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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.
In chapters 3 and 4 of Romans, The apostle Paul established beyond dispute that one is eternally justified before God only on the basis of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Why, then, does he say in chapter 10 that one must "confess the Lord Jesus" for salvation?
There are some who claim the saving message of the gospel is 'Believe in Jesus as the guarantor of eternal life, which can never be lost.' In other words, a person must know, understand, and express agreement with the doctrine of eternal security ... but does a person have to affirm this in order to be saved, or is this an unwarranted addition to salvation by faith alone in Christ alone?
Does this passage exhort professing believers to prove that they are true believers, or does it exhort true believers to demonstrate the faith they have? At stake in the first instance is eternal salvation; at stake in the second are eternal rewards. Careful observations answer this question.
On October 31, 1517, A Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther publicly posted his objections to the doctrines of his church. Essentially, Luther had re-discovered the free grace of God obscured through the centuries by man's natural aversion to grace. Now, 500 years later, how is the Protestant church treating the gospel of grace?
Is there such a thing as carnal Christians, believers who persist in disobedience to God? Some say no. While conceding that Christians can and do sin, they deny that true believers will persist in sin until the end of their physical lives.
John 6:44 points to God's sovereign work that brings people to Jesus Christ, and from the context of John 6, they evidently believe in Him for eternal salvation. Some think this verse teaches that God draws people in such a way that they cannot resist. But would God force His salvation on people against their will? Is God's grace irresistible?
An incorrect understanding of justification can corrupt the gospel, undermine the foundation of the Christian life, and make assurance of salvation impossible.
Some people say the Free Grace view gives people false and damning assurance on the basis of their profession of faith. After all, they may not have believed with all their heart, turned from all their sins (in their of repentance), or done enough good works.
The doctrine of election always provokes a lively discussion among Christians who have a variety of ways to explain it.
The biblical record of Israel presents God's unrelenting grace that pursued the prodigal nation in the past and persists into the future.
*GraceNotes are designed for downloading and copying so they can be used in ministry.
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