Liberating you from bad ideas about God
Whenever I teach that eternal life is received by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, someone always quotes James 2:19 at me, that demons also believe. But if we study James 2:19 in context, we see that James is not refuting the gospel truth of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. This study shows what James truly meant in James 2:14-26.
There are Christian books and teachings out there which say that the Greek word pistis is best translated as faithfulness or allegiance. But is eternal life gained by allegiance to Jesus? No. This is a gospel of good works, which is no gospel at all. Indeed, I believe that there is not a single use of the Greek word pistis in the New Testament which is properly translated as faithfulness.
The Bob Dutko Show (noon – 4pm, Mon-Fri) is Detroit’s number one talk Christian radio show. He is heard on radio stations across the country, making him one of the most listened to Christian talk show hosts in the United States. Today he interviewed me about my book, What is Faith?
Some Christians say that they don’t need reasons or explanations for what they believe, because they have faith like a child or childlike faith. When they say this, they mean that they don’t ask questions about their beliefs, nor do they wonder if what they believe is true. Childlike faith is often described as a faith that does not doubt, question, or seek explanations; it just believes. But this is not childlike faith. So what is childlike faith?
Faith is not a gift from God. Every person is able to believe in Jesus for eternal life just as they are able to believe any other fact or piece of knowledge that is presented to them. Not even Ephesians 2:8 teaches that faith is a gift from God.
Many people get confused when Jesus talks about great faith and little faith in the gospels. This article shows the difference between great faith and little faith, and uses the faith of the Centurion in Matthew 8:10 as an example of great faith.
In an attempt to get people to not be afraid of questions and doubts, some suggest that faith includes doubt. I disagree. But how then do we keep our faith from collapsing like a house of cards? We do this by using a better illustration for faith, namely, an Excel Spreadsheet. This post explains the illustration and uses John 11 as an example of the Excel Spreadsheet of faith at work in the mind of Martha.
Have you ever heard the wheelbarrow tightrope walk over Niagara Falls as an illustration for faith? It is a terrible illustration, because it does not accurately portray what faith really is or how faith works. This post considers the illustration and defines faith from Scripture.
When James writes about dead faith in James 2:14-26, many people think he is referring to faith that does not exist. But this is not the message of James. What is dead faith? It is useless faith. It is faith that does exist, but is not accomplishing what God wants or desires for it.
We have very little control of anything in life. This brings great fear. So we try to control the fear by letting go of control. But this is simply another vain attempt to control. Just as we cannot control life, we cannot control control.
The only way out is to recognize that control is an illusion. We have no control. Life is a ride, and God is the builder of this ride, and Jesus is riding it with us, so we can just enjoy all the ups and downs of life.
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