Parallelisms of different sorts are used all throughout Scripture, but nobody used them better than the apostle Paul when he used them to explain what it is his evangel really means (meaning, what the outcome of the Good News he proclaimed is). The First Man: Adam = Condemnation [mortality and sinfulness] The Second Man: Christ… Continue reading How Paul used parallelisms to teach the salvation of all
Author: Drew Costen
There’s only one way we can be saved, right?
“There’s only one way to heaven,” the street preacher proclaimed adamantly. “If you don’t accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you can’t be saved! Repent and believe the Gospel before it’s too late, or else you’ll end up in hell for all eternity!” ”Are you absolutely certain about that?” I asked. “If I… Continue reading There’s only one way we can be saved, right?
Why I am a “Concordant” believer
Before I explain why I’m now a heretical “Concordant” believer (if you aren’t familiar with our beliefs, please visit this webpage), It’s important to know that I grew up as a conservative, evangelical, “born-again” Christian, and that I believed quite strongly in all of the traditional, “orthodox” ideas that nearly every evangelical Christian out there… Continue reading Why I am a “Concordant” believer
For some Christians, Jesus would only care about us if there’s a literal “hell”
It’s been a little while, but I saw the usual suspects again today (aka the Toronto street preachers I write about sometimes), and I got into a bit of a disagreement with them that I felt I should write about. You see, some of them were insisting that, “If there were no hell, Jesus wouldn’t… Continue reading For some Christians, Jesus would only care about us if there’s a literal “hell”
Why we don’t use “normal Christian” language
In an email discussion with a Christian, I was recently told, “In my opinion, you use very wooden and awkward language. ‘Well message,’ ‘terrestrial Jesus,’ among others. It’s hard to have a conversation when you don’t just speak normally (plus your wording sounds so wooden). The word ‘gospel’ means the same thing as ‘well message.’” Now,… Continue reading Why we don’t use “normal Christian” language
Congratulations on your salvation!
You did it! You made the right choice! The smart choice! The wise choice! The humble choice! The choice that ensured your salvation! So congratulations on your salvation! Now you get to go to heaven, unlike the majority of people out there, who are going to suffer in fire for eternity instead because they haven’t… Continue reading Congratulations on your salvation!
Everything necessary to be saved
“He’s already done everything necessary for you and me to be saved,” I heard a street preacher say once again today. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but it never ceases to be weird to hear “evangelists” say things they don’t believe. And it’s even weirder to know that they don’t realize… Continue reading Everything necessary to be saved
Are you preaching religion or are you proclaiming the Gospel?
“We’re not preaching religion,” the street preacher said. “Religion makes you self-righteous.” He was correct that religion can make you very self-righteous. When someone believes they’ve been saved because of their religion or because of some religious act or acts they’ve performed, it means they believe it was something inherent within themselves that was responsible… Continue reading Are you preaching religion or are you proclaiming the Gospel?
The “charismatic” spiritual gifts aren’t for the body of Christ today
[The links in the following paragraph, which is an edited excerpt from chapter 9 of my eBook, aren’t necessarily written by members of the body of Christ, but the writers do seem to have a somewhat decent understanding of what it means to “rightly divide the word of truth,” so I still recommend reading them.]… Continue reading The “charismatic” spiritual gifts aren’t for the body of Christ today
Simple proof that there is more than one Gospel in the Bible
Most Christians believe that there is only one “Gospel message” in the Bible (the word “Gospel,” or “Evangel,” literally just means “a proclamation of Good News,” or ”news which is good”), and that the Gospel which Paul taught to the nations is the same one Jesus and His disciples were preaching throughout His three-year ministry… Continue reading Simple proof that there is more than one Gospel in the Bible