Category Archives: General

Faith and “the Working of God” in Col. 2:12

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION: As you have pointed out, Colossians 2:12 says that we are buried and raised with Christ (i.e., regenerated) IN baptism, and THROUGH faith. But the rest of the verse describes this faith as being tēs energeias tou theou. This is usually translated as faith “IN the working [or power] of God.” But there is no preposition “in” in the Greek text. In fact, the genitive case is used; and in the Greek language this case is usually translated with “of.” So, is not Paul actually saying that our faith is OF the working of God? Does the genitive case … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #1 — GRACE ISN’T FAIR, BUT THAT’S GOOD!

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

Almost everyone develops a “fairness mentality” to some degree. We are conditioned from childhood to respect and seek fairness, otherwise known as justice. We know what it means to deserve (or not deserve) something. Very early in life, kids learn to say, “That’s not fair!” Most of the world, including many groups and individuals within Christendom, try to apply the fairness mentality to salvation itself. The assumption is that only those who are “good enough” go to heaven. Long ago I saw the results of some random answers to the question, “What are your chances of going to heaven?” One … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #2 — SAVED BY GRACE, NOT BY LAW

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

Think of heaven (just for the purpose of this illustration) as a gigantic city enclosed by an impenetrable and unscalable wall. You can see this city from afar, and you desperately want to enter into it. Your life is a journey toward it. As you begin to get closer to this heavenly city, you can see that there are two gates that allow entry through the wall. Soon you can see that each gate has a large sign above it. Over one gate the sign says “LAW,” and over the other the sign says “GRACE.” And then you understand. Theoretically … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #3 — DOUBLE CURSE, DOUBLE CURE

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

The English word “grace” can be used in three ways. First, it can refer to the cause of salvation: it represents the aspect of God’s nature that causes him to love sinners and seek their salvation even though they do not deserve it. Second, “grace” can refer to the way of salvation: we are saved by the grace system (via the grace gate), as contrasted with the impotent law system (via the law gate). The third way we use the word “grace” is this: it refers to the content of salvation, which we receive as a gift in the moment … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #4 — SAVED BY GRACE, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

Romans 3:24-25 says, “We are all justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation—a sacrifice of atonement—through faith in his blood” (composite translation). The only way to be saved from sin is by grace, and the only source of grace is what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Here we are seeking to understand exactly what Jesus was doing on the cross to make salvation by grace possible. I. GRACE COMES BY JESUS CHRIST. The general or generic meaning of the Greek word for grace … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #5 — JUSTIFIED BY FAITH: THE KEY TO ASSURANCE

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

The immediate practical benefit of understanding that we are saved by grace is that we have assurance of salvation. Assurance is not the same as “once saved, always saved.” It is a confidence in our present security in Jesus Christ. Ask yourself the question, “If I were to die right now, or Jesus were to return right now, would I be saved?” Assurance is being able to say “YES!” to this question, and every Christian should be able to do this, because of grace. The problem is that many Christians do not have this assurance, because they do not understand … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #6 — GRACE VS. GALATIANISM

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

In lesson five I said that many Christians lack assurance of salvation because they do not understand how “justification by faith” relates to STAYING saved, once one has become a Christian. It is important to distinguish between these two questions: (1) How does a sinner BECOME saved? and (2) How does a Christian STAY saved? Many Christians, especially in the Restoration Movement, know how to answer the first question; but many are seriously confused about the second one. A common but faulty approach to this issue is often called Galatianism. It is called this because it is the false view … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #7 — JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, YET JUDGED BY WORKS?

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

We have stressed, as does Paul, that sinners are justified by faith, apart from works of law (Rom. 3:28; 5:1). But the fact is that many Biblical texts specifically say or at least imply that we will all somehow be JUDGED BY WORKS. See for example 2 Chron. 6:30; Job 34:11; Prov. 24:12; Eccl. 12:13-14; Jer. 32:19; Ezek. 33:20; Matt. 12:37; 25:31ff.; Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:13; Eph. 6:8; Col. 3:25; James 2:18-26; Rev. 2:23; 20:12-13. In addition to these, here are some I will quote: Psalm 62:12, “For You recompense a man according to his work.” Isa. … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #8 — SAVED BY GRACE, SAVED IN BAPTISM

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

We are now ready to explain how baptism and grace are related. First, I will state several basic principles to keep in mind when studying baptism. (A) Every doctrine, including baptism, is based on Scripture first, not on experience. (B) We cannot draw our conclusions about the meaning of baptism from non-Biblical sources, such as the Latin word sacramentum (which often meant “oath, pledge, covenant”). (C) Christian baptism began on the Day of Pentecost. Thus we must not try to base our understanding of it on pre-Pentecostal practices, such as OT circumcision or John’s baptism. (D) There is only ONE … Continue reading →

Saved by Grace #9 — IS BAPTISM A WORK?

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

Many in the Christian world will vehemently reject just about everything I said in the previous lesson (part 8, “Saved by Grace, Saved in Baptism”). This is because they view baptism as a work, and believe that this automatically prevents baptism from having anything to do with salvation, since salvation is by grace. In this lesson I will show why this is false thinking. Historically, for its first 1,500 years Christendom was nearly unanimous in its belief that water baptism is the moment of time when God initially bestows saving grace upon the sinner. This includes Martin Luther, who forcefully … Continue reading →