Tag Archives: Original Grace

GRACE IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES

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GRACE IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 3:40pm QUESTION: Did Adam and Eve, in spite of disobeying the divine law, enter heaven? ANSWER: Let’s take this question a step at a time. First, what heaven are we talking about here? There are at least four kinds mentioned in the Bible. One is the “heavens above,” into which astronauts have entered; but this is probably not the one the inquirer means. Another is the divine heaven, equivalent to the very transcendent essence of God; but no one can enter this “unapproachable light” (1 … Continue reading →

BAPTISM FOR SALVATION: ITS BIBLICAL BASIS

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BAPTISM FOR SALVATION: ITS BIBLICAL BASIS by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 9:16am QUESTION: Not long ago I had your course on “The Doctrine of Grace,” in which you discuss the issue of baptism. Personally, I accepted Christ as my Savior as an adult, but was not immersed until some years later. What was my spiritual status during that interim between my acceptance of Christ and my immersion? ANSWER: The subject of baptism comes up in several places in my course on grace, but in that course I do not attempt to “set forth the Biblical … Continue reading →

ARE BABIES BORN IN ORIGINAL SIN?

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ARE BABIES BORN IN ORIGINAL SIN? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, May 6, 2011 at 10:01am QUESTION: A friend of mine argues that babies are born in sin. She uses some specific Bible verses for this: Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:23, and Romans 5:12-19. She especially emphasizes Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned . . . .” Since it says “all,” she says it must include babies. Do these texts really teach that babies are born sinful? ANSWER: I have written quite a bit on this. For Romans 5:12-19, see my commentary on Romans, published by College Press. See also … Continue reading →

Books By Jack Cottrell

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BOOKS BY JACK COTTRELL by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 1:35pm Someone asked me recently to make a list of my available books. I thought some of you may be interested in the list, so I am publishing it here, mostly as written for another purpose. I, Jack Cottrell (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary), have taught theology at Cincinnati Christian University for 43 years. During this time I have written 20 books, 16 of which are still in print. The following is a list of these available books. The first seven are available from College Press Publishing … Continue reading →

ELECTION, CALVINISM, AND THE BIBLE, PART TWO

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ELECTION, CALVINISM, AND THE BIBLE, PART TWO by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 4:02pm In part one of this essay, I said that the Biblical language of election is used in several different senses or applied in several different ways. In that part, I explained the first four such ways: (1) the election of Jesus as the incarnate God the Redeemer; (2) the election of individuals to service, e.g., the patriarchs and the apostles; (3) the election of groups (especially Israel) to service; and (4) the election of groups as categories of individuals to whom God … Continue reading →

Salvation and “the Church of Christ”

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Salvation and “the Church of Christ” by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 10:12am QUESTION: Is it true that only members of the Church of Christ will be saved? ANSWER: The answer to this question depends on what is meant by “the Church of Christ.” To clarify what I mean, I will first distinguish between the “church universal” and local congregations. The church universal is the worldwide body of Christ, the total number of people who are under the saving blood of Jesus. Paul often uses the word “church” in this sense, especially in Ephesians 5:22-32. Here … Continue reading →

Describing God

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Describing God by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 2:09pm QUESTION: How would you describe God? ANSWER: I appreciate the questioner’s wanting me to “describe God,” but I must confess that a thorough answer to this question requires an answer that would be much too large for a brief piece like this. In the early 1980s I set out to answer this question by writing a book on “What the Bible Says About God.” Before I finished, I had three large volumes totaling 1,500 pages. Originally published by College Press, they are still available from Wipf and … Continue reading →

Baptism and Original Sin

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Baptism and Original Sin by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, September 3, 2010 at 2:29pm QUESTION: How does baptism relate to original sin? ANSWER: To answer this question we must first begin with the fact that the NT teaches that baptism is a salvation event. I.e., it teaches that baptism is the point of time when God bestows the double cure for the problem of sin. In that moment God takes away the GUILT of sin by uniting us with Jesus Christ’s atoning death. This is called “baptism for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). Also in that moment God … Continue reading →

“Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?” Questioning the Question.

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“Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?” Questioning the Question. by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, August 20, 2010 at 3:50pm “Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?” QUESTION: A brother has written expressing his dismay upon discovering that his church’s preacher and many of its elders do not see baptism as related to salvation, appealing, e.g., to the thief on the cross and to the hypothetical new believer lost in the desert. One elder is quoted as saying, “You will never get me to believe you have to be baptized to get to heaven.” Another elder cited a quote from Hicks and Taylor’s … Continue reading →

“Religion” vs. a Relationship with God

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“Religion” vs. a Relationship with God by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 11:21am QUESTION: What do you think of this statement? – “Religion is a worthless, man-made idea; but having a relationship with God means discovering the satisfaction in Him to be so great that it grants you the WILLINGNESS to turn away from sin.” ANSWER: Whether this statement is valid or not depends first of all on how you are defining “religion.” In its most generic definition, religion IS one’s relationship with whatever is considered to be deity. If this is the starting point, then … Continue reading →