A gracEmail subscriber asks what the Epistle of James means in saying that one is "justified by works and not by faith only," when the Apostle Paul clearly teaches that only by trusting in Jesus are we set right with God. * * * Some have suggested that James and Paul represent two opposing teachings in early Christianity, but I believe there is a better explanation than that. When we look closely at James, we see that he means something different from Paul by both "faith" and "justify." In the first century as now, some people claimed to have faith (2:14) when they really meant that they … [Read more...]

A gracEmail reader writes, "I see so many problems in the world and I am overwhelmed. I have turned my life around since I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I am showing more love for myself and others. Can I assume I am doing what God expects of me so long as it feels right in my heart of hearts?" * * * Good works are very important responses to God's goodness to us, even though they are not the basis of his kind favor (Titus 2:14). Our works show our repentance (Acts 26:20), evidence our faith (1 Thes. 1:3; James 2), and demonstrate our love (Heb. 6:10). God has made us part of his new … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber writes, "I have trouble keeping up the discipline to read my Bible and to pray daily. I struggle with this, and I always backslide. It makes me think I've never been saved. Sometimes I think that if I just got rebaptized things would get better, but I don't know if that would help. What can you recommend?" * * * Do you have a Bible translation in modern English? If not, I encourage you to purchase one. The New International Version is excellent for reading with understanding. Find a time when you are unrushed and undisturbed. Some people pray before others wake in the … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber asks whether his family does wrong by not attending church every Sunday night and Wednesday night, although they never miss Sunday morning worship. Both parents work full time, they are sometimes traveling, and they believe their family time together at home is as important as going to church meetings on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. * * * There is no command in the Bible for Christians to assemble any given number of times weekly, or even on any particular day. From the first century onward, however, most Gentile believers in Jesus have met each Sunday in honor of … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber writes: "If we are saved by being believers, what is the use in being baptized?" * * * We are not saved by being believers, we are saved by God's grace -- and we can only trust him for that (Eph. 3:24). We don't merit any of God's kindness. It is not a 50/50 proposition -- as if half were deserved and half were a gift -- or even 99/1. God's favor and forgiveness are totally undeserved, unmerited, unearned. We cannot rely one whit on our own ability to please God by our performance, our obedience, our efforts, our knowledge or even our good intentions. We can only trust … [Read more...]

I still remember the words of my friend Roger at the visitation after my father died 37 years ago. "I know what you are going through," this classmate from grades 1-12 said quietly. "I lost my daddy, too." A dozen words, ten with one syllable, none either fancy or profound. But they came from a heart informed by experience and inspired by God to speak. Isn't that often God's way? "He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times, so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us" … [Read more...]

James A. Harding, for whom Harding University is named, was a gospel preacher and educator whose life bridged the 19th and 20th centuries. His life was defined by unswerving personal trust in God -- on a daily basis, at the most practical level. We glimpse this faith in the following excerpt from a tribute by his student Robert Henry Boll, published in 1922 in Boll's journal, Word and Work. * * * "Others will tell more comprehensively the story of the life and work of this great man and greatly beloved who passed away on Sunday, May 28. There are yet those who . . . can write a full … [Read more...]

I recently traveled to Houston's medical center for a routine doctor's appointment. While driving, I often listen to recorded books. On this day I was engrossed in The Desire of the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill. Although unorthodox in his christology, Cahill summarizes the teaching of Jesus both passionately and with eloquence. At the moment he was discussing Jesus' judgment parable of the Sheep and the Goats. The charity that pleases Jesus, Cahill rightly expounded, is not only free-hearted and generous but joyful and spontaneous -- giving to the needy who in that instant stand in for … [Read more...]

Augustine was right when he argued against Pelagius that the path to God's forgiveness and favor lies in trusting Christ's achievements on our behalf and not in establishing a satisfactory record of obedience to God for ourselves. Luther and Calvin were correct in making the same point more than a millennium later. But many of their evangelical descendants, repeating religious words drained of original meaning, have lost both the sense and the experience of the full-bodied salvation which Scripture assures us is indeed "by grace through faith." Grace means that God gives us what we do not … [Read more...]

Obedience is not a popular topic today. As strange as it may sound, a great many people who call themselves followers and disciples of Jesus recoil at the suggestion that careful daily obedience either matters to God or ought to concern them. Yet according to Jesus himself, discipleship at its core involves listening to him and doing as he instructs. This is clearly seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew, which scholars believe was originally written as a manual or handbook for early disciple communities. (The vision of a community of disciples is also obscured today by the almost-exclusive use … [Read more...]