This book is a defense of God's promise of salvation and reveals the core of the issues of the false teachings of Arminianism and Calvinism. The Bible teaches that God offers to every person complete eternal life, and that Jesus died for every person.\
Can an orthodox Christian, committed to the historic faith of the Church and the authority of the Bible, be a universalist? Is it possible to believe that salvation is found only by grace, through faith in Christ, and yet to maintain that in the end all people will be saved? Can one believe passionately in mission if one does not think that anyone will be lost forever? Could universalism be consistent with the teachings of the Bible? In The Evangelical Universalist the author argues that the answer is ‘yes!’ to all of these questions. Weaving together philosophical, theological, and biblical considerations, he seeks to show that being a committed universalist is consistent with the central teachings of the biblical texts and of historic Christian theology.
Are There Two Wills in God? Divine Election and God's Desire for All to Be Saved In this short, theological essay, John Piper builds a scriptural case that God's unconditional election unto salvation is compatible with God's genuine desire and offer for all to be saved. Helping us to make sense of this seemingly paradoxical relationship, Piper wisely holds both truths in tension as he explores the Bible's teaching on this challenging topic, graciously responds to those who disagree, and motivates us to passionately proclaim the free offer of the gospel to all people.
In Salvation and Sovereignty, Kenneth Keathley asks, “What shall a Christian do who is convinced of certain central tenets of Calvinism but not its corollaries?” He then writes, “I see salvation as a sovereign work of grace but suspect that the usual Calvinist understanding of sovereignty (that God is the cause of all things) is not sustained by the biblical witness as a whole.” Aiming to resolve this matter, the author argues that just three of Calvinism’s five TULIP points can be defended scripturally and instead builds on the ROSES acronym first presented by Timothy George (Radical depravity, Overcoming grace, Sovereign election, Eternal life, Singular redemption). In relation, Keathley looks at salvation and sovereignty through the lens of Molinism, a doctrine named after Luis Molina (1535-1600) that is based on a strong notion of God’s control and an equally firm affirmation of human freedom.
Within Protestant Christianity there has been a great debate going on for over 400 years between what is know as Calvinism and Arminianism. This disagreement has caused much division between many Christians and churches, with no end in sight. Furthermore, many in each camp refuse to concede the possibility that any point of their theology is wrong. Calvinism vs. Arminianism examines these two soteriological (study of salvation) systems in light of the Bible by using literal-grammatical methods of interpretation and scripture comparison. It rejects the notion that God's Word can contradict itself, thus cannot be understood by Christians at certain points. If you are wondering what each view teaches, or are confused by either one, this concise book will help answer your questions and clear up any confusion you might have. It may even help to bring about a greater unity amongst Christians, based on the Word of God.
This invaluable tool seriously discusses profound truths that apply to every facet of life. Biblical truth should be made applicable to the total personality. The "inescapable questions of life" are answered from the standard of God's authoritative Word.
What is the role of the will in believing the good news of the gospel? Why is there so much controversy over free will throughout church history? R. C. Sproul finds that Christians have often been influenced by pagan views of the human will that deny the effects of Adam's fall. In Willing to Believe, Sproul traces the free-will controversy from its formal beginning in the fifth century, with the writings of Augustine and Pelagius, to the present. Readers will gain understanding into the nuances separating the views of Protestants and Catholics, Calvinists and Arminians, and Reformed and Dispensationalists. This book, like Sproul's Faith Alone, is a major work on an essential evangelical tenet.