Blog | Grace Evangelical Society

Faith is the Sole Condition…Or Not: Thomas Oden on John Wesley

September 21, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - John Wesley, methodism, Methodist, Thomas Oden, Wesleyan

Thomas C. Oden was a leading Wesley scholar and Methodist theologian. If all you read are Calvinist authors, I think you would appreciate Oden. Many of us in the Free Grace movement are far closer to Wesleyan theology than we are to Calvinist theology. For example, we both believe that God loves everyone, Jesus died

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What Is Ultra Dispensationalism?

September 20, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Baptism, Dispensationalism, evangelism, Lord’s Supper, Mid-Acts Dispensationalism, Ultra-Dispensationalism

I was taught Dispensationalism at Dallas Theological Seminary (1978-85). That is the view that there is a distinction between Israel and the Church, that the Church began in Acts 2, and that God has had different laws and expectations for people during the six dispensations until now (innocence, conscience, human government, promise, Law of Moses,

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Carl F. Wisløff on Assurance

September 19, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, Carl F. Wisløff, lutheran, pietism

Carl F. Wisløff (1908-2004) was a Norwegian Lutheran theologian and preacher. I recently acquired a copy of his short systematic theology, I Know in Whom I Believe: Studies in Bible Doctrine (I ordered it from here). Here is what Wisløff writes about assurance of salvation: “In Romans 4:16, it is said of Abraham: “For this

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Has My Evangelistic Message Changed?

September 18, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - assurance is of the essence of saving faith, The finished work of Christ, what we believe in Jesus for

One of the dangers of writing articles and books for over thirty years is that people notice if you contradict yourself. I plead guilty. I have not always been as clear as I wish I had been. Here is an email with a genuine concern about what I believe: I am fairly new to GES

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Yesterday’s Faith

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Shawn Lazar 4 Comments in Blog - Amos Binney, Arminianism, Continuous faith, methodism

Rev. Amos Binney was a Methodist preacher who wrote a short systematic theology called Binney’s Theological Compend (published in 1840) explaining “Biblical Methodism” (see here). The “improved” version edited by Daniel Steele is very readable and succinct. I think it is a model for how a short systematic theology should be done, and I plan

watch

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Three Ways to Evaluate an Argument

September 14, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog

Gordon H. Clark once said, “Unless one knows the definition, he does not know what he is talking about” (see here). I recently wrote a blog where I said that while GES believed that Jesus is God in a fully Trinitarian sense, we deny that you need to believe that to be born-again (to grow, yes,

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Saving Faith Is Not Like Sitting in a Chair

September 13, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - chair illustration, saving faith, trusting Christ

A Pastor friend told me he ran across a 1993 article I wrote regarding the chair illustration. He shared it with a Bible study group and they found my suggestion helpful. The following is a revised and condensed version of that article. Many theologians, including some Free Grace proponents, say that saving faith has three

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God Did It (Galatians 1:1-5)

September 12, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Grace, legalism, Salvation

Legalists from Israel were corrupting the Galatian churches, teaching them they needed to be circumcised and to keep different laws to be saved. Paul hit back. Hard. Paul’s greeting to the Galatian churches (1:1-5) strongly emphasized that God is the main actor in salvation. God sends the preacher (v 1a). God raised Jesus from the

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The Lord Jesus Did Not Violate His Own Command Not to Call Another Person a Fool Matthew 5:22 Versus Matthew 23:17

September 11, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Matthew 5:22; Matthew 23:17; Fool; Inerrancy

Here’s another great inbox question: In Jesus’ denunciation of the Jewish leaders in Matthew 23:16-22 he calls them fools twice. The Greek word is moros. This same word was used in Matthew 5:22 where Jesus said that anyone who calls someone a fool (moros) is liable to fiery Gehenna. Is Jesus violating His own command?

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John Wesley on How To Read the Bible

September 10, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Bible reading, Bible study, John Wesley

If you want to grow spiritually, you must read the Bible everyday. Or you should listen to the Bible being read. As the Psalmist said, Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of

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