The King James Study Bible on James 2:14-17 and Saving Faith

by in - , , ,
In November 1995, my mom presented me with a King James Study Bible. I had come to faith only a few months before, around June.  I found the Bible in storage and was leafing through it, in preparation for writing the first draft of a Free Grace Study Bible.  The contributing editors include, among others, Jerry Falwell. Of the thirteen contributing editors, five
read more

The Importance of Understanding the OT to Understand the NT

by in - , , ,
I wrote a review of a book and published a form of the review as a blog post. That led to this excellent question:  Hi, Bob,  I enjoyed reading today’s blog post, Irresistible, by Pastor Andy Stanley. You made several astute points.  However, in response to one of the main points you identified in Stanley’s book, you wrote, “Item
read more

What Do Nominal Church-Goers Believe About Salvation?

by in - , , ,
In Joel Thiessen’s The Meaning of Sunday: The Practice of Belief in a Secular Age, he interviews a number of Canadians about their involvement with different “Christian” denominations.  Frankly, I would consider every single person he interviewed a candidate for evangelism. No one gave any evidence of knowing or believing the gospel. I wouldn’t call them nominal Christians,  so much
read more

Reaping Eternal Life for Work Done? (Galatians 6:8)

by in
A U.S. pastor sent me this excellent question:  Grace in Focus Crew,  Thanks for the series on eternal rewards. Not sure if you covered this yet: Galatians 6:8 says, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” 
read more

Where Did the Term “Free Grace” Come From?

by in - , , ,
We believe in Free Grace Theology—which is distinct from Calvinism, Arminianism, Lutheranism, Thomism, and other –isms.  But where did the term “Free Grace” come from?  Some people think it’s redundant.  I wish it were.  Historically, the expression “free grace” was used by both Calvinists and Arminians.  For example, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, preached a sermon called Free Grace (Sermon 128, preached
read more

More Apostasy and Idolatry at Union Seminary

by in - ,
Recently, Union Seminary in NYC had their students confess their sins to plants.  Union Seminary is affiliated with Columbia University. It is considered one of the prestigious Ivy League seminaries (along with Yale Divinity School, Harvard Divinity, and Princeton Theological Seminary). Although it was founded by Christians, it began denying Biblical authority in the 19th century and
read more

Hollywood’s Hell

by in - , , ,
Most people get their theological education from Hollywood. Show of hands—how many people think that Satan is the boss of hell? You know the image. It’s played as a joke—hell is where Satan rules, and the name of the game is torturing people. That’s his job and demons are his underlings.  For example, that’s the premise of the recent show, The
read more

Are You Cross Wise?

by in - , , ,
There has been confusion for twenty years now concerning what Zane Hodges wrote about the cross and resurrection. In 1999 at our national conference, he delivered two messages on how to lead a person to Christ. In those messages he said that believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose bodily from the dead does not mean that
read more