The issue of when eternal life starts came to the forefront in our annual conference this year (Feb 27-Mar 2, 2006). Both Zane Hodges and Bob Bryant said that if a person has never been sure that he is eternally secure by faith in Jesus, then he has not yet been born again. Yet an

One argument I hear a lot is that since the Scriptures often refer to believing in Jesus using the present tense, this means that only those who endure in faith in Christ until death “truly believe.” Often the present articular participle is cited. That is the expression ho pisteuōn in Greek. It means the one

My wife is a recovering bulimic shopper. One weekend she would buy five outfits. The next weekend she would return four of them and get her money back. Our MasterCard bill always had lots of credits on it. Sharon rarely bought anything in a store with a no-return policy. She wanted the ability to return

by René A. Lopez For some, a radical life change is “Mission: Impossible,” especially if their track record reads like a grocery list. Mine certainly did. In only five years, from 1986 to 1991, I was arrested almost forty times for criminal activity ranging from burglary, grand theft and armed robbery to cocaine possession and

Luke 15 is the great repentance chapter. It has three parables related to repentance: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. I regularly speak on the parable of the prodigal son. I suggest that he represents a believer who strays away from God and then comes to his senses and returns to

Recently I attended a conference in which a main session speaker said that the statement by Paul, “then each one’s praise will come from God” (1 Cor 4:5), shows that every believer will have some good works and will receive at least some praise at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Bema). I’ve heard that claim

by Kenneth Mitchell My journey to understand the wonderful grace of God began in earnest when I was a student in seminary. I earned a Master of Theology degree and even completed all of the course work for a Doctor of Theology. I left seminary to begin my first pastorate in Detroit, Michigan, yet I

Recently, Bob Wilkin and Zane Hodges have been meeting to discuss tough texts of the NT. Here is an excerpt from Matthew 7:21-23.* BW: In Matthew 7:21-23, the people who face the judgment are those who say they’ve performed good works in the name of Jesus. This suggests that the passage particularly has in view

Recently I received an email from a pastor in Switzerland who wondered what this verse means: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Love and Hate Are Figures of Speech Concerning Priorities The person who “loves his

There is an unusual use of the word justified (Greek: dikaiow) in Luke 7. There Jesus says that the tax collectors “justified God” by being baptized with the baptism of John the Baptist. Say what? How can any human being justify God? He is the one that justifies us. We don’t justify Him. Or, maybe