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 […]

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 […]

Last month we considered 2 Peter 1:10-11. This month we will consider another difficult passage in 2 Peter. Recently I received a question from a reader about 2 Peter 2:20-22. He felt that it dealt with unbelievers who knew about the gospel but had never really accepted it in their hearts. My understanding of the […]

Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote in his 1917 work, Salvation (reprinted by Zondervan 1980), ” From the testimony of Scripture a Christian should know that he is saved . . . Where there is a lack of assurance there is usually an impression that so long as the life is quite imperfect (and how immodest it […]

I received a letter from a reader regarding a comment I made in the March Newsletter. I had said regarding the “goats” of the Matthew 25:31-46 judgment, “Since those cast into eternal fire did not believe in Christ, their sins were not covered by His blood and hence they were doomed to eternal damnation (cf. […]

I recently received a request to discuss 2 Peter 1:10. A reader wrote, “It is hard to avoid the conclusion that [based on 2 Peter 1:10] assurance of salvation is to be based upon works . . . Can you shed any light on this matter?” The verse reads: “Therefore, brethren, be all the more […]

Faith and Saving Faith by Gordon Clark (Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1983) is a weighty book well worth the effort it takes to chew, swallow, and digest its fare. [It is not an easy book to read.] In it Clark argues that saving faith is no different in kind than any other type of […]

Bruce Barron’s The Health and Wealth Gospel. Fascinating reading written by one who is sympathetic with the movement yet alarmed by what he sees as abuses and excesses. While many will find Barron’s treatment of the prosperity theology movement too sympathetic in places, his work is well worth reading by the discerning reader. Many people […]

I recently received questions concerning the same passage from two readers. One wrote, “A passage that bothers me is the Judgment of the Gentiles (Matthew 25:31-46). Here judgment is solely by works (verse 40) with consequences of heaven and hell (verse 46). Rewards do not seem to be the primary issue, although the invitation to […]

Sowing and Reaping. In our non-agrarian culture few of us have a ready grasp of these concepts. When we hear the word “sowing” our first thought is to what a person does with a needle and thread (i.e. “sewing”). Not so for farmers. Their first thought would be to spreading seed in rows in a […]