By Mark W. Christy, PhD The Calvinistic doctrine of election upholds the biblical teaching that one’s salvation is rooted in the will of God as opposed to the will of the person. In other words, those who respond to the gospel in repentance and faith do so because they were divinely chosen and enabled to make such a response. Despite the many passages in Scripture which undergird this doctrine, many remain uncomfortable with the idea that somehow their freewill is somehow constrained in the ...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD In Romans 9:13, Paul writes, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[i] At first glance, many New Testament readers cannot help but cringe at the wording which suggests that God hates a person. To help readers better discern Paul’s meaning, this article will carefully consider the context of this verse and offer evidence to support a correct interpretation. To begin with, God’s “hate” for Esau and his descendants, the Edomites, is such that Isaiah labels them as “the pe...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD Upon one Sabbath, Christ’s disciples were feeding themselves by picking grains from a field when the Pharisees came upon them and charged them with doing that which was unlawful (Luke 6:1-2). Even though Deuteronomy 26:38 permits the disciples’ activity, the Pharisees viewed their efforts as unlawful because of the many additional laws that had been constructed on top of Mosaic Law in the never-ending quest of the Jews to pursue a relationship with God only through a ...