{"id":81,"date":"2007-10-15T09:37:58","date_gmt":"2007-10-15T16:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=81"},"modified":"2015-06-04T18:25:59","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T01:25:59","slug":"free-grace-alliance-conference-panel-discussion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/free-grace-alliance-conference-panel-discussion\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Grace Alliance Conference Panel Discussion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Free<\/p>\n

I am on a panel discussion tomorrow night at the National Conference of the Free Grace Alliance<\/a>. The panel discussion is related to the death and resurrection of Jesus, and whether a person needs to know and believe these historical facts in order to be born again. My invitation to this discussion is due to the so-called Crossless Gospel controversy. People accuse me of teaching a Crossless Gospel<\/a>, which is exceedingly strange, since I believe the cross is at the very center of the gospel. Without the cross, there is no Gospel.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here are some of the issues to be addressed in this Free Grace Alliance panel discussion.<\/p>\n

Is Belief in the Death and Resurrection Necessary?<\/h2>\n

I am presenting the view that while the death and resurrection of Jesus was necessary for justification to be possible, belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus is not what grants a person eternal life. A person simply needs to believe in Jesus for eternal life to be given it by God. I have written on this in the past<\/a>. Certainly, the death and resurrection of Jesus are central to the Gospel, but since there is so much Biblical information that is part of the Gospel, one does not have to believe the entire Gospel to be justified.<\/p>\n

There is a difference between the mechanism of justification (the death and resurrection of Jesus, along with a myriad of other things) and the message of eternal life (believe in Jesus for it). In other words,\u00a0there is a difference between the Gospel information, and the Gospel invitation.<\/p>\n

I agreed to be on this panel for three reasons.<\/p>\n

Clarity in Evangelism<\/h2>\n

First, I want people to be clear in evangelism. If we have a muddled evangelistic message, all we do is erect barriers which keep people from believing in Jesus for eternal life.\u00a0The death and resurrection of Jesus are definitely part of what we share in evangelism, but we tell them these things to convince and persuade them to believe in Jesus for eternal life, not because they get eternal life by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a nuance, but a very important one. After all, there are many who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, but don’t believe in Him for eternal life.<\/p>\n

Hear from the Horse’s Mouth<\/h2>\n

Second, I know there are a lot of people who are trying to understand the various positions on the Gospel, and there are many people accusing me of believing things I don’t believe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So I hope to let them hear my position from me rather than from those out there who don’t understand my position but continue to write pejorative and negative things about me. It’s always best when researching a matter to go to the source.<\/p>\n

To Understand the Other Views<\/h2>\n

Third, I see no logical or Biblical consistency in the view of those who are taking the opposing view. Clearly, they think their view is logical and Biblical or they wouldn’t hold it. I am not exactly trying to persuade them to my view, but I do want to try to understand their view. Toward that end, here are the questions I hope to have answered:<\/p>\n