by Virgil Holt I am a missionary working with New Tribes Mission, a grace-oriented organization, in Mexico. Although our mission works primarily among tribal people, my ministry is to challenge and train Mexican believers as missionaries. Therefore I am involved a great deal in the local church here in Chihuahua. Some time ago I asked

23Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

by Kelly Birks “Not only is there absolutely nothing you can do to merit your salvation, there is nothing you can do to keep your salvation.” With my arms outstretched and one of my index fingers punctuating the air for emphasis, the congregation before me was impacted not only with the truth of the text

by Stan Nelson It is often implied in some circles that a person who is born again will abstain from certain types or patterns of sin. To these people, continually committing the same sin could be convincing evidence that salvation is lacking in the person under scrutiny. I certainly don’t intend to condone, encourage, or

Recently I received the following question from a Missouri reader named MJ: “I have a friend who is a preacher and who also is a Lordship Salvationist. He uses Luke 17:9-10 to show me that the doctrine of rewards should not be a motivator for the Christian. In other words, we should not expect to

by Charlie Bing Jeffrey Dahmer was convicted of unspeakable acts of perversion and cannibalism that shocked the nation. He was murdered in prison, but not before he had professed faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior. Ted Bundy was a notorious serial killer executed for his crimes. But before he died, he also claimed faith

Dear Mr. Wilkin, Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I must say first of all thank you for your continued support of my Christian walk and for the excellent materials that you have sent. I failed in not sending you a thank you letter and I must apologize for my

“Easy Believism.” That is one of the more common pejorative labels given to the Grace Gospel these days. The implication is that anything that’s as easy as simply believing can’t be that valuable. If we don’t put a high price on salvation, then people won’t appreciate it enough. Rather than simply invite people to believe

by Rob Caines The Council of Trent, in response to the Reformers’ doctrine of justification by faith alone, states the following: If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sin for Christ’s sake alone; or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified, let

Recently in my daily Bible reading I came upon Luke 5:36-39. This text involves two parables which I had never studied before: the parables of the new garment and of the new wine. The concluding verse provides an explanation for both metaphors: “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says,