Apple Store
Google Play
Amazon
GraceNotes
GraceNotes is a concise quarterly Bible study on the important issues related to
salvation by grace and living by grace. They are designed for downloading (*pdf available)
and copying so they can be used in ministry. No permission is required if they are
distributed unedited at no charge. You can receive new GraceNotes by subscribing to
our free quarterly GraceLife newsletter.
Hypergrace, sometimes called the modern grace movement or radical grace, strongly emphasizes Jesus Christ’s finished work, grace, and the Epistles while minimalizing the Old Testament and the Gospels. Adherents claim they are restoring the true gospel of grace. But is this the case?
What is God’s desire for those saved by grace through faith in Christ? In the Gospels, it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ on the path to Christlikeness. But in the Epistles, where the words disciple and discipleship are not used, we find a different perspective on God’s desire for believers.
In the New Testament, we see that those who misused the law at the expense of grace drew Jesus’ and the Apostle Paul’s harshest criticisms. Legalism is an attitude antithetical to grace. Christians need to understand what legalism is, what forms it takes, and what consequences it brings so that they will not be ensnared by it.
Free Grace teaches that salvation is absolutely free. Those who simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, being convinced that He died on the cross for their sins and rose again, have eternal life. But this is a problem for some who derogatorily call this 'easy-believism.'
This passage is packed with language and theology that has generated various interpretations. These three verses are most easily understood within the flow of the preceding context of verses 8-27, which speaks of the restoration and return of creation to a glorious end with believers ruling with Christ over all creation, and the following context of verses 31-36 which assures believers that nothing can prevent them from realizing this destiny. Verses 28-30 explain how God’s eternal purpose for every believer guarantees their final destiny with the encouragement of verse 28 explained by verses 29-30. The entire context focuses on the divine side of salvation.
Dismissed. Neglected. Forgotten. These words can describe how many treat the doctrine of the Judgment Seat of Christ (JSOC) in the New Testament.
Of Jesus Christ's seven last sayings on the cross, "It is finished!" is surely the most profound. Understanding what Jesus meant with this saying can encourage believers, witness to unbelievers, and clear up bad theology about the gospel of salvation.
What does Roman Catholicism (RC) teach about how a person can be saved eternally? The RC view of salvation is derived from their beliefs about grace, justification, and the atonement, but are they biblical?
Does faith come from God to a person as a gift, does faith describe a meritorious work that comes from a person, or is faith a person's response to a truth or promise?
We are defining Calvinists as those committed to the theology of the five-point TULIP. ...Deterministic Calvinism raises some significant questions.
Can a person obtain eternal life by doing good or be justified by keeping the law? Yes, of course—that’s what these verses in Romans say—at least speaking theoretically. Some would argue that these verses teach how one can obtain eternal life or prove they are justified by continuing to do good or obeying the law. But how are these verses used in context and can a person be good enough to satisfy God’s perfect justice?
Some believe that salvation can be lost. Considering all that transpires in one's salvation, if it were possible to forfeit that salvation, here's what someone should be told to do.
There are two ways to view the rewards to the overcomers in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The recurring phrase “to him who overcomes” suggests Jesus is not making promises to every person in the church, but only to certain individuals. Though some rewards are a bit enigmatic, there is some biblical evidence that can help us interpret them.
In the seven letters to the churches of Revelation chapters 2-3, the overcomers can be seen as either 1) all believers who are promised entrance into the kingdom, or 2) individual believers who overcome trials and are promised rewards in the kingdom and in eternity. The churches and their problems are obviously familiar and thus contemporary with the apostle John, the author, but the exhortations are relevant for all times.
These three passages are similar in that they list sins and the consequence of those who commit them. The passages often confuse people. What kind of people do they describe, believers or unbelievers? What is the point of listing these sins for the original readers and for us today?
At the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, one of the two criminals who was crucified next to Him was eternally saved. What does his story teach about salvation?
Many assume that "perfect" (teleios) refers to total sinlessness, and worse, that achieving perfect sinlessness is required for eternal salvation. Most Christians believe it is impossible in this life to have sinless perfection. So what did Jesus mean? We will examine some different views then seek the best view supported by the context.
In Part 1 (GraceNotes no. 92) we cited historical sources on the meaning of repentance starting in the first century. We will see here that for two thousand years experts have overwhelmingly agreed that repentance is an inner change, a change of heart or mind. As with Part 1, the information below is selected from an article by Jonathan Perrault. You can find his article with more complete quotes and bibliology in the Grace Research Room at GraceLife.org or at the author's web site FreeGraceFreeSpeech.blogspot.com. The selections and sources below are abbreviated to save space.
The meaning of repentance is a contemporary controversy. When we examine a sampling of quotes from historical sources there is general agreement that repentance is essentially an inner change of mind or heart. The information below is selected from an article by Jonathan Perrault. You can find his article with more complete quotes and bibliology in the Grace Research Room at GraceLife.org or at the author's web site FreeGraceFreeSpeech.blogspot.com. The selections and sources below are abbreviated to save space.
The fullness of God's grace seems hard to grasp for some. Especially when it is taught in relation to salvation, some raise objections. In "GraceNotes no. 90: Answering Objections to Free Grace, Part 1," we discussed six common objections to the Free Grace view. Below we discuss six more.
*GraceNotes are designed for downloading and copying so they can be used in ministry.
No permission is required if they are distributed unedited at no charge.
If you do not have a pdf viewer you may click here
to download a free version.
