“I don’t know.” I was stunned. A couple of Mormon missionaries had swung by, so I had invited them in for cookies and a frank discussion. I had asked questions and we had some good back and forth, but they seemed hesitant to commit to things where they knew they didn’t have a good answer.…
Understanding Our Purpose in Salvation When we talk about salvation by grace alone, we’re echoing what the Bible itself emphasizes with tremendous force. Ephesians 2:8-10 contains some of the most important verses teaching this doctrine: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.…
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples the necessity of a godly or godlike love. The Jews were familiar with the Old Testament charge “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:17). But Jesus wanted to show that the true expectation of that commandment contemplated all people, even one’s enemies. In…
If it did, is Donald Trump the Anti-Christ? At first, this title just looks like click bait, but it’s a question that has flashed across the minds of many dispensationalist Christians in the last week. There are a few things we believe about biblical prophecy that do give us pause. The Daniel 9 Prophecy. According…
With this podcast we are getting into the September/October issue of FrontLine which had the theme, “Using Your Words: Glorifying God with Language.” This issue of the magazine is full of helpful articles and we will be talking to a few of our authors to give you a bit more than they had time for…
Probably with some sarcasm, King Agrippa once told Paul, “In a short time you persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Perhaps a question mark should be at the end of that verse, and maybe he had a wry smile of disbelief. Agrippa politely declined Christianity before Paul and the rest of the court.…
One of the truly incredible things about God is that His attributes never contradict one another. God is perfectly just and perfectly gracious. He is love and He is truth. He is holy and merciful. Now, we shouldn’t think of this as God balancing out two opposites, as if God can’t be too much truth…
I hate chess! I know that might be offensive to some of you, but I have never had the patience to sit indefinitely just to eventually lose. Now, taking 3 to 4 hours to run a marathon — that’s different! At least I’m making progress! And while I could compare parenting to running a marathon…
With the spread of the Reformation throughout Europe and the subsequent beginnings of Protestantism, came the birth of various denominations within Protestantism, along with their own Creeds and Confessions. From the teachings of Martin Luther came those who were called Lutherans, mostly in Germany (The Augsburg Confession of 1530). Conrad Grebel and Felix Mantz, former…
I sat across the table from a young man with whom I have been having Bible studies for about two months— I will call him Dave. He was not a believer but clearly interested in the gospel message. I did not need to cajole him to meet with me. We had been working through The…