Blog – Page 32 – Grace Evangelical Society

Do Christians Look Different?

September 14, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - assurance by works, J. D. Greear

A reader sent me a video of a message on James 2 by Pastor J. D. Greear. In that message, Greear commented on Jas 2:13, saying, “There is no way that you could receive the kind of mercy that God gave you in forgiving your sins and then withhold mercy from others” (see here at

Tearing Down a House

September 13, 2023 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - 2 Kgs 25:8-17, Matt 7:24-27, rewards, Temple

In Matt 7:24-27, the Lord says that a believer’s life is like a house. He can build a valuable and sturdy house if he does the things the Lord tells him to do. If he is disobedient, the house will come crashing down. This, of course, has nothing to do with receiving eternal life, which

Is Believing in the Giver for the Gift of Everlasting Life One Belief or Two?

September 12, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - John 4:10, The Giver and Gift

That question came up last night in my Zoom class on soteriology. We often say that there are three elements in the message of everlasting life: 1) Believing 2) in Jesus Christ 3) for everlasting life. We sometimes use John 4:10 to show that Jesus required that we believe in Him, the Giver, for the

A Light Shining in the Darkness

September 11, 2023 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - 2 Kings 25, Forgiveness, Grace, Israel

The Book of Second Kings ends on a very dark note. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to paint a bleaker picture of a nation. The ten tribes in the Jews’ northern kingdom had been defeated by the Assyrians about 140 years earlier. They had been taken off to Assyria as captives. Now the Babylonians

What Are the Hebrew Scriptures?

September 8, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Tanakh, the Hebrew Scriptures

It is becoming increasingly popular in Evangelical circles to use the terms the Hebrew Scriptures or the Tanakh to refer to the thirty-nine books that are popularly called the Old Testament. This is because some Jewish people prefer that we call their Scripturesi the Hebrew Scriptures or the Tanakh. Calling those books the Old Testament

Nobody Has Out-sinned the Grace of God

September 7, 2023 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - 2 Chronicles 31, 2 Kings 21, Forgiveness, Grace, Manasseh, Mercy

Manasseh, one of the kings of Judah, was not a good man. He brought a great deal of grief upon his people. He ruled for 55 years and is described by the author of 2 Kings as the evilest king in the nation’s history (2 Kgs 21:1-16). When God gave the Jews the Promised Land,

Was the Tanakh Written to Believers?

September 6, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Interpreting the Old Testament

GES has a cadre of more than a dozen writers working on a commentary for the OT (the Tanakh). Last night, we had a Zoom meeting of all the authors plus the six editors. At one point, the question of the readership of the OT came up. Except for John’s Gospel, the NT is written

Spiritual Psychological Warfare

September 5, 2023 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - 2 Kgs 18:17-35, mind, Rom 12:1-2, Sanctification, temptation

Every war utilizes what military people call “psyops.” It is a shortened way of saying psychological operations. This psychological warfare is an attempt to get into the heads of the enemy’s soldiers. The goal is to discourage them. This would make them less effective in fighting or maybe even convince them to give up altogether.

Can You Evangelize Without Words?

September 4, 2023 by Kathryn Wright in Blog - 1 Pet 3:1, evangelism, Obedience

There is an old maxim, often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, that says, “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” In a similar vein, there’s another adage that says, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one.” Both phrases teach a similar idea: that our actions are more important than words,

Free Grace Can Be Misleading Because…

September 1, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Flexible Free Grace, Focused Free Grace

At our May 2023 Annual Conference, Mike Lii gave a talk in which he distinguished between what he called “Focused Free Grace” and “Flexible Free Grace.” You can see his message on the GES YouTube channel here. He also translated that message into a JOTGES article that we plan to run in the Spring 2024