The More Things Change...

For as long as I can remember, I've been hearing people in Christendom talk about how it's been "nearly 2,000 years since Jesus was crucified." And of course, that is true. But I mention it because in the minds of some, the fact that Jesus has tarried for nearly two millennia is proof positive that Jesus' return is not going to happen and that Christianity is a fraud. From them you hear echoes of Peter's critics who declared even in the first century that the Second Coming was a hoax because it had not taken place in the 30 years of so before Peter penned his second epistle (2 Peter 3:5ff). People's impatience can sometimes know no bounds!

Grace, Free Grace!

One of the issues that often come up when discussing the doctrines of grace with someone who does not believe them, is the misunderstanding that those on the free will camp have of its tenets. Although those of us who believe in what is commonly called "Calvinism" point out that nothing takes place by coincidence or because of man's autonomous, libertarian free will, we are continuously accused of being fatalists. And why? Because in the mind of the free will advocate, if whatever comes to pass has already been preordained by God, then whatever will be will be and we can just sit back and do nothing. Our actions, the thought goes, will make no difference in the final analysis, so why even try.