The Mileses

Paul and Olena Miles with Grace Abroad Ministries

history

The Magic Elf Analogy

Roman Catholicism is a false religion. The gospel according to Roman Catholicism is not salvific. This is a point where most Christian Pluralists will disagree with Faith Alone in Christ Alone.

When we say “Faith Alone in Christ Alone,” we refer to the school of thought that a man is saved when he believes in Christ Alone for salvation, rather than believing in his own work, or, by extension, in some combination of Christ’s work and his own works. When we say, “Christian Pluralism,” we refer to the school of thought that a man does not need to believe in Christ for salvation, but can rely on his own works instead, so long as he has some belief about Jesus. There are various camps within both of these schools of thought, but that’s the issue in a nutshell (read a more thorough and boring article here or download a full book here).[Read More]

Modification to Zane Hodges’ Identity of “The Antichrist”

Today’s post is a fine-tuning of how we use the term, “the Antichrist.” No doctrinal issues are in jeopardy that I am aware of, but Zane Hodges proposed that the term, “the Antichrist,” refers to the coming false prophet of Revelation 13:11, not to the first beast of Revelation 13:1. Here is Zane’s argument from his commentary on 1 John:[Read More]

Harvard Yesterday and Today

A statue of Reverend John Harvard wearing a rainbow flower necklace.
Reverend Harvard, the namesake of Harvard University, was a teaching elder at the First Church in Charlestown.

Harvard University was established in 1636 to train Christian ministers. Here are two points from the Harvard “Rules and Precepts” from 1646 that express the original sentiment:
[Read More]

On Reconciliation, Soteriology, and All that Jazz (2 Cor. 5:18–20)

Jesus did some things for everybody and some things for believers only. It is important to understand this to maintain a consistent theology of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. If we confuse the work done for everyone with the benefits given to believers, then we could mistakenly think that faith alone in Christ alone is unnecessary. Likewise, if we confuse what Jesus did for believers and what Jesus expects from believers, then we could mistake faith alone in Christ alone as insufficient.[Read More]