As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“he demonstrates conclusively that the ancient church fathers—from Irenaeus to Augustine (and he could have gone further) believed in and taught substitutionary atonement. It is simply a myth that they taught the Christus Victor or ransom theories instead.” - Roger Olson
One of the primary ways the church advances the kingdom of God is through corporate prayer. And when God’s people gather at the throne of grace, they shouldn’t limit their prayers to the elect. They should pray for all people. Why? Because there’s a wideness in God’s mercy. While his special grace secures the repentance of some, his common grace solicits the repentance of many.1 Thus, there’s a real sense in which our heavenly Father desires, provides for, and pursues the salvation of all people.
“The next issue of The Master’s Seminary Journal just released. It’s on regeneration. I contributed this article…. This article inductively examines what key passages in the Gospel according to John say about election, regeneration, and faith” - Andy Naselli
Reposted from Rooted Thinking.
Everyone who seeks to make disciples in obedience to Jesus Christ faces the same difficulty:
We all try to discern whether or not those we lead to profess Jesus Christ have genuinely believed.
None of us wants to give an unbeliever false hope of salvation if they have not yet repented and placed their faith in Jesus. And so, we all face frustration.
“Is it possible that we have a generation of people who grew up in Christian homes and made a ‘decision’ that you’d have to be an idiot to say no to, but have never felt the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and the drawing (and keeping) power of the Father, the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?” - Olinger
“I’ve been a believer for 60 years now, and I’m still amazed every day at how much spiritual growth still lies ahead of me—at often I tell myself, ‘Dan, after all this time, you really ought to be better at this.’” - Olinger
No. 872. Delivered by C. H. Spurgeon on Sunday Morning, May 23rd, 1869 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”—Philippians 1:6
Video: “You don’t need to have had a dramatic conversion experience like the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. From his teaching series Assurance of Faith, Joel Beeke reminds us of the wonderful, “ordinary” way in which God brings His people to Christ.” - Ligonier
We’ve looked at the law and gospel in terms of “the big picture” and determined that they are interrelated and inseparable concepts (see Part 1). But is it ever appropriate to distinguish law from gospel? In other words, do the biblical writers ever contrast law with gospel? The answer is “Yes.” In fact, such a contrast is vital.
“…free grace theology eliminates the call to repentance over sin. It wrongly teaches that salvation by faith alone means that repentance is not part of the saving response to the gospel. Yet the Scriptures are clear that true saving faith is repentant faith.” - Matt Postiff
Discussion