Blog – Page 131 – Grace Evangelical Society

The Greatest Commandment and the Promise of Life (Matthew 22:37 and John 3:16)

December 18, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - John 3:16, John 5:39-40, Matthew 22:37, The promise of life

A. S., a reader, asks this fascinating question: In relation to Matthew 22:37 and John 3:16—in your own understanding what is the right interpretation of the two verses in relation to each other? Thanks, and stay blessed in Jesus’ name! The Lord was often asked about the greatest commandments in the OT. The reason was

Forgiveness Can Be a Process (Matthew 18:21-22)

December 17, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Forgiveness

On October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV, a milk truck driver, walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse and shot eight students, killing five of them. The tragedy was widely covered. The Amish response to the tragedy received almost as much coverage as the tragedy itself. They forgave the shooter. In fact, they reached out

The Word “Condemnation” in the Book of Romans

December 16, 2020 by Ken Yates in Blog

The word for “condemnation” in the Book of Romans is katakrima. It only occurs three times in the book. In fact, these are the only times the word occurs in all of the NT. The three instances are found in Rom 5:16, 18, and Rom 8:1. In 5:16, Paul writes, while talking about Adam’s sin,

The Unsaved Christian

December 15, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, false assurance, what must I do to be saved?

The title of my blog is the title of a book by Dean Inserra. The subtitle helps explain what he means in the title: “Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel.” I have often said that most Evangelicals need evangelizing (see here, for example). So, I agree in principle with Inserra. However, there is a major

Galatians 3:28 and the Analogy of Faith

December 14, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - analogy of faith, Hermeneutics, women in ministry

One rule of interpretation is called the analogy of faith (read about it here, or listen about it here). Put simply, the analogy of faith means that, since Scripture is self-consistent, you should interpret Scripture in light of other Scripture. And wherever there is an unclear verse, you should look for a clear verse to

40 References to Rewards in the Teaching of Jesus

December 11, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Eternal Rewards, Jack Deere

“Most Christians don’t know about divine rewards,” Jack Deere explained, “and preachers seldom preach about them, which is amazing given how much Jesus taught about them.” Have you ever heard about the doctrine of eternal rewards? If you read the Bible, you should have. As Deere says, Jesus often taught about rewards, and they are

A Better Attitude Towards Prophecy

December 10, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Dispensationalism, premillennialism, Prophecy, watch

My blog on the danger of Dispensational prophecy caused a little bit of a stir. Many people wrote to agree. And some wrote to disagree. For example, one woman commented: “All the things the article mentioned had NO relevance to ANY Bible prophecy. 2020 is VERY different. If you don’t see that, I would question

The American Revolution and Romans 13

December 9, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Christianity and the U.S. Constitution, Romans 13:1-7

I recently wrote a blog on God’s sovereignty and ungodly rulers (see here). That led to this question from Bruce: Thanks, Bob, for your response. I do agree. But could you please explain this a little further within the framework of the American Revolution? I was hoping to avoid the question. On the one hand,

Overcoming Sinful Strongholds

December 8, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - love, punks, Sin

Q. I read your blogs about growing up (see here and here). Do you believe a Christian can have strongholds in his or her life, and if so, do you have some Biblical information on that topic that you can share sometime? A. I’m not entirely familiar with the term “strongholds,” but I think you

An Honest Exegete Grappling with Some of His Theological Convictions

December 7, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 2 Timothy 2:11-13, being denied by Christ, denying Christ

Today I read Greg Couser’s article on the believer’s judgment. I do not know him. But I liked his article. It appeared in DTS’s journal BibSac in Oct-Dec of 2019. I highly recommend reading the article. In it you can see an honest exegete struggling to make sense of certain texts that do not fit