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Irresistible Grace
Does salvation depend upon God’s grace or upon man’s free will? Is it provided for all despite being accepted by only a few? Is grace supplied for everyone only to be rejected by most? Is God’s desire to save frustrated by men and women who want nothing to do with Him? These are important questions. Grasping such key matters helps to form our understanding of God’s sovereign rule in the world. They also teach us about the state of man as a consequence of sin, the plan of salvation and the worth and effectiveness of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Going astray in our understanding of grace has huge implications for the public preaching of the gospel as well as for personal comfort and…
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The Particularity Of John 3:16
Whenever the Bible doctrine of election is presented to those who reject the Bible’s teaching of God’s sovereignty in salvation you can be sure John chapter three and verse 16 will be trotted out in defence of their position. I have come to the conclusion that there are only two reasons for this. The first reason is genuine ignorance. For many, this verse is one of the few Bible verses they know, and they simply assume that knowing the words they also know its meaning. In their ignorance of many other passages of scripture that help provide a true understanding of John 3:16 they make an attribute of their ignorance and retire content to impugn the glory of God. The second reason is pride, or…
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Arminian In The Pulpit / Calvinist On Their Knees
Perhaps you have heard of those preachers who boast themselves to be Arminian in the pulpit and Calvinist on their knees. They make an attribute out of their ambiguous theology. Yet we fear that many who profess themselves to be free-offer Calvinists play precisely the same role as these double minded misfits without being quite so blunt. Our free-offer brethren employ all the language of free-will teachers. They build their pulpits on reformed confessions but employ them to preach sermons that are indistinguishable from those heard in most Arminian churches any day of the week. The beauty of the distinctive, free-grace message is marred by lobbying for responses. In their eager pursuit of additions to the church they blur the distinction between a Holy Spirit…
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“I Believe In Free Will” “Me, Too”
“That’s where we differ”, said my questioner, “I believe in freewill.” What do you mean by freewill? In one sense nothing can exist, or function, except God permits it, including man’s will. Man is not God, he is not free and self-existent. Man’s will is free only to the extent God allows. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). Yet, undoubtedly, God has allowed men a degree of freedom in their choices and decisions. He does not force us. Even the powerful, sovereign operations of God’s grace in conversion do not drive men to unwilling obedience. Rather, the elect of God, for whom salvation has been eternally purposed are…
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Ten Arguments Against Duty Faith
It is popular in modern evangelical circles to preach that it is the duty of all men to believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. This teaching spawns numerous errors and is so widespread that to question it results in faithful men having their characters and ministry blackened. However, every fashion has its day and we look forward to the time when our brothers and sisters in Christ turn their back on the mongrel gospel of duty faith and return once again to the true gospel of free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ. Here are ten arguments with which to rattle and pierce the empty barrel of duty faith. 1. Christ did not teach duty faith All who examine the Lord’s own ministry will…
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The Faith Of God’s Elect
Faith is precious. The Bible tells us so. Yet, not the bare existence of faith. In that sense, faith, in and of itself, is meaningless. I doubt there is a person on the face of this earth who does not claim to have faith in something or other, even if it is simply their own opinion. Similarly, the term ‘people of faith’ has become an all-purpose description to gather together every flavour of religion and all manner of weird and wonderful notions. Christians, Jews, Muslims and flat-earthers are part of the ‘faith community’ but they are not all going to heaven. The Bible says the just shall live by faith and the faith by which the just live is called by Paul the faith of…
