It is no secret that I hold to a doctrinal position that is called, “Free Grace,” which advocates for a gospel of salvation that is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Free Grace is often contrasted to systems that suppose faith alone in Christ alone to be insufficient. It can also be contrasted to those positions that say faith alone in Christ alone is unnecessary, but while my experience has been that most people under the umbrella of Christendom are on the “unnecessary” side the pendulum, Free Gracers are more comfortable engaging those on the “insufficient” side.
[Read More]
soteriology
Theologians Weigh In: Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus defines “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” as the attribution of Beelzebub to the work of the Holy Spirit when He healed a blind and mute demoniac to authenticate His offer of the kingdom to Israel. This passage is often misunderstood through soteriological rather than doxological lenses when teachers downplay or even reject the kingdom significance and instead hold to a soteriological reading of this vital passage. John Piper describes his soteriological view of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit from a Calvinistic New Covenant Theology perspective:[Read More]
The Biblical sustainability of the de jure interpretation of Col 1:13
Across the theological spectrum it is agreed that easy texts are to interpret the difficult texts. The challenge for the interpreter is to discern which passages are easy and which are difficult. Since the only other occurrence of “kingdom” in the book of Colossians occurs in the final greetings in chapter 4,1 the meaning of “kingdom” likely occurs in an easier text somewhere else. The Bible develops the idea of a literal kingdom, the “kingdom of God,” established on land from Genesis all the way through the New Testament, so one would anticipate that this is the same kingdom in Col 1:13. There is an alternative theory, however, that Paul here is speaking of a spiritual facet of the kingdom, rather than the Millennial Kingdom. This theory that there is a spiritual facet of the kingdom is not necessarily in conflict with postponement theology. Much of this dissertation has responded to external threats to dispensational theology, but since a Spiritual Facet of the kingdom can coincide with postponement theology, Col 1:13 will be treated with the spirit of unity as an in-house dispute. Some fine dispensational scholars, propose that this Spiritual Kingdom is God’s rule in the heart of the believer and that it is composed of all believers, and only believers, of all time.[Read More]
Pendulum of Grace
One way we can consider a doctrine is by comparing it with other doctrines that answer similar questions. In the above picture, I have drawn a pendulum with five views of salvation. In the middle is a view, which in the 80s-90s, was called, “Free Grace.” This is the view that I adhere to and it teaches that salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone. The further the pendulum swings to the left, the more the doctrines teach that faith is insufficient, that is, the more works are required on our part. The further the pendulum swings to the right, the more the doctrines teach that faith is unnecessary, that is, the more we are saved apart from faith in Christ.[Read More]
No, Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to repent to be born again
Jesus taught Sola Fide (by faith alone) salvation to Nicodemus. Jesus did not teach him Fide et Paenitentiae (by faith and repentance) salvation. There are folks who say things like:
Repentance is woven into the very fabric of the Gospel of John, though the word itself is never employed. In the account of Nicodemus, for example, repentance was clearly suggested in Jesus’ command to be “born again” (John 3:3-7). 1
Russian proponents of this theology rightly call the position, “Salvation through Lordship,” because it means that faith and repentance are necessary for eternal life. According to this view, the readers should read “repentance” into the text. When we push an idea like this into a text, we call it eisegesis (eis means “into” and egesis kinda means “lead or guide”). We want instead to practice exegesis (ex means “out of” or “from”), which is when we derive ideas from the text.
[Read More]
Question your Savior, not your salvation
People often wonder if they have lost their salvation or whether or not they even were saved in the first place. When we boil it down, they may not really be doubting their eternal destiny, but rather the source of their salvation, that is to say, they may be doubting their savior.
And that can actually be a good thing.[Read More]
You must be logged in to post a comment.