eternal life – Grace Evangelical Society

Are Zacharias and Ladd in Hades Because They Had Sinful Addictions?

September 15, 2023 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - Assurance, eternal life, George Ladd, hypocrisy, Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias, a well-known American theologian, died in May of 2020. His worldwide ministry focused on apologetics, which involves defending the Christian faith. He was a much sought-after author and speaker in the Evangelical world. Millions of Evangelicals saw him as a valuable partner. That all changed soon after his death. It was disclosed that

Why Did Jesus Evangelize (John 5:39-40)?

June 20, 2023 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - eternal life, evangelism, Grace, Works

I’ve recently been involved in many discussions about the gospel of eternal life. Many people think that it’s not necessary to insist on the unbeliever’s understanding that Jesus offers eternal life to everybody who believes in Him for it. The unbeliever can be saved without knowing that. Instead, he can simply believe in Jesus regarding

Even if…

June 14, 2023 by Kathryn Wright in Blog - 2 Tim 2:13, Assurance, eternal life, evangelism, John 11:25-26

Introduction A friend recently asked me a question related to evangelism. How can we determine that someone has believed the saving message when we present the message of eternal life? In many cases when churches or missionaries give a gospel presentation, there is a desire to confirm that people were saved. Because of this desire,

“You Don’t Take Sin Seriously!” (Romans 3:8)

July 25, 2022 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - eternal life, Repentance, Sin, Works

A little while ago, I was teaching a class in a Bible institute in a foreign country. The students were young, between the ages of 18 and 20. As the class progressed, it was clear that they had some issues with the gospel of eternal life. I decided to stop the planned instruction and address

When Our Good Works Won’t Be Good Enough (Revelation 20:12)

June 24, 2022 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - eternal life, Security, Works

Recently, I visited the national park at Ft. Pulaski near Savannah, GA. I didn’t even know it existed until I drove by it. Much of the original fort is still there. The famous Robert E. Lee himself was involved in the fort’s initial plans. At the beginning of the Civil War, it was a stronghold

Solomon and Tolstoy on the Problem of Death and Eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

June 10, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Ecclesiastes, eternal life, existentialism, nihilism, Solomon, Tolstoy

King Solomon repeatedly pronounced that everything under the sun was vanity—it was meaningless. In an earlier blog, I said that Solomon’s argument could be put in the form of a syllogism: Premise 1: All labor is under the sun (Eccl 1:3). Premise 2: All under the sun is vanity (Eccl 1:14). Conclusion: Therefore, all labor

Is Salvation a Gift or a Bargain? An Illustration from Steven Hein

September 4, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, eternal life, gift, lutheran, Works

I like Steven Hein’s analogy for two ways of presenting salvation. He compares it to the difference between receiving a diamond as a gift vs. purchasing it yourself for a bargain: What is the difference between receiving the largest, most valuable diamond in the world as a free gift—and getting it for a penny? If

Eternal Life Is Christocentric

July 14, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Christ, christocentric, Christology, eternal life

Free Grace theology should be thoroughly Christocentric, not least of all because eternal life itself is entirely Christocentric. What I mean is, eternal life is centered around Jesus. By contrast, how many religions are man-centered, works-centered, Mary-centered, saints-centered, money-centered, or even cult-leader-centered? But eternal life is about Jesus. How so? You are called to believe

Is the Gospel Missing in John?

June 8, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - eternal life, Mid-Acts Dispensationalism, Paul

I was reading this article (“The Gospel Missing in John”) by a mid-Acts theologian about the saving message in John’s Gospel. Although I sympathize with emphasizing the “Jewishness” of the Gospels, and I’ve learned a great deal from mid-Acts and Acts 28 dispensationalists, I think the contrast between the Twelve and Paul is often overblown.

J. Dwight Pentecost on Eternal Security and the Promise of Life

June 28, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - eternal life, Eternal Security, J. Dwight Pentecost

Here is a great quote from J. Dwight Pentecost, writing in 1965, on why the promise of eternal life implies eternal security: The promise of God is a basis for our security. We go into a familiar passage such as John 3:16 where it is made so clear: “…God so loved the world, that he