Death – Grace Evangelical Society

Can We Slow Down Just a Little?

October 26, 2022 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - Death, Fellowship, Flesh, Sin

We have all seen self-destructive behavior. Perhaps it was an alcoholic who continued to drink, even after a number of DUI’s, destroyed marriages, etc. Or perhaps it was a drug abuser who continued that abuse even after the drug had destroyed their life. In cases like that, most of us look at the situation and

What Does “Wages” Mean in Romans 6:23?

October 19, 2022 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - Death, Life, Sin, wages

One of the most well-known verses in the NT is Rom 6:23, where Paul states that, “…the wages of sin is death.” While most people think Paul is talking about what sends a person to the lake of fire, that’s not the case. In chapter six, Paul is talking about what sin does in the

Do Not Abide in the Darkness

September 15, 2022 by Kathryn Wright in Blog - 1 John, abide, Darkness, Death, Fellowship, Romans 7

In 1875, a beautiful, young woman named Blanche Monnier from Poitiers, France, was engaged to be married. She was from a wealthy family, but her fiancé was not. Her mother did not approve of the man she chose to be her future husband. All of a sudden, she went missing. Her fiancé did not know

The Law Brings Death (Roman 7:9-10)

January 11, 2022 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, law, Romans, Sanctification

I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death (Rom 7:9-10). “I was alive” and “I died.” Who is “I”? What does it mean to be alive without the law, and in what sense

Experiencing Death or Righteousness (Romans 6:15-16)

December 14, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, righteousness, Romans, Sanctification

Believers are not under law but grace. However, that fact raises a rhetorical question similar to the one that began Romans 6: What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s

You Were Dead and Buried in Christ (Romans 6:3-4a)

October 27, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, Positional Truth, Romans, Sanctification

Does preaching grace promote sin? Paul rejected that reasoning as illogical. Why? His answer might surprise you. It makes no sense for you to disobey God because you died and are dead to sin (cf. Rom 6:1-2). Paul’s claim seems doubly unintuitive. After all, I am very much alive, not dead. And so is the

What Can Eternally Secure Believers Lose? Their Physical Lives

July 2, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - consequences, Death, James, physical death, Sin, Thieme

What can believers lose by sinning? People wrongly charge Free Grace of holding to eternal security at the expense of ignoring the warning passages of Scripture. Not true. On the contrary, we acknowledge those warnings and take them seriously. But more importantly, we take them in context. For example, as James says, sin brings forth

Three Differences Between Jesus and the Grim Reaper

July 6, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, Grim Reaper

You’ve seen cartoons of the Grim Reaper, haven’t you? Artists depict his skeletal figure as clad in a black hooded cloak, carrying a scythe, waiting to reap his next victim (for the history of the figure see here). If you read the news, the Grim Reaper is all over the headlines. There are riots and

Fake Converse All-Stars and James 2:17

March 30, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, James

When I was in elementary school, Chuck Taylor’s Converse All-Stars were the shoes to wear. So I begged my mom for some, and to my surprise, she agreed. I couldn’t wait to get my own pair of the canvas high tops with the coveted star on the ankle. I would finally fit in! When Mom

Does “Dead” Always Mean “Unable”? (Luke 15:11-32)

February 7, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, Total depravity, total inability

One area of theology that needs to be rethought is the doctrine of total depravity, particularly the ability or inability of the unregenerate to respond in faith to God. Often, Calvinist and Lutheran theologians will appeal to the use of the word “dead” to prove that someone is unable to respond. After all, how can