Blog – Page 5 – Grace Evangelical Society

Paul Had Nothing

February 5, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - ministry

Those of us in the Free Grace movement tend to come from small churches and work in little ministries, with few resources, and even less (worldly) prestige. And that can be discouraging, especially when we look at the big ministries churches and their cool, cutting edge, and expensive buildings and activities and programs (as recommended by the highest paid church growth consultants). Aren’t you tempted

Does Faith Create a Relationship?

February 4, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Episcopal, Episcopalian, Grace

Readers of this blog are well aware of the danger of Lordship Salvation or works salvation, which denies that you can be eternally saved by faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. But are you also aware that it is also possible to emphasize “grace” to unbiblical extremes? That, in fact, some people emphasize grace so much, that

The Assurance Debate Goes Back a Long Time

February 3, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 John 5:9-13, 2 Corinthians 13:5, assurance and works, John 11:25-27

The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is an association of thousands of Evangelical educators, theologians, and pastors from around the world. To join, you need a Master of Theology degree or better. I joined ETS in 1982 when I received my Th.M. from DTS. My first ETS annual meeting was in San Diego, California, in November of 1989.

The Bible and the Fundamental of the Fundamentals

January 31, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - bible, Bibliology, inerrancy, Norman Geisler

Our upcoming National Conference (register here) will be on the Great Doctrines of the Bible. I will be speaking on the Bible (i.e., Bibliology). How important is the doctrine of the Bible to the rest of theology? More specifically, how important is the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy to the rest of systematic theology? Here’s a great quote from the late Norman

When God Is Humiliated (Daniel 1:2)

January 30, 2020 by Kenneth Yates in Blog

Many times we might think that God could never be humiliated. But that is not entirely correct. One of the great prophetic books of the OT, the Book of Daniel, opens with this theme. We know the story well. Daniel and his three friends were among those Jews who were taken captive to Babylon around

Rejecting the Language of Monergism and Synergism

January 29, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - monergism, Soteriology, synergism

As Free Grace people, most of us want to be strict Biblicists. We are not tied to, or try not to be tied to, the language or prior theologians. We want to be Biblical through and through. And that often means rejecting commonly used terms. I was reminded of this in my reading of Robert J. Kerrey’s How

Free Will and Eternal Security

January 28, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Eternal Security, Free-will, Titus 1:2

A friend sent me this second-hand question: “Question from a friend online: ‘If God desires for us to always have free will, why would He not allow us to give back the free gift of eternal life if we so choose?’” How would you answer that? My answer involves two counter questions. Does God really want

Look Only at the Lord (Matthew 14:30)

January 27, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, Watchman Nee

I have a devotional by Watchman Nee called The Lord Is My Portion. In the reading for January 22nd, Nee meditates on Matt 14:30, which reads: But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Nee makes this comment: In walking upon the water Peter

Confusing Comments Concerning Certain Salvation

January 24, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Eternal Security, OT salvation, what is saving faith, what is the object of saving faith

A friend sent me a Jan 8, 2011, blog by Dr. Michael Heiser. You can see it here. It is entitled, “Election, Salvation, Unbelief, and Eternal Security.” I’ve read several articles by Heiser and found most of them to be outstanding. I am part way into his book Angels and have found it helpful. I’ve heard great things about his book The Unseen Realm. So I came to this article

An Elder’s Library Starter Kit

January 23, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Bibles, commentaries, Donald Norbie, elder, library

In his booklet Shepherd the Flock, Donald Norbie summarizes the qualifications of an elder, one of which is being “able to teach” (1 Tim 3:2). The elder should be able to teach God’s Word, but to do that, he must become a man of the Book, which takes time and discipline: This means he will discipline himself to spend hours studying God’s