Ronnie W. Rogers
John Piper said, “The book of life represents God’s free and unconditional election. In the New Testament the book of life is synonymous with the list of those who are elect and predestined for eternal life.”[1] John Calvin said, “Those, therefore, whom God passes by he reprobates, and that for no other cause but because…
Christians can feel free to cry at a funeral. While we do rejoice that our loved ones who know Christ as Savior go to be with Jesus, death is still a sorrowful time. Jesus did weep at the death of Lazarus (John 11:35). We are not like those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), but as…
Short memories produce crass Christians. Christians need to guard against becoming so accustomed to being a Christian and being around Christians that they saunter down the path of harshness toward the lost. As though the difference in us and them originated in us. “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came…
Millard Erickson holds to a compatibilist view of moral freedom, as do virtually all Calvinists. Compatibilism is the perspective that determinism and moral freedom are compatible; hence, the name. To wit, man makes a free choice when he chooses according to his greatest desire; however, what is often overlooked is that the desire from which…
How does it happen? A path all to often followed over an extended period of time might look something like this. The nefarious process begins with a subtle loss of desire for holiness, then an equally slight emphasis on something else that is spiritual, which seems to balance the scales from the injustice of selectively…
This book has been unavailable for a few months as I went through the process of both updating it and changing publishers. It is now available from WestBow publisher. You may purchase it as WestBow, Amazon or Trinity Baptist Church among other internet book stores.
I just concluded a six-week series on John 12:27-50 entitled The Dynamic of the Gospel Encounter. This passage gives extraordinary insight into what actually transpires when the gospel is shared. In this series, I contrast the perspective of Calvinism and Extensivism. That is to say, does the passage teach that God unconditionally elected some to…
The call only Christ can make. Christ called the disciples with the words “follow me.” He called them to follow with no further instructions or illumination about where they were going, how they would make a living, or what they would be doing. This solemn unexplained call is based upon Jesus innate worthiness rather than…
Homosexual thoughts, inclinations, and acts are sin and must be confessed and forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ just like any other sin or sinner must be. Society is constantly pushing for the normalization of homosexuality, but the Christian must remain true to the Scripture. (for a fuller discussion of the topic, see my other…
The Scripture clearly teaches that while all sin is sin, some sins are more sinful than others. Matthew 12:30-32 speaks of the unpardonable sin, in contrast to every other sin which can be forgiven by faith in Christ; Matthew 23:23 speaks of the “weightier provisions of the law;” John 19:11 says that in comparison to…