The #1 Way to Mishandle the Word of God
Perhaps one of the saddest trends in the church writ large is the misuse of Scripture to justify means apart from the intended truth of the text. Prosperity preachers often misuse the Scriptures to gain the financial support of their followers. “Emergent” preachers misconstrue the teachings of Jesus by boiling…
Does God Speak Through Sign Gifts Today?
Does God speak through the sign gifts today? By sign gifts, we mean any miraculous gifts used in the New Testament for the purpose of authenticating a person or message as originating from God (e.g. Acts 14:3). According to an increasing number of Christians, He does. The Charismatic Movement Tongues…
How Do I Become a Godly Man?
1 Peter 1:13-16, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But…
Christ’s Appearing for His Church, Part I
“…Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Positions Regarding the Appearing of Jesus Christ for his Church Our generation…
Praised, Yet Awful: A Review of Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace?
In my discussion earlier in this series of Paul's seminal statement, Ye are not under the law, but under grace I mentioned Philip Yancey's influential book, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" I alluded to the fact that it, along with a few other original works and a whole bunch of…
Continual Coming
“...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint..lest by her continual coming...” Luke 18:1, 5 First Thessalonians ends with a short series of short sentences, one of which is “Pray without ceasing.” What that does not mean is just as obvious as what that does mean. The Holy…
Not Under Law
Romans 6:14-15For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. We come now to one of the most critical and most critically misunderstood aspects…
An Atmosphere of Grace
In the last post we discussed Peter's wondrous turn of phrase: "growing in grace". I likened it to a plant that grows in the soil, and we discussed briefly being rooted in Christ and established in the faith. I want to return to Peter's primary thought today, and specifically to…
Grow in Grace
One of the best known of all the references to grace in the Bible is Peter's summary statement at the conclusion of his second epistle, But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. Certainly, this…
Say What? A Terrible “Bible” Argument
I recently came across an argument by a professing Christian who was attempting to refute a fundamentalist (i.e. someone who believes the Bible) with what amounts to a full frontal assault on sola scriptura. It is a weak assault, but an assault nonetheless. It goes like this: “Christ Himself is…