Grace Blogs

When we speak that there must be a necessary change when a person trusts in Christ there is often an undercurrent of distinction between the message of Jesus and the teaching of Paul. Advocates for looking toward Paul for the Gospel (and not the messages of Christ) will appeal to the sections of Scripture like Romans 3 and 4 because it is in these chapters we see the clearest picture of justification by faith alone. The reasoning goes something like this, “if there must be fruits of obedience to express a person truly being justified, then Paul would have most certainly included that teaching in these chapters.” At this point, a citation of a teacher(s) such as …

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There are those who would have you believe that trust in Christ is all that is needed when it comes to the foundational element in starting a relationship with God. Furthermore, if anything is added to this basic formula the Gospel message will become corrupted. Consider the following:

In the same way [as first-century legalism], the most telling modern assaults on the integrity of the Gospel do not deny the cruciality of faith in Christ. On the contrary, they insist on it. But to faith are added other conditions, or provisos, by which the essential nature of the Gospel is radically transformed. Often, in fact, a distinction is drawn between the kind of faith which saves and the kind which does

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There is only one reason to be a Christian: because it’s true. —Francis Schaeffer

Toward the end of the “Does God Exist?” teaching from April 20 (which was re-recorded and includes extra material we didn’t cover in church—call it the “director’s cut”), I offered the following “either/or” version of the Gospel:

Either God exists, or he doesn’t. The Gospel says he exists, so… Either we’re accountable to him for our lives, or we’re not. The Gospel says we’re accountable to God for our lives, so… Either we’re in trouble with God, or we’re not. The Gospel says we’re in trouble, so… Either God offers forgiveness, or he doesn’t. The Gospel says he offers forgiveness through faith in Jesus …

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Yesterday’s “God Question” about the existence of God was certainly jam-packed, and I have one huge regret when it comes to points that didn’t make it into the discussion:

You start with the Gospel. You follow up with apologetics.

Here’s what I mean: giving people reasons to believe in God is great, but believing in God is not the same as following Christ. James 2:19 says that “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

It is far better, then, to lead with the Gospel—that we are created by God and accountable to him; we have broken his laws and stand condemned; that God has made a way for our guilt to be paid for and our crimes forgiven through Jesus Christ; and

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In January/February edition of Humanist (1997) Richard Dawkins said:

Given the dangers of faith — and considering the accomplishments of reason and observation in the activity called science — I find it ironic that, whenever I lecture publicly, there always seems to be someone who comes forward and says, “Of course, your science is just a religion like ours. Fundamentally, science just comes down to faith, doesn’t it?” Well, science is not religion and it doesn’t just come down to faith. Although it has many of religion’s virtues, it has none of its vices. Science is based upon verifiable evidence.

One reason I receive the comment about science being a religion is because I believe in the fact

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Remember this exchange from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters?

Q: Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?

A: Ah, if there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.

It’s funny because, obviously, we don’t decide to believe things because of money. We believe things because we have good reasons to think that they are true.

I mean, if I told you I’d give you a million dollars if you would just believe that humans can fly, would that be enough to get you to believe it? You might say you believe it, but what if

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One of my favorite blogs, The Christian Mind, is written by a fellow named Keith Plummer. Keith and the youth pastor of his church got the idea to host a discussion group on Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion — at their public library:

I frequently consider what the contemporary analogues to the first century marketplace are. In what public venues are people willing to hear and discuss ideas of great consequence? I think bookstores and libraries are natural answers because, for the most part, those who frequent them care about ideas.

In a culture that has largely stopped thinking, it takes a sort of missionary spirit to “go where the ideas are” — just like Paul did in the

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Whoever spares the rod hates his son,    but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Proverbs 13:24

May I be blunt? Free passes are damning people to Hell.

My wife and I were just watching an episode of The Way of the Master. This is a great video series produced by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron that teaches you how to show others their need for a savior.

If you’ve seen any of these videos, you know the drill: Ray or Kirk will take somebody through a conversation that goes something like this:

Ray: Have you ever told a lie?

Man On The Street: Sure.

Ray: So what does that make you?

MOTS: Human.

Ray: Come on, if I told you a lie, what would

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