I received a letter from a reader regarding a comment I made in the March Newsletter. I had said regarding the “goats” of the Matthew 25:31-46 judgment, “Since those cast into eternal fire did not believe in Christ, their sins were not covered by His blood and hence they were doomed to eternal damnation (cf.

I recently received a request to discuss 2 Peter 1:10. A reader wrote, “It is hard to avoid the conclusion that [based on 2 Peter 1:10] assurance of salvation is to be based upon works . . . Can you shed any light on this matter?” The verse reads: “Therefore, brethren, be all the more

Faith and Saving Faith by Gordon Clark (Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1983) is a weighty book well worth the effort it takes to chew, swallow, and digest its fare. [It is not an easy book to read.] In it Clark argues that saving faith is no different in kind than any other type of

Bruce Barron’s The Health and Wealth Gospel. Fascinating reading written by one who is sympathetic with the movement yet alarmed by what he sees as abuses and excesses. While many will find Barron’s treatment of the prosperity theology movement too sympathetic in places, his work is well worth reading by the discerning reader. Many people

I recently received questions concerning the same passage from two readers. One wrote, “A passage that bothers me is the Judgment of the Gentiles (Matthew 25:31-46). Here judgment is solely by works (verse 40) with consequences of heaven and hell (verse 46). Rewards do not seem to be the primary issue, although the invitation to

Sowing and Reaping. In our non-agrarian culture few of us have a ready grasp of these concepts. When we hear the word “sowing” our first thought is to what a person does with a needle and thread (i.e. “sewing”). Not so for farmers. Their first thought would be to spreading seed in rows in a

I became a Christian after having spent years in a works-salvation cult. We Left Jehovah’s Witnesses by Edmond C. Gruss (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1974) is a book that reminds me of my experience although that was not the particular cult I had been in. A heavy feeling set in my chest

Some good material on the gospel is not available through bookstores or library shelves. However, it can easily be obtained. I am referring to theses and dissertations. They can be obtained through public libraries through a service called Interlibrary Loan. Kenneth Baker Quick wrote an excellent thesis entitled “An Exegetical and Soteriological Evaluation of the

People who teach that it is possible to lose your salvation normally use several prooftexts. At first glance the verses do appear to prove their point. However, upon further study it becomes clear that they have taken the verses out of context and forced a meaning upon the text which the author never intended. A

Recently I happened upon two theses on Philippians 3:11. They took completely different views of it–one concluded Paul was uncertain that he would be rewarded in heaven and the other that Paul was uncertain that he would be in heaven. Let’s examine this important passage. The phrase whose meaning is in question is this: “If,