Author: Drew Costen

“For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” – Romans 11:32 Paul tells us that God locks all of us up in unbelief, meaning we fail to believe the Gospel because God made sure we would all start out as unbelievers. But why did He do this? Simply… Continue reading What is the one requirement for being shown mercy?

The Toronto street preachers I’ve written about somewhat frequently in recent times have given me a number of excellent examples of how so many Christians completely misunderstand what Scripture says about so many topics, and death is yet another topic that most of them miss the mark on. If you listen to a “gospel” sermon or presentation… Continue reading “Ye shall not surely die” — do you believe the lie?

I was listening to the Toronto street preachers again yesterday afternoon, and as usual their messages would often get dangerously close to the truth right before they’d once again swerve and miss the mark entirely when it comes to what Scripture actually teaches about heaven, hell, sin, and salvation, but there’s one assertion in particular that I… Continue reading Does God double-charge?

“So you’re saying I can be saved without having to do anything myself?” the bystander asked the street preacher. “There isn’t anything we have to contribute to our salvation? We don’t even have to choose to be baptized in water and we can still be saved?” “That’s right,” the street preacher replied. “As He died… Continue reading That’s just too easy

There are many good reasons to reject the commonly accepted Christian teaching known as Infernalism (the soteriological position that those who die without first becoming Christians will suffer without end in a place called the lake of fire), and over the years I’ve written about a number of them on this site, but one very… Continue reading Immortality and the second death

Most evangelical Christians claim that the salvation equation is: Jesus + nothing = everythingJesus + sinner’s contribution = nothing However, if you pay close attention to what they’re actually teaching, it becomes clear that what they actually believe is: Jesus + nothing = nothingJesus + sinner’s contribution = everything Now, the sinner’s contribution can be… Continue reading The salvation equation

“For as in poverty all the members of the family hunger, even so in inheritance shall all the members of the family be filled.” Even before I get to the scriptural reason I wrote the above statement, I trust you can see that these aren’t two options the family in question has to choose between.… Continue reading To be “in Christ,” or not to be “in Christ”? Is that the question?

There are quite a number of passages in Paul’s epistles making it clear that everyone will eventually experience salvation, but there’s one verse in particular that really stands out to me as definitive proof that everyone has been saved (from an absolute/ontological perspective): “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of… Continue reading The Good News of your salvation

I’ve begun to conclude that the whole concept of “free will,” particularly in discussions about soteriology, is simply an unnecessary distraction from the truth, and that it might be time to leave the phrase out of such discussions altogether in order to focus on what really matters. While believers within the body of Christ know… Continue reading Beyond “free will”

The word “repentance” literally means “a change of one’s mind.” Under the Gospel of the Circumcision it can technically include a change of actions as well, but under Paul’s Gospel it simply means that you’ve changed your mind about being able to do anything at all to contribute to your own salvation, and have realized… Continue reading Believing the Gospel IS repentance