What’s the difference between common grace and prevenient grace? Are these concepts compatible or contradictory? In this audio, we explore how God’s grace works in Wesleyan and Reformed theology, unpacking the meaning of prevenient grace…
O’Reilly. Matt
Matt O’Reilly, Romans 9-11 Are the Reason I’m Arminian
Romans 9-11 are often seen as Calvinism’s silver bullet. It is assumed that these chapters by the apostle Paul make Arminian theology untenable and that Arminians have to explain away their plain meaning. Well, nothing…
Video: Bible Scholar: Romans 9-11 Does NOT Teach Calvinism
The video below may also be accessed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/dU_TUTBxxM4. From the video’s YouTube page: Did John Calvin misread Paul in Romans 9–11? In this interview with Dr. Jason Staples, we explore how Paul’s…
Matt O’Reilly, “Why Crazy Love is Almost Wesleyan (but not quite) #FrancisChan”
It’s been more than ten years since I first read Francis Chan’s Crazy Love, and there was much then that I appreciated about it. I’ve been reading it again and still find much to commend,…
Arminian Essentials: Prevenient Grace
Calvinists sometimes argue that prevenient grace is not grounded in scripture. In this video, Dr. Matt O’Reilly explains how prevenient grace is clearly seen in two 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 and Acts 2:37-38. Matt O’Reilly (PhD,…
SEA Member Matt O’Reilly publishes book on Paul and the Resurrected Body
SEA member Dr. Matt O’Reilly has recently published a new book titled Paul and the Resurrected Body: Social Identity and Ethical Practice (SBL Press). Praise for Paul and the Resurrected Body: In this work, Matt O’Reilly offers a…
Common Grace and Prevenient Grace: What’s the Difference?
Many people think “common grace” and “prevenient grace” are two ways of talking about the same idea. In this video, SEA member Matt O’Reilly explains the crucial difference between the two and why the Arminian…
SEA Member Matt O’Reilly Publishes Book on The Letters to the Thessalonians
SEA member Matt O’Reilly has a new new book titled The Letters to the Thessalonians. It’s part of the OneBook: Daily-Weekly series from Seedbed Publishing. This short volume is designed for small-group studies and is…
Matt O’Reilly, “Falling Away or Cut Off? Romans and the Question of Apostasy”
Please click the link to view the page: Falling Away or Cut Off? Romans and the Question of Apostasy
Matt O’Reilly, “Why Calvinism Gets Romans 9 Wrong (Election and Mission)”
In this video, Dr. Matt O’Reilly explains why the Calvinist view of election fails to capture what the Bible says about God’s purposes in choosing a people for himself.
Matt O’Reilly, “Can Christians Lose Their Salvation (Arminianism vs. Calvinism) | Romans 9-11” (5+1/2 Minute Video)
New YouTube Channel from Dr. Matt O’Reilly
SEA member, Dr. Matt O’Reilly, has launched a new YouTube Channel called Orthodoxy for Everyone. The channel features short videos that address questions related to scripture, theology, important books, and church leadership. O’Reilly is also…
Matt O’Reilly, “Common Grace vs. Prevenient Grace: What’s the Difference?”
The question was put to me over lunch earlier this week and not for the first time. So I thought it worthwhile to post here a few reflections on the difference between the Reformed doctrine…
Matt O’Reilly, Entire Sanctification in the Early Church
[Please note that SEA does not necessarily endorse Wesley’s doctrine of Entire Sanctification, but it is a position that SEA members can hold.] I’ve often heard that John Wesley’s emphasis on Entire Sanctification (or Christian Perfection)…
Why the Resurrection Matters (Resurrection is Everything)
By Matt O’Reilly “Why celebrate Easter?” That’s an honest question that was put to me recently by a man who is deeply interested in religion, though intentionally not part of any orthodox Christian tradition. His…
Practicing Freedom: A Lenten Reflection
this post was written by SEA member, Rev Matt O’Reilly Everyone needs to be set free. The idea that we come into the world with a will entirely at liberty to choose one path or…
The Question of Perseverance in Philippians 1:6
Arminians are not of one mind with regard to the doctrine of perseverance. Some Arminians see perseverance as a gift which God gives to those who respond to the gospel in faith. These Arminians believe…
To Bless the Nations: Election in Biblical and Missional Perspective
The rapid increase of those who identify as “young, restless, and Reformed” is bringing fresh attention to the doctrine of election, which is one of the definitive issues that marks the sides in the ongoing…
Three Things this Methodist Learned from Calvinists
by Matt O’Reilly C. S. Lewis once cautioned against the blindness inherent in every age. Like others in our day, he warned, we are “specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make…
Eternally secure, provided that…
The debate over eternal security among various stripes of evangelicals is unlikely to go away any time soon. Some assert that upon conversion believers are guaranteed their salvation cannot be lost. Others disagree by claiming…
