When 1 Peter 1:1, 2 is seen in concert with related biblical material, the doctrine of election is removed from the confusing fog of sectarian dogma. Please click on the link to view Wayne Jackson,…
Holy Spirit
Mark K. Olson: Famous Sermons of John Wesley 1: The Witness of the Spirit
It is estimated that John Wesley traveled around 250,000 miles and preached over 40,000 sermons in a span of 66 years. This series by Mark K. Olson, taken from his website Wesleyscholar.com, includes summaries and…
Daniel Steele, “The Work of the Holy Spirit Before the Day of Pentecost” (1897)
[This post first appeared at GospelEncounter.wordpress.com] I’ve written elsewhere that I see a strong parallel between the Holy Spirit’s work pre-Pentecost and His continuing, pre-regenerating work on unbelievers after Pentecost. For believers, we now also experience…
Mark K. Olson, “John Wesley’s Doctrine of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit: An Exegetical Study – Part Two”
Abstract: After looking at Wesley’s Journal, sermons, and NT commentary in Part One to discern his views on Spirit baptism. In Part Two, we survey Spirit baptism as the standard of spirituality and move on…
Brian Abasciano, “Answering Appeal to Hebrews 13:5 as a Prooftext for Once Saved Always Saved”
We recently received this inquiry concerning Hebrews 13:5 as a prooftext for “Once Saved Always Saved” or “Guaranteed/Inevitable Perseverance of the Saints”: The more I read/study the word for myself rather than relying on “what…
Mark K. Olson, “John Wesley’s Doctrine of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit: An Exegetical Study – Part One”
Abstract: In this two-part study John Wesley’s understanding of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is examined in detail. The phrase has been linked to a second, post-justification blessing in Holiness and Pentecostal theology. The…
Mark K. Olson, “John Wesley’s Doctrine of the Holy Spirit”
Abstract: This article outlines Wesley’s theology of the Holy Spirit. It is shown that Wesley’s pneumatology was trinitarian in structure and included soteriological, epistemological, and eschatological themes. These four emphases serve to structure this article.…
Rev. J.A. Paisley on How Prevenient Grace “Works” (1862)
[This post first appeared at GospelEncounter.wordpress.com] “His [the Holy Spirit’s] operations on souls are so various that it would be almost an endless task to describe how He at first arouses men to come and…
Richard Watson, “No Person Can Repent or Truly Believe Except Under the Influence of the Spirit of God” (1836)
Richard Watson, Institutes, vol. 2 (1836), p 447: It is allowed, and all Scriptural advocates of the universal redemption of mankind will join with the Calvinists in maintaining the doctrine, that every disposition and inclination to…
Richard Watson, “On the Power of the Gospel” (1836)
Rev. Richard Watson, “SERMON I. — Ezekiel’s Vision of the Dry Bones” (Preached in Albion Street Chapel, Leeds, at the formation of the Methodist Missionary Society for the Leeds District, October 6, 1813), in SERMONS AND…
Richard Watson, “To the Operation of This Divine Spirit, This Precious Gift of Christ, We Owe All Our Ability to Think & Speak & Act According to the Will of God” (pub. 1854)
Richard Watson, Institutes, vol. 2 (1836), p 447: It is allowed, and all Scriptural advocates of the universal redemption of mankind will join with the Calvinists in maintaining the doctrine, that every disposition and inclination to…
VIDEO: How Prevenient Grace “Works”
This YouTube video was published February 26, 2023: https://youtu.be/fsSUpqG-mCo From the Description: I share my thoughts and then quotes from a few Arminian authors to see what Arminians think the Holy Spirit is doing when we…
BT Roberts, “Restraint of the Holy Spirit” (pub. 1912)
From BT Roberts, in Pungent Truths (published 1912), a book compiled from the editorial paragraphs written while he was editor of The Free Methodist (HT: @RealBTRoberts, via Twitter): The wicked are not wholly destitute of the Spirit of…
Wilbur F. Tillett, “The Holy Spirit’s Preparation of Man for Salvation” (1902)
[This post first appeared at GospelEncounter.wordpress.com] “The Holy Spirit is the author of every movement of man’s soul toward salvation… The Spirit of grace, which is but another name for prevenient grace, “is the sole…
Daniel Steele, “Ordinarily the Spirit’s Power … Is Silent & Unseen, Giving a Penetrating Energy to the Speaker’s Words, Even When They Seem Powerless to Himself” (1897)
[This post first appeared at GospelEncounter.wordpress.com] Below is an excerpt from Daniel Steele’s 1897 book, The Gospel of the Comforter, which I first read a few months ago, but this part stuck with me. For myself, I…
William Burt Pope on blasphemy against the Holy Ghost: “it is the state of the heart hardened against Divine grace … and therefore of necessity hopeless” (1889)
[This post first appeared at GospelEncounter.wordpress.com] “… In the Gospels, it is the state of the heart hardened against Divine grace, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and therefore of necessity hopeless…” – William Burt Pope, Compendium Vol.…
A. J. Smith, “Counterfeit Conversions”
Few will dispute the fact that there is something seriously wrong with the methods employed by popular holiness evangelists and workers at the altar services. Popular evangelists have those who desire to be saved sign…
William Burt Pope, “Prevenient Grace” in A Compendium of Christian Theology, Vol. II (1877)
“This grace as the influence of the Spirit on the minds of men generally and of individual men before their personal acceptance is described in various ways. These may be classed as, first, referring to the…
Elmer Long, “How To Keep Filled”
Our Scripture lesson is found in Ephesians 5. I am reading only one sentence, but it goes through four verses. Beginning with 5:18, “And be ye not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be…
E. Norman Brush, “The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit”
The current idea abroad in many circles that the believer doesn’t have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit has led many to profess to be real Christians without His presence and to seek Him…