Faith – Page 12 – Grace Evangelical Society

Missing the Boat on Faith

October 12, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Believe, charismatic, Faith, saving faith, Trust

Truth Aflame is a Charismatic and Evangelical systematic theology written by Larry Hart, who is professor of theology at Oral Roberts University. I have the first edition. There is a second available here. I was skimming through what he wrote about faith. Hart starts off well: “It is through faith alone—faith plus nothing—that we are

If Faith Is Intellectual Assent, Then What Is Believing in the Heart in Romans 10:9-10?

July 27, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Believing in the Heart, Faith, Heart Faith, Romans 10:9-10, saving faith

After a recent blog (see here) in which I argued that faith is simply intellectual assent (and in which I referred to a Grace in Focus Magazine article by me and Bill Fiess on trust), I received an excellent question via email. Here is part of the question: Romans 10:9, which contains the phrase “believe

Is Faith a Decision?

July 13, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - decisionism, Faith, saving faith

In a recent blog you can see here, entitled “Might a Fuzzy View of Faith Lead to a Lack of Assurance,” I suggested that faith is simply being persuaded or convinced that something is true. Saving faith is being convinced that the Lord Jesus was telling the truth when He said, “He who believes in

How the Will Can Influence Your Beliefs

July 12, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - decisionism, doxastic, epistemology, Faith, voluntarism

Free Grace is sometimes dismissed as a form of “decisionism.” That’s a mistake because faith is not a decision. Not everyone in Free Grace circles agrees with that. Some claim they can choose their beliefs. The idea that you can choose your beliefs is called doxastic voluntarism. There are “direct” and “indirect” versions of it.

Did Zane Hodges Believe That Saving Faith Is Intellectual Assent?

July 11, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Faith, Lordship Salvation, saving faith, Wayne Grudem, Zane Hodges

As I mentioned in an earlier blog (see here), Dave Anderson argues in the book A Defense of Free Grace Theology that Wayne Grudem’s view of saving faith is essentially that of nearly all Free Grace advocates. Anderson even goes so far as to suggest that Zane Hodges agreed with Grudem’s view. Zane Hodges was

Might a Fuzzy View of Faith Lead to a Lack of Assurance?

July 9, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, Faith, Lordship Salvation, saving faith, Wayne Grudem

Yesterday I received an email from a Free Grace Pastor who likes our writings. He indicated that he was concerned about some things he read in the book A Defense of Free Grace Theology, edited by Dr. Fred Chay, with contributions by Ken Wilson, Paul Tanner, Dave Anderson, Jody Dillow, and Chay. Here is what

The Toboggan-Rider, the To-Canada-Flyer, and the Snow-Vacationer

June 27, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - believing, Faith, saving faith

For the last year, I’ve been promising to take my kids to Canada. They want to see the snow. They saw some snow once—two years ago. A light sprinkling that quickly melted. But they want to see the real thing—the kind I grew up with. Two, three, four feet of it. Snow drifts so high

How Can We Activate Saving Faith?

June 12, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, evangelism, Faith, saving faith

Take a look at this moving email I just received: I have believed I was saved for a long time. But it was not until last year that I finally heard a proper presentation of the gospel of free grace. The evangelical world is crazy mixed up out there. I was brought to a Reformed

Is Ephesians 2:8-9 Talking about Everlasting Life?

May 22, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Ephesians 2:8-9, Everlasting Life, Faith, Salvation, Saving

In 2013 I was one of the authors of a four-views book on the role of works at the final judgment. In that book I suggested that Eph 2:8-9 says that everlasting life is by grace through faith and apart from works (Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment, Zondervan, pp.