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GraceNotes
GraceNotes is a concise quarterly Bible study on the important issues related to
salvation by grace and living by grace. They are designed for downloading (*pdf available)
and copying so they can be used in ministry. No permission is required if they are
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Topic: Tough Passages
What does it mean to fall from grace, especially as that phrase is used in Galatians 5:4? The interpretation of that verse has important implications for the Christian.
Many find Hebrews a difficult book to interpret. Perhaps the greatest difficulty is in interpreting the five warning passages.
Mark 9:43-50 is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament. On the surface, it looks like Jesus is teaching that a believer should cut off his or her hand/foot/eye so that he or she will not sin. What is Jesus saying?
What then do the three references to fire in the warning judgments (6:8; 10:27; 12:31) mean to believers?
This well-known verse is often used when presenting the gospel to show that unsaved sinners will pay for their sin with eternal separation from God (death), and that they can escape that fate through the gift of eternal life that Jesus Christ provides. Is that how this verse should be interpreted and applied?
Interpreting 1 John is troublesome to some because of statements that appear to be tests or conditions. The prevailing view among commentators is that the purpose of these tests is to determine if someone is saved eternally or not.
This passage is often used to argue against the doctrine of eternal security.
Some argue from this that willful or continual sin cannot be forgiven and salvation can be lost, or that those in view of judgment were never really saved to begin with.
Some Christians use this verse to argue that the faith that saves must be proved by works or it is not genuine.
According to a common interpretation, bad behavior proves a person is not saved; good behavior proves a person is saved. Is that what this passage teaches?
Does this passage teach, as some claim, that a person must be totally surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in order to be saved?
It is not uncommon to see this verse used to encourage professing Christians to examine themselves to see if they are genuinely saved.
What do the branches represent in John 15:6 and what is their fate?
The parable of the soils is found in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matt. 13:18-23; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15). Our focus will be on Luke's account. In Luke especially, Jesus used this parable to explain the purpose of all parables and to illustrate how people respond to God's truth.
If John establishes the fact that Christians sin in chapter 1, how can he say later that Christians do not sin? An incorrect interpretation of these verses has caused many Christians to doubt their salvation.
Is there any way a Christian can be 'of the devil,' or could that only refer to unsaved people?
This passage (See also Matt. 10:22; Mark 13:13; cf. Luke 21:19) is often used to argue that only those who continue in faith and good works to the end of their lives will receive salvation or prove they were saved.
Some use this passage to say that believers can lose their salvation. Others say that it shows that some who are considered believers prove to be false believers because they did not stick with the gospel. Neither of these views satisfies the details of the passage in its context.
When we look at the practical, theological, and biblical objections to this phrase, we may decide to use different language.
If we read 2 Peter chapter 2, it is clear that the false prophets and teachers in view are doomed to eternal condemnation. But what about those deceived by them?
Can an individual recently saved from an occultic background commit a serious sin? Or would that horrendous blunder prove he was never really saved?
Does this passage exhort professing believers to prove that they are true believers, or does it exhort true believers to demonstrate the faith they have? At stake in the first instance is eternal salvation; at stake in the second are eternal rewards. Careful observations answer this question.
In chapters 3 and 4 of Romans, The apostle Paul established beyond dispute that one is eternally justified before God only on the basis of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Why, then, does he say in chapter 10 that one must \confess the Lord Jesus\" for salvation?"
Most Bible commentators interpret this passage to say that these people at the Passover did not really believe in Jesus for salvation, therefore Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew the unbelieving condition of their hearts. Their faith was defective or insufficient for salvation because it was based only on the signs that Jesus performed and/or they believed only in His name, not His person.
This passage, especially verse 22, raises the questions, who is the apostle Paul addressing?, what does it mean to be \cut off\"?
About 2000 years ago, the apostle Paul (with his co-laborer Silas) answered a frightened prison guard's question, \Sirs
Many assume that \perfect\" (teleios) refers to total sinlessness
These three passages are similar in that they list sins and the consequence of those who commit them. The passages often confuse people. What kind of people do they describe, believers or unbelievers? What is the point of listing these sins for the original readers and for us today?
In the seven letters to the churches of Revelation chapters 2-3, the overcomers can be seen as either 1) all believers who are promised entrance into the kingdom, or 2) individual believers who overcome trials and are promised rewards in the kingdom and in eternity. The churches and their problems are obviously familiar and thus contemporary with the apostle John, the author, but the exhortations are relevant for all times.
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