Working Out Your Own Salvation

One of the central tenets of Protestant theology is the idea that salvation is given by grace alone and achieved through faith alone; it is impossible to earn it through good works. This is as good a paraphrase as there is of Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not...

Christmas and Easter Christians

You’ve probably heard about “Christmas and Easter Christians”—those Christians who only show up to church for the big, important services of Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday. Sometimes they are called (somewhat pejoratively if not self-righteously) “chreasters” or CEO Christians(Christmas/Easter Only). For...

Do We Really Trust Grace?

Grace is a funny thing.  We all want it, we all believe in it, but we have a hard time trusting it. You would think that the message that God has just chosen to forgive us would be good news, but a lot of people that I have talked to over the years have a hard time trusting it.  You can’t just go around...

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