Blog – Page 157 – Grace Evangelical Society

John 3:16—A Thick Reading

October 23, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - John 3:16

John 3:16 is well–loved for good reason—it’s the gospel in a nutshell. If someone believes it, he has everlasting life. Of course, you don’t have to understand and believe it all to be born again. It’s possible to believe that promise in a basic way without having a very deep understanding of what it means.

The Overcomers

October 22, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 John 5:4-5, and Rev 21:7, Overcomers, Rev 2 11, Rev 2: 26; Rev 3:5, Rev 2:7, Rev 3:12, Rev 3:21

Here is a hot question from my inbox: I enjoy reading your blogs. I need a little clarification on a statement you made in the penultimate paragraph of this post. You used the phrase “only overcoming believers.” Are you suggesting that there are some believers who will not “overcome”? Many Evangelicals say that all believers

Given Eternal Conscious Torment, Is God’s Justice Ever Satisfied?

October 21, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - annihilationism, conditionalism, ECT, eternal conscious torment, Hell, the Lake of Fire

A moral objection to eternal conscious torment (ECT) is that if sinners are tormented in hell for all eternity (or, to be more precise, the lake of fire), then God’s justice is never satisfied. Think of it like a mortgage—at some point, you pay it off and satisfy the debt. Or, with a prison sentence,

Arthur Pierson on the Difference between Eternal Life and Eternal Rewards

October 18, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Arthur Pierson, Eternal Rewards

Arthur T. Pierson (1837-1911) followed Charles Spurgeon as pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle, was a consulting editor for the original Scofield Study Bible, wrote an excellent biography of George Muller, and co-edited The Fundamentals. Here is his description, published in 1894, of the difference between eternal life and eternal rewards: “With many disciples, the eyes are

Can Eternal Rewards Be Eternally Lost?

October 17, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Eternal Rewards

Question Are rewards eternally lost when they are lost? Or are you eligible to regain those rewards if you repent, return, and persevere correctly for that reward after having fallen away? Answer Thanks for the question. Here are some things to consider. First, once you lay up treasure in heaven (Matt 6:19-21), it seems to

Six Questions Regarding Assurance of Salvation, Part 4

October 16, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - assurance is of the essence of saving faith, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 1:6-9, Galatians 5:4, John 5:39-40

The fifth objection is that if “assurance is of the essence of saving faith” were true, then from AD 100 until 1517, almost no one was born again. This is not a Biblical argument. If we based our theology on this type of reasoning, then we certainly would not believe that only people who profess

Six Questions on Assurance, Part 3

October 15, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance of the essence of saving faith, Galatians 3:6, Genesis 15:6, Hebrews 11:10, John 8:56, Romans 4:3

We are considering six objections to the teaching that assurance of everlasting life is of the essence of saving faith. In this blog we consider objections three and four. The third objection is that John 20:31 is saying someone can correctly perceive who Jesus is and yet not believe that by faith in Him, he

Six Questions Regarding Assurance of Salvation, Part 2

October 14, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 John 5:13, Assurance of Salvation, Assurance of the essence of saving faith

In this blog I will discuss the first two objections to assurance being of the essence of saving faith as stated in Part 1. Those two objections are that when a person believes in Christ, he has objective assurance, even if he is not sure he is eternally secure, and that 1 John 5:13 proves

Questions Regarding Assurance of Salvation, Part 1

October 11, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 John 5:13, Assurance of Salvation, John 20:31, saving faith

I received the following email from a Free Grace friend I haven’t seen in maybe twenty years. My friend asks some tough questions, so hang with me. I hope I can answer his questions clearly. It’s been a while since we’ve been in touch, but I’d like to interact with you on the concept of

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

October 10, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - dead faith, King James Study Bible, living faith, saving faith

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,