Grace in Focus – September/October 2019
We Chose To Follow Children
By Lucas Kitchen Marty Sampson and Josh Harris, two huge Christian influencers who have publically announced that they have left the faith, share an interesting similarity. I’ll get to that in a moment, but let me first explain what these guys have done. Josh Harris wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye, along with loads of other
Invitations in the Evangelistic Ministries of Jesus and His Apostles
By Bob Wilkin When I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), I was required to file weekly reports on how many students I evangelized, what their response was, and how many students I discipled. I was told if I did not get to the invitation prayer in the Four Spiritual Laws, then
Jesus’ Last Week in Light of Daniel 9:25-26
By Shawn Lazar After centuries of promising to send a Messiah, God finally gave a concrete timeline in Daniel 9:24-27 for when He would come. And vv 25-26 give us specific information about what would happen to Messiah at that time: “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore
Saving Faith and Intellectual Assent: An Ongoing Debate
By Bob Wilkin Did Zane Hodges believe that saving faith is intellectual assent? Dr. Dave Anderson argues in the book A Defense of Free Grace Theology1 that Wayne Grudem’s view that saving faith is not mental assent is essentially that of nearly all Free Grace advocates.2 (Anderson does reject some aspects of Grudem’s view of
Removing Spiritual Cataracts (2 Corinthians 4:4)
By Ken Yates Recently, my daughter Kathryn and I traveled to Zambia to teach at a Bible college. We taught two classes: one on the Book of Romans, and one on the doctrine of salvation. We had a total of 45 students who all spoke and understood English. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and
How Can Faith Not Produce Good Works?
I was recently asked, “I am a little confused as to the relationship between faith and works in the Free Grace understanding. My own understanding is that faith naturally has a corresponding action. It’s not that the action proves or adds anything to salvation, but that grace-born trust in Jesus could not fail to be
In Memoriam: Dr. Norman Leo Geisler (July 21, 1932—July 1, 2019)
By Donnie Preslar with Bernie Hunsucker Author’s note: Bernie Hunsucker and I are elders at Grace Bible Church in Charlotte, NC, where I am the senior pastor. We graduated from Florida Bible College together in the seventies and founded GBC. Both of us attended Dr. Geisler’s funeral service and took notes. I will incorporate some
Watching Until He Comes
By Bill Fiess This morning I was really struck by the presence of a single Greek participle elthōn (= coming or when He comes) in connection with Jesus Christ’s imminent return: Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes [elthōn], will find so doing (Matt 24:46). Watch therefore, for you do not know
Once Saved, Rarely Saved?
By Bob Wilkin Someone sent me a link to a rather extreme Arminian preacher. Most who believe you can lose everlasting life think that people who believe you can’t lose your salvation still have a good chance of making it to heaven by persevering. However, this preacher thinks that the preaching of eternal security makes
Top 5 Places to Do Evangelism
By Summer Stevens I remember listening to a guest speaker in my evangelism class in seminary talk about the thousands of times through the years he had personally shared the gospel. He drew a line on the board that represented both time and intensity. Basically, with your next-door neighbor, you take your time and let
An Old Testament Illustration of the Christian Life (2 Chronicles 12:8)
By Ken Yates In Romans 6–8, Paul has a lengthy discussion on the Christian life. The believer can walk by the flesh (in his own power) or by the Spirit. The former results in the wrath of God and the deadly consequences of sin. The latter results in life and peace. Paul compares the way
Divine Discipline on Disciples
By John O. Hosler I have been a prayer warrior for GES since its foundation. The promise of eternal life, made possible by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28), is the only gospel that can provide redemption for the sinner who trusts Christ alone for salvation from eternal condemnation. I have served as a Free
The View from Ziklag
By Marcia Hornok The shortest verse in the English Bible gives solace to us when life turns sad. “Jesus wept,” connecting Him to a number of people whom the Bible recorded as weeping. Can you guess how many? Would the number 60 surprise you? On nearly 80 occasions, 42 different individuals or groups of people