Salvation
Thankful that God Outsmarted Satan
Category: General
Tags: Salvation, Satan, Thanksgiving, Warfare Worldview
Concerning the cross, Paul wrote that God’s intent was “that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places…
God Became What He is Not To Reveal What He Is
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, God, Salvation
Topics: Attributes and Character
We are saved because Jesus became the curse of the law for us (Gal. 3:13). So too, the way Christ freed us from the condemnation of sin and enabled us to “become the righteousness of…
Paul Was Not Writing about Personal Salvation: Romans 9, Part 2
Category: General
Tags: Covenant, Determinism, Election, Israel, Romans 9, Salvation
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Verse: Romans 9
In yesterday’s post, I summarized the deterministic interpretation of Romans 9 and offered the first argument against it. In this post I offer the second and third of six arguments that reveal that there is something…
What Does it Mean to be “Saved”?
Category: General
Tags: Forgiveness, Salvation, Satan, Sin
Topics: Christus Victor view of Atonement
The common legal-framework view of salvation encourages people to understand it as mere acquittal, but there is much more to it than that. First let’s consider what God saved us FROM. It’s certainly true that…
Are You Really Saved?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Already Not Yet, Bride of Christ, Covenant, Kingdom Living, Marriage, Salvation
Topics: Death and Salvation
When God came to rescue us through the Incarnation, the cross and the resurrection, he did a great deal more than merely provide a way for us to avoid the consequences of our sin. In…
9 Things That Are True of Us When We’re Saved
Category: General
Tags: Gifts, Identity in Christ, Jesus, New Humanity, Salvation
Topics: Following Jesus
Image by rAmmoRRison via Flickr The New Testament has many amazing things to say about who we are as believers because of what Christ has done for us. When the Lord saves us, he doesn’t just…
God Does Not Always Get What He Wants
Category: General
Tags: Choice, Free Will, God's Will, Love, Problem of Evil, Salvation
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will
One of the ways the Bible makes it clear that humans have free will and that God doesn’t predetermine human decisions is found in the responses God has toward human choices. Scripture consistently depicts God…
How Can Salvation by Grace Involve Free Will?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Free Will, Grace, Salvation, TULIP
Topics: Death and Salvation, Responding to Objections
How does salvation by grace work if people have free will? If salvation hinges on whether individuals choose to be saved or not, is salvation based on grace or works? If we have to choose…
Beyond Theoretical Salvation
Category: General
Tags: Christian Life, Confession, Faith, Kingdom Living, Present Perfect, Salvation
Profession of Christ’s lordship in our lives isn’t a magical formula. It’s more than a theory about how we can get saved if we confess the right doctrines. The confession has meaning only when it’s…
Is the Bible a Legal Textbook?
Category: General
Tags: Benefit of the Doubt, Bible, Fundamentalism, Salvation
Olga via Compfight Too much theology treats the Bible as if it were legal textbook. In the following except from Benefit of the Doubt, Greg addresses the problems when we approach theology and Scripture this way….
Believing Is Not Enough
Category: General
Tags: Belief, Present Perfect, Salvation
One of the core elements of evangelical church life is the conversion experience. From old-time revivals, to seeker-sensitive church services, to post-modern outreach strategies, evangelicals have placed a very high emphasis on the point of…
Arbitrary Election
Category: General
Tags: Calvinism, John Piper, Micah J Murray, Neo-Reformed Theology, Salvation, Unconditional Election
Micah J. Murray wrote a blog entitled Five Reasons I Reject Unconditional Election, which was a response to John Piper’s recent arguments for embracing unconditional election. If you’re looking for Scripture-based argumentation, you would do well…
Video Q&A: Do you think Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are saved?
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Belief, Eternity, Faith, Heaven, Humility, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus, Love of God, Mormonism, Q&A, Salvation, Video Q&A
Topics: Death and Salvation
Does Greg believe that everyone goes to Heaven regardless of their beliefs? Find out here.
A Question about Salvation
Category: Q&A
Tags: Hell, Salvation, Video Q&A
Topics: Death and Salvation
Greg answers a reader question regarding whether people who have never heard of Jesus are going to hell. Can we know who is and who is not saved?
Q&A: If Salvation Depends on our Free Choice, How are we Saved by Grace?
Category: General
Tags: Grace, Open Theism, Q&A, Responding to Calvinism, Salvation
As a companion to today’s testimony and the link to Greg’s thoughts on Romans 9, we thought it would be helpful to post this Q&A on salvation by grace within the Open View of the…
Baby Universalism and Reasonable Infanticide
Category: General
Tags: Afterlife, Problem of Evil, Salvation
Here’s a perfectly random brain stimulator: In contemporary western Christianity it is almost universally assumed that deceased babies automatically go to heaven. I call this the doctrine of “baby universalism” (similar to “canine universalism” =…
How can I feel secure in my salvation?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Q&A, Salvation, Security
Topics: Death and Salvation
Question: I constant worry about whether I’m saved or not. Do I lose my salvation every time I sin? How can I feel secure that I’m saved? Answer: It seems to me you’re framing your…
What happens to babies who die?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Afterlife, Q&A, Salvation
Topics: Death and Salvation, End Times
The Bible does not directly address the issue of what happens to babies who die before being able to make a decision for or against Christ. People have thus had to arrive at conclusions about…