The One Who Believes: Is Continuous Faith Required to be Born Again?
One argument I hear a lot is that since the Scriptures often refer to believing in Jesus using the present tense, this means that only those who endure in faith in Christ until death “truly believe.” Often the present articular participle is cited. That is the expression ho pisteuōn in Greek. It means the one
Does God Allow Returns of Eternal Life?
My wife is a recovering bulimic shopper. One weekend she would buy five outfits. The next weekend she would return four of them and get her money back. Our MasterCard bill always had lots of credits on it. Sharon rarely bought anything in a store with a no-return policy. She wanted the ability to return
The Lost Son – Luke 15:11-32
Luke 15 is the great repentance chapter. It has three parables related to repentance: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. I regularly speak on the parable of the prodigal son. I suggest that he represents a believer who strays away from God and then comes to his senses and returns to
Is Justification By Faith Part of the Gospel?
The Soul’s Quest for God: Satisfying the Hunger for Spiritual Communion with God
The Soul’s Quest for God: Satisfying the Hunger for Spiritual Communion with God. By R. C. Sproul. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1992. Reissued in 2003. Paper. $11.99. This book is a reissue of a work originally published a decade ago. It has an engaging title and subtitle and an attractive cover. As with
The Passion of Jesus Christ
The Passion of Jesus Christ. By John Piper. Wheaton, IL : Crossway Books, 2004. 125 pp. Paper. $7.99. This is a short book containing 50 chapters (most are 2 pages or less) explaining 50 reasons why Jesus suffered and died. This is good theology and very practical. There are, of course, places where the author’s
Will Every Believer Be Praised By Jesus at the Bema? 1 Corinthians 4:5
Recently I attended a conference in which a main session speaker said that the statement by Paul, “then each one’s praise will come from God” (1 Cor 4:5), shows that every believer will have some good works and will receive at least some praise at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Bema). I’ve heard that claim
Hating Your Life to Keep It for Eternal Life? – John 12:25
Recently I received an email from a pastor in Switzerland who wondered what this verse means: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Love and Hate Are Figures of Speech Concerning Priorities The person who “loves his
Have You Justified God? Luke 7:29
There is an unusual use of the word justified (Greek: dikaiow) in Luke 7. There Jesus says that the tax collectors “justified God” by being baptized with the baptism of John the Baptist. Say what? How can any human being justify God? He is the one that justifies us. We don’t justify Him. Or, maybe