. My initial thoughts go like this: the New Testament writers understood the

Does God Change His Mind?

February 26, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

Here’s a great question from T in Minnesota: I was reading I Samuel 15:29 where it says God does not change his mind. I find this confusing. Did he not change his mind about Saul being king? How about the destruction on the city of Nineveh? God seems to change his plans alot based on