…for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Gal 3:21b) When a soldier decides to join one of the elite units in the Army, he must go through very tough training. My best friend when I was in the Army did that

A reader alerted us to this quote from John Piper. It appears in the Foreword to Thomas Schreiner’s Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015). As Tom Schreiner says, the book “tackles one of the fundamental questions of our human condition: how can a person be right with God?” The stunning

On Saturday, June 3, 2017, I debated Dr. Matthew Bates, author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone. You can hear the debate by clicking here. My overall reaction to the debate is that the issue of what a person must do to be born again was made clear. Bates argued that what is required is “embodied

The Claim by Dr. Matthew Bates: Pistis Means Faithfulness in Salvific Contexts Recently (June 3, 2017) I was involved in a debate about saving faith on Moody Radio’s Up for Debate program. I debated Dr. Matthew Bates, author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone. You can listen to the debate by clicking here. The host gave

When was Abraham justified before God? We don’t know when Abraham first came to believe in God, or when the Lord first spoke to him. We do know that Abraham was 75 years old when, at God’s command, he departed Haran for the promised land (Gen 12:4). But, presumably, Abraham had come to believe in

We just got the book, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? in our office last week. So I’ve only had a chance to give it a fast read. However, I’ve seen enough to be disturbed. Actually in the Foreword Dr. Craig Evans anticipates my reaction, “Many Christian readers of Dr. Licona’s book will be

  A few months back I committed to doing an on-air debate on the issue of justification by faith alone. I thought I’d be debating a Lordship Salvation person, but I did not know who until two days ago. I’ll be debating the author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel

“Umm, we need to talk….” Those are words no one wants to hear. Whether it’s your spouse, your boss, your teacher, or a friend, from the moment you hear those words, to the moment you have the meeting, your life will probably be filled with anxiety. “What did I do?” “What kind of trouble am

I recently got a text from a friend of mine. He reminded me of a conversation we had recently where we both pointed out that those outside of the Free Grace movement often lay the charge that the Free Grace view of eternal life cannot be true. We hold that eternal life is a free

Yesterday I received a call from a Pastor friend in Nebraska. Someone who attended his church took exception to him referring to believers as sinners. The man said, “Believers are saints, not sinners.” Evidently the man was coming from a Calvinist tradition. He thought that believers cannot stray very far or for very long. Thus