The "Lord, Lord" Crowd (Matthew 7:21-23)

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23)

Exercises in Right Division (Romans 10:9)

STATEMENT ONE:  Of the natural (unregenerate) man Paul said, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:” (Romans 3:12-14)

TGC Article Examined

I recently came across an article entitled Jesus, Friend of Sinners: But How? by Kevin DeYoung at the The Gospel Coalition (TGC) Website.  The article sets out to correct the popular false notion that the phrase "Jesus is a friend of sinners" means that "Jesus loved a good party." Given that such ludicrous notions are frequently promoted within Christendom today, we believe that brother DeYoung's intent in this respect is both noble and necessary. But as is so often case among NeoEvangelicals, in his efforts to address this error, DeYoung ends up staking out a position that is contrary to the precepts of salvation by sovereign grace. Consider these statements from the article:

Tim Conway's NeoCalvinism Examined

NeoCalvinism is an increasingly popular form of Christian irrationalism in the evangelical marketplace today. This theology has been promoted by the likes of John MacArthur, John Piper, Paul Washer, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, along with a host of others with whom they are loosely affiliated. We believe that NeoCalvinism is particularly dangerous because it teaches that a correct understanding of doctrine is only achieved when one embraces contradictory precepts, and that though the matter cannot be logically reconciled, it is, none-the-less, the rightly divided truth of scripture. On this point we want to be very, very clear: We are certain that this ludicrous claim of NeoCalvinism is every bit as devastating to our ability to reason from the scriptures as is the claim that the scriptures are not inspired. For the purpose of this blog, we will define NeoCalvinism as any theology that attempts to embrace the following three precepts:

Reflections on How to be Born Again by Billy Graham

Subtitle:  How does man perform a monergistic act of God?

It may be that there is no man in the 20th century more well-known, influential, and respected in all of Christendom than the Reverend Billy Graham.  I can recall a time years ago when I made a statement among a group of fellow believers in opposition to the teachings of Billy Graham and was confronted by a combination of horror and astonishment.  From the looks on some of their faces, one might have well concluded that I had just uttered the most blasphemous phrase ever to take flight from human lips, something on the order of, "This here picante sauce is made in New York City!"

The Second Galatian Confession of Faith

Think your appeal to an Old Baptist confession carries any weight? Think again.

There has been a lot of ink spilled on the issue of confessions in the Baptist church in recent years, from a variety of different perspectives. There are those who appeal to the Second London Confession of 1689, others who look to the Fulton Confession of 1900, while still others point to a variety of other historic Baptist confessions such as the Midland Confession of 1655 or the Goat Yard Declaration of 1729. Stepping back to take in the vast landscape of confessions that have been written among Baptists, and the subsequent discussions of their relative merits, it occurs to me that one confession is conspicuously absent - The Second Galatian Confession of Faith (SGC). This oversight is particularly alarming when one considers that the provisions of this confession are explicitly spelled-out in the book of Galatians by the apostle Paul under divine inspiration. A closer look at the Second Galatian Confession of Faith yields two indisputable observations that must govern our attitude regarding all such creeds and confessions:

The Error of Prevenient Grace

Prevenient grace is the theological equivalent of affirming total depravity
while crossing your fingers.

Recently I was directed to this quote from Arminian apologist Roger Olson: