Blog | Grace Evangelical Society

From Devout Roman Catholic to Agnostic

April 15, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Absolutes, Agnosticism, apologetics, Jared Bilski, parenting

My sister sent me a blog about a Washington Post article by Jared Bilski entitled, “I’m not passing my parents’ religion on to my kids, but I am teaching their values.” You can read the article here. The blog, by Dr. Jim Denison, covered four main points. You can read his blog here. Bilski grew up Roman Catholic,

The Grandeur of Salvation

April 12, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - believer’s systematic theology, Soteriology

Have you ever visited the Grand Canyon? Weren’t you in awe of it? John Wesley Powell said, “The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration

Fire Insurance Evangelism

April 11, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Fire insurance evangelism, John 3:16, saving faith

Many object to the practice of some evangelists who say that if you believe in Jesus, then you will be saved from eternal condemnation. They say that is just fire insurance. John Piper has a November 8, 2017, post entitled, “Jesus Isn’t Your Insurance Policy” (see here). He writes, What is this [saving] faith?…It is a receiving of Christ for who he really is:

God Exists (Believer’s Systematic Theology)

April 10, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - apologetics, existence of God, systematic theology

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). In the beginning—before the beginning of you, me, or anything else—God existed. But where? And how? And what does it mean for God to exist? Is God just another thing in the universe? Some people think so. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the

When Progression Is Not a Good Thing

April 9, 2019 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - Christ, Person of Christ, prophet

The word “progression” is usually seen as a good thing. The definition of the word is: the process of developing or moving gradually towards a more advanced state. Everyone likes progress. In the Gospel of John, we see some good examples of progression. In two conversations people experience a progression in their understanding of who Jesus is. When the woman at

The Feel-Good Gospel

April 8, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Feel-good gospel, Free Grace Theology, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, The Gospel According to Jesus

The following is adapted from one section of Chapter 1 of my book A Gospel of Doubt, a response to Dr. John MacArthur’s book The Gospel According to Jesus. The first chapter of the third edition of John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus is entitled, “Follow Me.” It is a new chapter which was not included in the first two

Perseverance in Marathons and in the Ultimate Race

April 5, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Timothy 2:12, Costly Rewards, Free Salvation

I started training in November. I had hoped to compete in the Cowtown Marathon in Ft. Worth, which I’ve finished three times. But then Sharon was diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst that turned out to be cancer. The chemo treatments were such that February 24 was not a good time for us. So, I

The Divisions of Systematic Theology

April 4, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - divisions, systematic theology

When we voted on a theme for the last national conference, the choices came down to “Ephesians: Verse-by-Verse” and “Systematic Theology.” Ephesians won by a nose. I’ve always been a systematic theology guy. I have well over fifty such theologies in my office and more at home. I like thinking about the big picture and trying to understand how it all fits together. I believe coherence is

Is Anyone Unreachable?

April 3, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Grace, ministry, vocation

We all have a ministry from God. In fact, you’re in full-time ministry right now. So…how are you doing? What are you doing? Who are you reaching? One of the things I try to emphasize at church is that everyone should be self-consciously serving God in their lives. Not everyone has a visible ministry on Sunday mornings.

The Eternal Dwelling Place for Believers Is Not Heaven—Humans Were Made to Live on Earth with Physical Bodies

April 2, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

The following is one section from Chapter 5 (“Heaven”) of my book The Ten Most Misunderstood Words in the Bible. When I was on Staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, we used to sing a song at our weekly on-campus meetings. It was a chorus called, “Heaven Is a Wonderful Place.” We’d sing about how wonderful