By Zane Hodgesi On one occasion, described in John 1:19-27, John the Baptist was visited by an important official delegation from the religious leadership of Jerusalem. Speculation had mounted that this Elijah-like prophet might be the Messiah Himself (cf. Luke 3:15). If ever there was a golden opportunity for John to “blow his own horn,”

Introduction In a recent podcast, I heard a preacher say that Saul of Tarsus’ name was changed to Paul after his conversion. He went on to describe the miracle of transformation that occurred in Paul’s life. Because of this supposed transformation, the Lord gave the apostle a new name. The preacher associated salvation with a

By Ken Pierce Matthew 11:1-15 and Luke 7:18-23 record parallel accounts of a fascinating exchange between Messiah and two disciples of Yochannan ben Zecharyah (John, the son of Zechariah, better known as John the Baptist or, more accurately, John the Baptizer), in which Jesus relayed a covert message to his incarcerated cousin. Herod Antipas had

By Mike Lii and Bob Wilkin Introduction Have you heard it charged that those of us who accept the Focused Free Grace position teach “easy believism”? Those who level such a charge usually mean that we make salvation too easy by not requiring that people turn from their sins, commit their lives to Christ, and

By Ken Yates Introduction The 1995 Chicago Bulls were quite a team. They were a historically successful team. Not only did they win the NBA championship, but they did something no other team had done during the regular season. They won over seventy of their eighty-two games against the best competition in the world. They

By Ken Pierce The story of the woman with an issue of blood testifies convincingly to both the awesome power of faith placed in Jesus Christ and the importance of taking Him at His word. Unfortunately, some story elements may escape twenty-first-century readers less familiar than she was with the Tanakh (the Torah—Law, the Neve’im—Prophets,

By Zane C. Hodges* Man’s role in conversion is to BELIEVE The answer to the jailor’s classic question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” is still the same, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30-31; italics added). What must man do? He must believe. But can he

By Bob Wilkin In Part 1, we saw that there are two types of rewards: instant winners and perseverance prizes. Instant winners are secure the moment they are earned. Perseverance prizes are only secure once one finishes the race (2 Tim 4:6-8). There are two related questions we will address in this article. Will we

By Bob Wilkin Many people who’ve watched my YouTube videos on assurance and eternal security have asked me to explain how we can be sure of our eternal security if we’re not sure we’ll be overcomers. They also wonder if 1 John 5:4-5 teaches that all believers are overcomers. An Overcomer Is Victorious The word

By Ken Yates I think many readers of this blog can relate to my church background. The churches I attended when growing up did not really teach the Bible. I never heard a sermon in which the speaker looked at the context and explained the meaning of the verses that were read. Once the Bible