Assured By Grace

Danny and Phil address a question that atheists use to challenge Christians, and Christians often struggle with. Theologians suggest that God sovereignly elects those who will be saved, and makes sure they hear and believe the gospel, or that God omnisciently knows who would believe if they heard the gospel, and saves them even if they don't believe in Jesus. But Scripture is clear: There is no way to gain eternal life but through faith in Jesus Christ. So...what about those who never hear the gospel? Does Scripture provide an answer? Yes! The grace of God provides the only biblical and satisfying answer, and provides hope to everyone in the world.

People who come out of legalistic religion to faith in Christ know from experience the freedom and assurance God’s saving grace provides. Today we highlight ex-Mormons who found grace, forgiveness of sin, and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Online resources:

Adam’s Road – https://www.adamsroadministry.com/

Ex-Mormon Christians United for Jesus – https://unveilingmormonism.com/about-us

In this episode Pastor Phil and Danny take a look at the spiritual hazards of neglecting and undermining a believer's assurance of salvation.  Can a Christian have assurance that they are indeed a Christian? Can a Christian know that they are part of God's family? These are basic questions that, when paired with Biblical truth, demand an affirmative response. As such, a believer's assurance should be confirmed and reaffirmed from the first time they are exposed to the gospel through discipleship. Yet sadly, theological views that demand "proof" of faith to validate "genuine" belief often side-step this topic of assurance during evangelism while awkwardly attempting to deliver a works-based tie-in on the back-end.

Danny and Phil discuss how knowing God's truth, and being assured by grace, helps us deal with inevitable difficult times in these last days.

As recent world events have reminded us, life isn't easy. Trials have a way of finding us, and when they do, questions often arise: Why did God let this happen? Does God really love me? Can I know it for sure? Theology makes a big difference in answering these questions, as we discover in this week's episode of Assured By Grace.

Biblical prophecies of the first coming of Jesus, which we focus on at Christmas, were fulfilled literally. But alongside those prophecies are other prophecies that point to a yet-future time, when Jesus will come in power and authority, defeat the forces of evil, and reing in a time of peace and righteousness. Just as Old Testament saints were assured by faith in the coming of the Messiah, so we too today can be assured by faith in the return of Christ in fulfillment of Bible prophecies. This is our blessed hope as we enter another new year.

The Christmas story is a story of hope, a wonderful reminder of how God humbled Himself as He came into this world to create a path of Salvation for all mankind. However, the Bible's story of Christmas didn't just start back at the beginning of the first century. Scripture throughout many books of the Old Testament predicted aspects of the birth of Christ centuries before He was born! In fact, many of these prophecies of Christ's first coming are comingled with prophecy of His Second Coming. Looking back at a few of those original hints of the Christmas story in an Old Testament book like Isaiah can help us all to see how God keeps his promises and serves to remind us that the rest of the story is yet to come! Merry Christmas!

Parables are often a minefield for Christians; some pastors and theologians interpret them in ways that undermine assurance of salvation. We discuss the parable of the Hidden Treasure, showing how John Piper's misguided interpretation destroys assurance of salvation, and providing two better interpretative options which fit the context of Matthew 13, and motivate believers in their Christian lives.

We all experience pain and suffering in this life. Many books and articles attempt to answer some basic form of the question, why do bad things happen to good people, though most of their answers fall flat as authors pitch platitudes to excuse God while clinging to a deterministic view of His sovereignty. Yet, is this really even the right question to be asking when facing such problems? Join Phil and Danny as they take a closer look at who is really to blame for suffering and where true comfort and assurance can be found in times of trouble.

Calvinism is a system of theology that destroys assurance of salvation. John Piper exemplifies the teaching of Calvinist theologians in his writing, and today we expose the flaws in that theology, and the despair and hopelessness it creates in the lives of believers.