Blog – Page 194 – Grace Evangelical Society

What Was Zane Hodges Saying about Salvation in 1 Timothy 4:16?

May 14, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Tim 4:16, false teachers, Sanctification, Soteriology

“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim 4:16). We ran an article in the May-June Grace in Focus magazine where Zane Hodges discussed 1 Tim 4:6-16. At the end of the article was a short

He Who Lives — John 11:25-26

May 11, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Post-mortem Salvation, universalism

Do unbelievers get a second chance to believe in Jesus after they die? According to universalists they do. They say that someone who dies in unbelief today may still have a chance to believe in Jesus for eternal life in the underworld tomorrow. On that theory, when an unebeliever wake up in Hades, they

Salvation Is Final the Moment You Believe

May 10, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - evangelism, Final Salvation, Salvation, saving faith

On September 25, 2017 Dr. John Piper published a blog at the DesiringGod.org website. It was entitled, “Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?” His answer was No! In part Piper writes: These works of faith, and this obedience of faith, these fruits of the Spirit that come by faith, are necessary for

Can Spirits Think?

May 9, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - annihilationism, conciousness, Hades, Spirits, universalism

I have dialogued with several people who deny there can be conscious experiences without a physical body. I have heard this objection from both annihilationists and universalists. I don’t know if that is a majority position in either camp, but it has come up enough that I should address it. They claim that once

The Sin Process — James 1:14-15

May 8, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Free-will, James, Sin, temptation

Why do you sin? What is the process that leads you down that path? No one causes you to sin. Not Satan. Not demons. Not God. It all comes down to your free choice. You choose to sin. But how? How does it happen? James explains it in this passage: But each one is

C. S. Lewis Said Repentance Is a Condition for Everlasting Life

May 7, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - evangelism, Lordship Salvation, Repentance, turning from sins

The following question came today via email from a friend: I know that you (and presumably everyone at GES) do not believe that repentance is “necessary” for salvation. I have several of Zane Hodges’ books on free grace, and he appears to hold this view mainly based on his understanding of the Biblical meaning of

If We Must Believe What We Get Is Irrevocable, Then What about the Pentecostals and Methodists?

May 4, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Eternal Security, evangelism, Irrevocable, saving faith

One of the readers of my recent blog “Are Assurance Verses in John Directed to Believers or Unbelievers?” (which you can see here), left the following comment: Hi Bob, I just finished reading the above and I’m afraid I may be misunderstanding you. Are you saying that the only saved people are those who believe

John Wesley’s Early Evangelism

May 3, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - almost Christian, Anglican, Church of England, methodism, Methodist, Wesley, Wesleyan

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was an ordained Anglican priest. He considered Methodism to be a renewal movement within the Church of England and resisted attempts to make it a denomination in itself. It is interesting to see how Wesley’s theology changed over time. Later in life, Wesley would claim he had been an

Life After Death in the Old Testament

May 2, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - annihilationism, Death, disembodied spirits, Eternal Concious Torment, Hell, torment, universalism

Did the Hebrews have a concept of the soul’s life after death? Did they believe the dead continued to exist as disembodied spirits? Many (but not all) who believe in annihilationism and universalism deny it. They say the idea that the soul survives the death of the body comes from Plato, not the Bible. Why

Is Overcoming in Revelation 2-3 a Synonym for Believing in Christ?

May 1, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Believers, Overcomers

I wrote a book review in January of 2016 of a book which took a different view of the three outer darkness passages in Matthew than Zane Hodges and I had done. But the book covered much more than those three passages. Among other things, the authors argued that overcoming in Revelation 2-3 is another