Grace in Focus – September/October 2020
A Review of Andy Stanley’s “Irresistible”
By Bob Wilkin Andy Stanley was a few years behind me at Dallas Theological Seminary. I recall grading some of his papers. I’ve long had a high regard for him. As I read his recent book called Irresistible1, I became concerned about the direction his ministry appears to be taking. He seems to be downplaying
Believing the Message of Lordship Salvation Does Not Result in Eternal Life
By Mike Lii Back in the early 1990s, the subject of Lordship Salvation had arisen in the college fellowship that I was attending. This typically manifested itself with statements from my contemporaries along the lines of, “Well if you are not doing [insert a good work here] or if you are doing [insert a bad
Is Christendom Sick or Dead?
By Shawn Lazar In response to a blog about the need for missionaries to Christendom, a reader wrote: Shawn, I must admit I was quite taken aback by your words. You are just a year younger than I am, and from your books, blog posts and radio podcasts I’ve listened to that you share with
Faith Alone in Four Verses
By Bob Wilkin An Excerpt from Faith Alone in One Hundred Verses Chapter One And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). My parents had given up hope. Though their first child, a daughter, came after just a few years of trying, the second child, another daughter,
John 6:35 and Total Depravity
By Laurence M. Vance And Jesus said unto them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Calvinism Calvinism is the teaching that man is so dead in sin that God has to irresistibly call him and regenerate
Romans 6: A Concise Commentary
From The Grace New Testament Commentary (Revised Edition) By Zane Hodges Our Union with Christ in His Death and Resurrection (6:1-11) 6:1-2. Paul dismisses a false conclusion. Should we continue in sin so that grace may become greater? Far from it! Such a conclusion is unthinkable precisely because Christians have died to sin. Significantly, the
Three Tempting Tabernacles
By Allen Rea In Matthew 17, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up to the top of a mountain. Jesus was transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah appeared with Him. They were talking together. However, Luke lets us know that they were speaking about His departure (Luke 9:31). Peter, never one to keep silent,
Christians Denying the Lord (Mark 14:27-31)
By Ken Yates One of the many strange things we hear Christians say is that a true Christian will never deny the Lord. Of course, when this is said the hearer almost always thinks of Peter. Peter clearly denied the Lord three times. What about him? The answer that is often given is that Peter
Pinning Our Hopes on Eternity
By Kelley Easley A Time of Testing Like so many others the world over, our family has been experiencing a time of significant testing since my husband was furloughed from his job in mid-March. The ramifications of sudden job loss have been numerous, and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t stressed. In an