Category Archives: Soteriology

Discipleship in the Wilderness

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Helping Our Fellow Believers Live Out the Pursuits of Psalm 63 In the July/August issue of The Baptist Bulletin, Dr. Jeff Newman, professor of Biblical Counseling at Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary, wrote an article titled “Dependence in the Wilderness.” In that article, available here, Dr. Newman explored Psalm 63 and its implications for growth during difficult circumstances. This Faith Pulpitarticle builds upon his previous work by applying the Biblical concepts to discipleship ministries. For a more thorough study of these concepts, you may purchase his most recent book, Dependence in the Wilderness (Regular Baptist Press, 2015).

Further Thoughts on Eternal Security

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It has been twenty-four years since the topic of eternal security was last addressed in the Faith Pulpit. In the February 1992 issue Dr. Myron Houghton presented the four major views on security and then explained how Romans 8:28–30 supports eternal security. In this issue Dr. Alan Cole, professor of Bible and theology at Faith Baptist Bible College, extends the discussion by presenting additional evidence to support the view that genuine believers cannot lose their salvation. I appreciate the article Dr.

The Importance of Justification

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“How is a person justified before God?” That was the question that ignited the Reformation. Beyond that foundational question, theologians have debated additional questions, such as “What is the importance of justification in relation to the other benefits of salvation?” and “Where does justification fit logically in relation to saving faith?” In this article Dr. Myron Houghton, senior professor and chair of the Systematic Theology Department at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary, guides us in an in-depth consideration of these significant questions.

Discipleship in the Details

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Counseling has become an important part of church ministry today. As with many elements of ministry, counseling has taken various forms. Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary is committed to a thoroughly Biblical approach to counseling. In this issue of the Faith Pulpit, Dr. Jeff Newman, professor of counseling at Faith, lays out a Biblical approach to counseling. This article positions Faith in the counseling spectrum and serves as a paradigm for your personal counseling ministry. The mission of Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary is to train called servants of God to minister the Word of God effectively in vocational Christian service.

A Critique of “Easy Believism”

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What constitutes saving faith? Is it intellectual assent or something more? These questions go right to the core of the gospel message. In this issue of the Faith Pulpit, Dr. Myron Houghton of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary speaks to this important matter with careful Biblical thinking. “Easy believism,” as I am using this term, refers to a position held by those who define saving faith purely as intellectual agreement with the statement, “Jesus is the Son of God, and He promises eternal life to all who believe in Him.”

Salvation Only in Christ

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Introduction Is there salvation any way apart from Christ? Does the Bible anywhere indicate that if people are sincere in their worship, they will be saved, regardless of whom or what they worship? A similar question is, “Does God work redemptively in other religions to bring men to Christ?” The Word of God indicates that the answer to the above questions is an unequivocal “no.” Historically, those who have argued for an affirmative answer to these questions have been classified as theological liberals who espoused some form of universalism or religious pluralism.

Carnality and the Believer

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Reformed theologians have consistently taught that there are only two kinds of people in the world the saved or unsaved or, to use their terminology, the “spiritual” and the “natural.” They hold dogmatically that believers are always classified as “spiritual” in the New Testament. They do admit that believers can be “carnal” in some aspects of their lives, but deny that there can be a state of “carnality” for a believer. Lately this view has been adopted by some within dispensationalism.

What Happened to Keswick?

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Years ago a few Fundamentalists had occasion to identify with the Keswick movement, also known as the “deeper life,” or “victorious life.” Others have slurred the movement in somewhat the same way that New Evangelicals have slurred the Scofield Reference Bible. The point is worth some notice. While the movement traces back to the perfectionist movements that in the 1860s produced Holiness, it went in a somewhat different direction. Credit seems to go to William Boardman, who in the 1860s was preaching a higher life, and to Pearsall Smith and his wife Hannah Whitehall Smith.

The Destiny of Those Who Die in Infancy

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Introduction In this paper an attempt will be made to show what the Bible teaches about the destiny of those who die in infancy. In order to accomplish this purpose, the major views on this subject will be presented followed by an examination of the biblical material. The Major Views Infants who die in infancy unbaptized do not go to heaven: In Roman Catholic theology there is no official dogma on the destiny of dead unbaptized infants. Nevertheless, the weight of tradition teaches that they go to a place called limbo, which is neither heaven nor hell, a place of natural happiness but without full communion with God.

Those For Whom Christ Died: Some Reflections

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Introduction The Statement of Belief of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary affirms the following truth concerning Jesus Christ: “We believe that Jesus Christ…gave Himself as a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all men” (page 6, 1995–1997 catalog). The Issues Not all Christians agree with the above statement. One Reformed theologian states, ”God, existing in eternity outside of and anterior to all time, decreed to send the Second Person of the Trinity into the world, at the appropriate moment, to save a chosen few.