Blog – Page 60 – Grace Evangelical Society

How Can a Person Be Saved and Cursed by God?

October 31, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Blessing and cursing

David asked this excellent question after a recent YouTube video by me on faith plus works salvation: If a person believes in Christ alone for salvation and later falls back into works, he is still saved, just fallen from grace [Gal 5:4]. Yet Paul says that if a person turns to faith plus works for

Unable to Hear God’s Word (Luke 1:62)

October 30, 2023 by Ken Yates in Blog - Gabriel, Heb 5:13-14, Jas 1:19, Jas 1:22, Obedience, Zachariah

Everybody familiar with the Christmas story knows that Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, was not able to speak for the nine months his wife Elizabeth was pregnant. This was because Zachariah did not believe the word of God spoken to him by Gabriel when the angel told him about John’s coming birth. Many,

Don’t Let Anything Other Than Scripture Guide Your Beliefs and Practices

October 27, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - sola scriptura

Christians are to base our beliefs and our practices on God’s Word. Yet there are at least four influences, other than the Bible, that can get in the way of our accepting the teaching of God’s Word: 1) a word or impression supposedly from God; 2) church history (councils, creeds, pastors, authors); 3) experiences we’ve

Destroying the Word of God (2 Kings 22:1-8)

October 26, 2023 by Ken Yates in Blog - Josiah, Scriptures, study

In the accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah–few of whom were godly–there are many events that seem somewhat strange to modern readers. One of them is found in 2 Kings 22. Josiah was one of the few godly kings. When he was a young man, he wanted to restore the temple of the

Is Assurance Like Light from a Dimmer Switch?

October 25, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Calvinist view of assurance

Article by Calvinist Jon Bloom, staff writer for and co-founder of desiringGod.org. See here for the article entitled, “How God Gives Assurance” (9/4/15). Bloom opens his article with these words: “Am I truly a Christian? Few questions cause more fearful trembling in believers…” Here is his view: “Like most things in the Christian life, assurance

Pop Dispensationalism

October 24, 2023 by Ken Yates in Blog - 2 Tim 4:3, Dispensationalism, Rapture, sound doctrine

I recently read The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism by Daniel Hummel. In the book, he coins the term pop dispensationalism. I don’t know whether or not it’s used popularly. While I had never heard the term before, I understand what it means. I think a number of people are just like me in this

What Is Hapax Legomenon and Why Is It Important?

October 23, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Hapax legomenon, Maranatha

Last weekend, I was in Las Vegas. But not for poker. I was speaking at Upland Bible Church. On Saturday night Pastor Rich, his wife Debbie, Al and Sheri Bingham, and my hosts, Tim and Daria Vanselow, shared a feast at Casa Vanselow. During supper, Pastor Rich mentioned the expression hapax legomenon. No. That is

Racism and the Rapture

October 20, 2023 by Ken Yates in Blog - blessed hope, boldness, Rapture, Titus 2:13

Our culture is saturated with accusations of racism. There are certainly racists in every community, and with every color of skin. We would expect that in a world dominated by sin. But I think most of us would agree that charges of racism have gotten out of hand. In some circles, a person who supports

He Who Believes in Jesus Is Saved, But He Who Believes That Jesus Is the Christ Is Not?

October 19, 2023 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of John

Stephanie sent me a link to an article by a defender of the Christian faith, an apologist. The 2018 article by J. Warner Wallace is entitled, “When Belief ‘That’ Becomes Belief ‘In.’” See here. See also this article at gotquestions.org that makes the same argument. Stephanie writes, “Can you help me understand this article? It

Israel’s Future

October 18, 2023 by Ken Yates in Blog - Jer 31:31-37, Kingdom, Rapture, Rom 11:25-27

The late Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer winning columnist, once said this about Israel: “Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago” (Charles Krauthammer, Things