Grace in Focus – June/July 1988
Absolute Assurance for New Believers? Yes!
By Mike Cocoris How soon after trusting Christ can a person know that he has eternal life? There are two basic answers to that question.1 One view teaches that from the moment of faith a person can have assurance of eternal life. A second view insists that a newborn Christian cannot have immediate assurance of
Sexual Sins and the Body of Christ
Dealing with Immorality in the Church Without Altering the Gospel or Undermining Assurance Sexual immorality is rampant today. The seventies and eighties have been an era of free sex. Unfortunately, the problem of sexual immorality did not bypass the body of Christ. Studies show that sexual immorality (e.g., premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, incest, lusting over
A Faith in Christ Alone Which Won’t Save? – John 8:30-32
I recently heard a message by R. C. Sproul on John 8:30-32. The following so caught my attention that I transcribed it: “The Bible knows nothing of a salvation that is so cheap that all one has to do is embrace the idea that Jesus has died on the cross for them without having any
Repentance and Salvation: A Key Gospel Issue
In his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (pp. 71-72), J. I. Packer, writes, “It is not enough to believe that only through Christ and His death are sinners justified and accepted, and that one’s own record is sufficient to bring down God’s condemning sentence twenty times over, and that, apart from Christ one
Lordship and Salvation
Charles C. Ryrie writes in his book, Balancing the Christian Life (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), “Enthronement [putting Christ on the throne of my life; making Him Lord of my life; etc.] is not a condition for salvation but rather . . . it should he a consequence of it” (p.179). In support of that contention