This is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live” Amos 5:4 This passage comes at the end of an indignant tirade on behalf of God. Amos, up to this…
Scripture Index
Did Jesus Reveal the “Who” in “World” in John 3:14-16?
Did Jesus Reveal the “Who” in “World” in John 3:14-16?
There is a lot of debate between Arminians and Calvinists about the meaning of the word, “world” in the NT, as it relates to who Christ died for. Calvinists believe that it refers only to the elect among the various people groups in the world. Arminians, on the other hand, believe that it means what it says, that it literally refers to every individual in the world, from Adam to the very last person to be born.
This disagreement has continued for hundreds of years, but I believe we have before us a unifying passage of Scripture that settles the debate. I believe Jesus Himself reveals who He is referring to when He speaks of the world in John 3:16. Before He states the beloved promise in that verse, He takes us back to the Old Testament where He makes a comparison between an incident that took place there, to the cross He would die on:
Does Jesus Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in John 6:37-65?
John 6:37, 44, 65 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out…No one can come to Me unless the Father…
Does Paul Teach That the Gift of Salvation is Unconditionally Irrevocable in Romans 11:29?
Romans 6:23; 11:29 For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord….For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Many see…
Book Review: Abasciano on Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:10-18
This book follows “Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:1-9: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis” as Dr. Abasciano dives deeper into Romans 9 by examining 9:10-18. (link to Amazon) The work is organized,…
PREVENIENT GRACE: ENOUGH TO CONVINCE? A New Testament Theological Appraisal by Josh Ratliff
In this paper, originally presented at the Wesleyan Theological Society Conference, Josh Ratliff examines the doctrine of prevenient grace based on a New Testament theological method. He asks whether prevenient grace is salvifically sufficient or…
Does “Eternal Life” in Passages like John 3:16 Imply That Apostasy is Impossible?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Some emphasize the fact that eternal life…
Origins: What comes from God vs. what comes from man
Regarding origins…in other of whether something comes from God or from man, note what John Calvin said about the *origin* of Paul’s expression of emotion towards his fellow Jews at Romans 9:1-3: John Calvin comments:…
Does Paul Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in Romans 8:35-39?
Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For you sake we face death…
Brian Abasciano’s Response to a Review of His Book on Romans 9:10-18
Brian Abasciano’s response to a review of his book on Romans 9:10-18
by Roger E. Olson, PhD
I don’t normally do this at my blog, but friend Brian Abasciano of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a leading evangelical Arminian, has written an important book on Romans 9-11 from an Arminian perspective. An early review appears to misrepresent some ideas of the book and Brian has asked me to post his response here. If you know someone who has read the review in question, please see that they read Brian’s response.
Here is the response:
Does Jesus Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in John 10:27-29?
Having examined the primary passages that teach apostasy we now examine the passages that the advocates of unconditional eternal security believe clearly support their doctrine: John 10:27-29 My sheep listen to my voice; I know…
Does 1 John 2:18-19 Support the Calvinist “Never Saved to Begin With” View of Apostasy?
1 John 2:18-19
Little children, it is the last hour and as you have heard that the Anti-Christ is coming, even now many anti-christs have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be manifest, that none of them were of us.
Does Ephesians 1:1-11 Support Calvinism?
The following is from Dr. Jack Cottrell. While he is neither a member of SEA or a self-declared Arminian, his thoughts on Ephesians 1 are very insightful.
QUESTION: Calvinists say that Ephesians 1:1-11 clearly establishes the absolute and all-inclusive sovereignty of God, including the unconditional predestination of the elect to salvation. How do you interpret this text?
ANSWER: A right understanding of Ephesians 1:1-11 begins with the recognition that God’s purpose for Israel was from the beginning limited to preparing for the coming of the Messiah, namely, for the incarnation of God the Logos as the human person Jesus of Nazareth. Once the Messiah came, it was God’s eternal purpose to merge all believing Israelites and all believing Gentiles into one new body called the church. This is the main point of the book of Ephesians, and it is the key to understanding the often misused passage in Ephesians 1:1-11.
Debunking the False Faith View of the Hebrews Warning Passages
Below are some comments I made long ago in my perseverance series against the idea that the writer of Hebrews is addressing his warnings of falling away to those whose faith is not genuine, or…
Focus on the Family’s John 3:16 video
In celebration of Good Friday and Easter, we felt it best to review a well known text from some young, insightful exegetes.
1 Corinthians 15 and the Claims of Calvinism
Calvinism as a system claims that God reprobated a large segment of mankind so that they can never be saved. [1] It further claims that the atonement is for this reason limited only to the…
Where Calvinism Gets Romans 9 Wrong: “Not of Works” Means “No Conditions”
10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that…
John F. Parkinson on Romans 9
This interpretation of Romans 9 is taken from (non-Calvinist) John F. Parkinson’s book The Faith of God’s Elect, pages 21 through 28.</p align=”justify”> _____________________________ “The individual Jew had come to believe mistakenly that, since he…
Ephesians 1 Chosen “In Him”
Introduction The central theme of the passage is that our blessings and salvation are in Christ Jesus. This is clear because the phrase “in Christ” (or equivalent expression) takes place a dozen times in verse…
Brian Abasciano, “Acts 27 and the Possibility of Apostasy”
By Brian Abasciano One of the strongest arguments that true believers in Christ can forsake faith in Christ and so perish is that Scripture warns believers against forsaking their faith and the accompanying consequence of…
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Roy Ingle, “Calvinism and the Atonement”
Why Does God Deny the Opportunity of Choice for or Against Him to Young Children Who Die and the Mentally Impaired?
Mark K. Olson, “Wesley’s ‘Warmed Heart’ at Aldersgate – What Really Happened?”
Adam Roe, “The Crucial Thread of Prevenient Grace: A Wesleyan Perspective on Divine Drawing”
