One of the most common objections to Free Grace theology is this: "If you tell people that salvation is by faith apart from works, and the believer is eternally secure no matter how badly he behaves, that will give people a license to sin!" What's the alternative? According to these preachers, the best way to […]

Some family gatherings have a tradition of leaving an empty seat at the table to remember the loved ones who have died, gone missing, or been alienated. The empty chair is more than just a chair. It’s a reminder that tells us something. Your church probably has some empty pews and chairs on Sunday morning, […]

Inviting people to believe is relatively easy; calling them to repent is harder. Preaching repentance can be more challenging because there’s a popular caricature of heartless Christian preachers preaching hellfire and using other scare tactics to influence people to join their church. “Turn or burn!” is what repentance means in the popular imagination. You ignore […]

Reece (10 years old) asks: “If something can’t come from nothing, where did God come from?” Answer: Great question, Reece. That’s also an age-old question. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle asked it. And so have most of the great teachers in Christianity. Let me give you two different kinds of answers. First, there’s the answer […]

One of the most important questions you can ask and answer is, “How Can I Be Saved?” In other words, what will happen to you after you die? And what must you do to go to heaven? This digital tract explains the Biblical answer in simple language. Send your questions or comments to Shawn.

Lesa asks, “A friend of mine wanted me to ask this question about your recent post on Grace Basics and about the loss of the Kingdom rewards. It was referring to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Can you explain if the loss of inheritance in the kingdom is a loss of authority/position? And how is the correct […]

One of the mistakes that Free Grace people can make in discipleship is to lose sight of how eternal rewards are also a matter of grace. In one of the most crucial passages on rewards in the New Testament (i.e., 1 Cor 3:5-8), Paul has something to say about whether we really “earn” our rewards: […]

Do you know the basic Biblical distinction between eternal life and eternal rewards? If not, you should! Life and rewards are found throughout the New Testament, and it is one of the most important topics in Free Grace Theology. The following graphics will help you see the difference between the two. Send your questions or […]

The gospel is so very simple. The Son of God became a man, died on the cross for your sins, and rose again from the dead three days later so that He could offer us salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, totally apart from our works. Faith is merely the instrument through which we […]

If you’ve been following church news over the years, you’ll know the ongoing sexual revolution has fundamentally transformed the mainline Protestant denominations as their ultra-liberal leadership has pushed for ordaining gay and lesbian clergy and giving blessings and marriage rites to same-sex couples. But the radical views of the leadership have not always represented the […]

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5). “I don’t know what God wants me to do.” Simple. He is the vine, and you are a branch. He wants you to be a […]

Robby asks, “The only key to heaven is to follow the Ten Commandments: true or false?” The answer is false. The law could be a way into heaven, but only if you kept it perfectly. At least, that’s how I understand passages such as Rom 2:6-8, John 5:29, and Matt 7:21-23. Yes, there is a […]

Sarah Condon tells the story of her experience at a Southern Baptist Bible study: “Only once did I attend a Bible study in high school. It was hosted by the local (giant) Southern Baptist church and was the only option for socializing one could find on a Wednesday night in Mississippi. I don’t remember which […]

Do you remember how suspended animation was a staple of so many science-fiction plots? It was the idea that you could keep someone alive indefinitely if you just froze them. Whether it was Captain America frozen in ice; Charlton Heston crashing landing on the planet of the apes; Captain Kirk discovering a ship of frozen […]

Doing Free Grace ministry often feels like being a missionary to Christendom, telling people who profess to believe in Jesus about the way of salvation. If that’s how you feel, it may help to know you’re not alone. As I’m working through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, it is very much a missionary letter to […]

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5). To everyone who wants to be a good Christian—whether a Christian father, mother, preacher, disciple, neighbor, or servant—Jesus gives this message: “you can do nothing […]

For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God (Gal 2:19). I took my kids to see a life-sized replica of the Tabernacle that a traveling ministry takes around the country. They gave presentations about the typology of the outer court, the holy place, and the holiest of […]

The idea of having an evangelistic conversation might sound like bad news. You know you should be telling people about believing in Jesus for salvation. You have friends, family, and neighbors that you see every day who aren’t saved, and you would like them to be. You don’t want them to be separated from God […]

Whatever you're worried about right now, at this very moment, seems very reasonable. You feel that you should be worrying about it, and there are many reasons to justify focusing on it. It is very easy to reason yourself into a mindset of unbelief, where you not only fail to trust God with tomorrow but […]

I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship (Rom 12:1). Some people struggle with finding meaning in their work. If that’s you, have you heard of the difference between a vocation and an avocation? A vocation is “a person’s employment or main […]

Katie asked: “I heard a preacher (Paul Washer) put forth an idea that I’d never heard of before concerning the wrath of God and Jesus on the cross. He said that while Jesus was on the cross, the Father poured out His cup of wrath onto Him, and that’s how He paid for our sins. […]

There are two very different ways of looking at Church history. For some, it is a history of an institution that has remained faithful from the days of the apostles to today. For others, it is a history of the corruption of the apostolic churches, followed by a gradual and uneven recovery of truth by […]

I eat out more than I should. Fried chicken is my favorite. Hot dogs are a close second. I’ll eat French fries, but I prefer onion rings or fried pickles. I like the food but have low expectations for the service. At this point, there is a 50/50 chance of receiving a wrong order. There […]

My son noticed that the new Shazam movie was available, but he also knew to ask, “Are we allowed to see it? Is there…anything in it that’s…not OK?” He’s heard me say many times that there are shows, movies, and whole channels we will not watch as a family because they teach stupid, blasphemous, or […]

“The five-year plan is dead,” Kate Northrup writes. “With the pandemic and other uncertainties, many individuals are questioning what this means for career, and for those who plan years into the future, it can make them feel like they’re floundering. ‘How should you think about the future?’” Even secular society is feeling the uncertainty of […]

Are you so tired of living that you look forward to dying? According to this recent article, that’s how many senior citizens feel. Even though they are “not seriously ill,” they still feel “a yearning to end their lives.” Why? Here’s one example: Molly was 88 years old and in good health. She had outlived […]

What did James mean when he said that faith without works is dead? “This does not mean that true faith is dead until works bring it to life, as some seem to construe it. James is here writing of showing charity to the needy, and very truly declares that to believe without acting would be […]

What does it mean to trust someone? Would you agree that putting your faith in someone reflects your confidence in their ability to do the job? If you take your son to a pediatrician because he’s been suffering from terrible headaches, doesn’t that mean you think the doctor can do what you cannot do for […]

How do you show grace to your kids? How do you let it permeate all aspects of your family life and parenting? It’s one thing to preach grace in an obvious pastoral context. But how do you parent “in line with the truth of the gospel” (cf. Gal 2:14)? Daphne and Zane recently had a […]

Tucker Carlson recently said, “I should say at the outset, I’m an Episcopalian, so don’t take any theological advice from me because I don’t have any. I grew up in the shallowest faith tradition that’s ever been invented. It’s not even a Christian religion at this point, I say with shame.” That’s a sad evaluation […]