Blog | Grace Evangelical Society

Cataracts and Zambia (2 Corinthians 4:4)

August 19, 2019 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - physical sight, spiritual sight, Zambia

From July 11-25 my daughter Kathryn and I were in Zambia to teach the doctrine of Salvation and the book of Romans to two classes at a Bible college. We had a total of 45 students in the two classes. At the same time, at the school medical clinic, two visiting doctors from the US were performing cataract

No Trinity, No Salvation?

August 16, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Salvation, Trinity

Question: Are “Christians” who don’t understand or believe the traditional doctrine of the Trinity really Christians? Answer: That’s a good question. I take it you’re asking whether they have eternal life. The traditional answer would be “No.” I believe the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and historic Protestant Churches would say you have to believe the Trinity to get final salvation. For example, the

Invitations in the Evangelistic Ministries of Jesus and His Apostles

August 15, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - evangelism, invitations, John 11:25-27

When I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was required to file weekly reports on how many students I evangelized, what their response was, and how many students I discipled.  I was told if I did not get to the invitation prayer in the Four Spiritual Laws, then I could not count

Giving and Growing

August 14, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - international, Missions, newsletter

We hit two milestones recently. First, my webmaster informed me that the Grace in Focus podcast has been downloaded over 151,000 times. That’s a pretty good number for a show doing serious theology (as opposed to, say, funny cat videos)! And, of course, that doesn’t include our radio audience. I’m encouraged! Second, this month, faithalone.org hit a new record for unique monthly users: 64.9k, up from 19k a year ago. Praise God! I expect those numbers to grow, especially as

Once Saved, Rarely Saved?

August 13, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - antinomianism, Arminianism, Eternal Security, motivations for Christian living, Once saved always saved

Someone sent me a link to a rather extreme Arminian preacher. Most who believe you can lose everlasting life think that people who believe you can’t lose your salvation still have a good chance of making it to heaven by persevering. However, this preacher thinks that the preaching of eternal security makes it very unlikely

How Can Faith Not Produce Good Works?

August 12, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Faith, good works, will

I was recently asked, “I am a little confused as to the relationship between faith and works in the Free Grace understanding. My own understanding is that faith naturally has a corresponding action. It’s not that the action proves or adds anything to salvation, but that grace-born trust in Jesus could not fail to be accompanied

Bind Him and Cast Him into the Outer Darkness (Matthew 22:13)

August 9, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - eschatological judgment, Matthew 22:13, outer darkness

Here is the hot question for the day from my in-box: First, I’d like to say that I appreciate GES, and I’m in agreement with much of what I’ve read and heard so far. One thing I am not currently understanding clearly is the phrase ‘bind him hand and foot’ pertaining to the outer darkness events. I

Jesus’ Last Week in Light of Daniel 9:25-26

August 8, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Daniel, Matthew, Prophecy, Temple

After centuries of promising to send a Messiah, God finally gave a concrete timeline in Daniel 9:24-27 for when He would come. And vv 25-26 give us specific information about what would happen to Messiah at that time: “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the

Unless You Believed in Vain (1 Corinthians 15:2)

August 7, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Corinthians 15:2, Eternal Security, the perseverance of the saints, unless you believed in vain

I received the following question in a comment to a blog I wrote: “Why does Paul say you can believe in vain, 1 Cor. 15:2?” The questioner doesn’t seem to believe in eternal security. He implies that Paul was saying that you could believe in Christ, be born again, and then end up going to Hades anyway because the

Foundation Crumbling

August 6, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Christian ethics, family, morality

Over the summer, I’ve been re-reading Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. Haven’t read it since high school. The series is set 20,000 years into the future. A Galactic Empire is spread across the stars. But it’s crumbling. Hari Seldon, a “psychohistorian,” foresees the empire will fall, leading to a long period of barbarism. So Seldon puts together a plan to save humanity. At the far end of the galaxy, on a minor and neglected planet named Terminus,