“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3) Recently I was on a radio talk show and a caller asked me to explain how 1 John 2:3 could fit my view that salvation is a free gift and that assurance is based not on looking to

In Matthew 13 we read these words of Jesus Christ concerning two undesirable types of soil: 20But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or

Ask anyone the following question and you will have a good idea of their view of the gospel: What would you tell a practicing homosexual that he had to do to be saved? Many today suggest that ongoing homosexuality is a sin for which there is no forgiveness. Many people today believe that a practicing

Dealing with Immorality in the Church Without Altering the Gospel or Undermining Assurance Sexual immorality is rampant today. The seventies and eighties have been an era of free sex. Unfortunately, the problem of sexual immorality did not bypass the body of Christ. Studies show that sexual immorality (e.g., premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, incest, lusting over

I recently heard a message by R. C. Sproul on John 8:30-32. The following so caught my attention that I transcribed it: “The Bible knows nothing of a salvation that is so cheap that all one has to do is embrace the idea that Jesus has died on the cross for them without having any

In his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (pp. 71-72), J. I. Packer, writes, “It is not enough to believe that only through Christ and His death are sinners justified and accepted, and that one’s own record is sufficient to bring down God’s condemning sentence twenty times over, and that, apart from Christ one

Charles C. Ryrie writes in his book, Balancing the Christian Life (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), “Enthronement [putting Christ on the throne of my life; making Him Lord of my life; etc.] is not a condition for salvation but rather . . . it should he a consequence of it” (p.179). In support of that contention

Last month we considered 2 Peter 1:10-11. This month we will consider another difficult passage in 2 Peter. Recently I received a question from a reader about 2 Peter 2:20-22. He felt that it dealt with unbelievers who knew about the gospel but had never really accepted it in their hearts. My understanding of the

Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote in his 1917 work, Salvation (reprinted by Zondervan 1980), ” From the testimony of Scripture a Christian should know that he is saved . . . Where there is a lack of assurance there is usually an impression that so long as the life is quite imperfect (and how immodest it