Ronnie W. Rogers, “Taking every thought captive…”

“There is a God” is the title of an excellent new book by the internationally known former atheist, Antony Flew. The book chronicles his journey into and from atheism over his long and influential life. Years ago I remember Norman Geisler saying that Antony Flew was the most formidable debater for atheism.

Well, I have learned—actually been reminded of—some things from this former atheist, which I think are worth mentioning. (more…)

I affirm that Christ’s sacrifice paid the price for the sins of the world (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2, 4:14); further, not only is the Atonement of Christ unlimited in its value, but also in its provision; further, the benefit of His atonement is offered to everyone, not merely all people groups or nations, but rather individuals; therefore, the Holy Spirit is presently working to convict the world—all men (John 16:8,9) of sin whereby all men can believe and be saved as is God’s desire (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4). Hence, the Father desires that every individual repent and be saved, and therefore the Son, whose desire is one with the Father, died for all so that they could be saved according to the Father’s desire; consequently, the Holy Spirit, whose desire is one with the Father and the Son, convicts all of sin thereby allowing every person to have a real chance to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Moreover, the mandate to the church to go and take the gospel into the entire world is not merely to provide the means of salvation to a select few and a good faith offer to everyone else,¹ but rather a real offer that can either be accepted or rejected.

I disaffirm that God’s desire for everyone to experience eternal life, knowing that some will not trust Christ, in any way diminishes His sovereignty since He without constraint or coercion chose to grant man that opportunity; further, that people rejecting Christ’s death on the cross for them and His payment for their sin somehow makes Christ’s unused sacrifice wasted; it is not wasted since Christ’s death on the cross accomplished precisely what God desired, which is to provide every person, by mercy, an opportunity to be saved (2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 1:2, 4:14), and to save forever all who believe (John 3:16).

Next Topic: The Love of God

1. As mentioned elsewhere, Calvinists sometimes use this to explain how and why they can in good conscience present the gospel to everyone. In other words, since they do not know who can and cannot believe, it is a good faith offer. However, theirs is still a different message than I think is presented in the Scripture. The Calvinist cannot, if true to Calvinism, look into the eyes of an individual, any individual, and say God loves you and Christ died for you, and God wants you to be saved, and you can be saved, if you will only trust Christ, and you can by the grace of God trust Christ if you will. If one is unwilling to accept that reality, along with a belief in irresistible grace resulting in regeneration prior to faith, he cannot be a Calvinist. [↩]

Here is my article regarding God’s work of salvation and what I consider to be shortcomings of the teachings of Calvinism. (more…)

As a pastor, I am intimately concerned about what is included in preaching of the gospel. I realize that all Christians are concerned, and rightly so; but since I do this week in and week out it is of utmost importance to not only understand the gospel, but to articulate the gospel message in such a way that it clearly reflects what the Scripture teaches and what I believe. I offer this article to elucidate my understanding of the call to preach the gospel. This is my eighth article concerning issues related to salvation. (more…)