The Free Grace Alliance

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. It seems to me that when you celebrate thanksgiving you know that Christmas is not far off. Christmas is right around the corner as we step into the month of December. The paradox of Christmas is that in a place that you do not think you will find anything you need is the place you actually find everything you need. In that stable we understand as Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “The Infinite became an Infant. The Creator became a Creature. God was in a Cradle.” We call it the incarnation. It is simply a miracle! God became human! The invisible became visible! The untouchable became touchable! Eternal life experienced temporal death! The Transcendent One descended and drew near! The unlimited became limited! The infinite became finite! The immutable became mutable! The unbreakable became fragile! Spirit became matter! The problem of sin was solved! In such a strange place we find everything we need. As

If you’re looking for a way to make the Christmas story come to life in the lives of the people of your church, consider this:   This Christmas, present the Gospel, and the story of the incarnation in a fresh way—via drama, from the perspective of Joseph!  For information on how to obtain a free copy of the original script, or a free DVD of the 40-minute play, “Christmas Mystery—a man and more...” as performed in 2011, please visit, gratefulsue.com and click on “Drama.”  See gratefulsue.com for poetry, drama, and more from a Christian perspective.

Dear FGA The arrival of November brings us to the season of Thanksgiving. We at FGA have much to be thankful for. First and foremost, I am so thankful and grateful to the Lord for allowing the FGA conference in Dallas last month to be such an exciting time of encouragement, education and equipping. Special thanks are due to Dr. Roger Fankhauser and Dr. Charlie Bing for their leadership in overseeing the conference. Also, a special “ thank you ” goes to Angie Snell. She is the one behind the scenes that makes it all really happen! Our speakers did a fine job clarifying the distinction of justification and sanctification and the role of discipleship. Special guest, Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Seminary, delivered a wonderful plenary session and his banquet presentation was an expression of excellent biblical exposition. Dr. Roy Zuck was presented the 2012 Trophy of Grace Award in recognition of half a century of excellent theological leadership, and his clear stand for

  Dr. Roger Fankhauser Burleson Bible Church   We often hear in free grace circles that “salvation is free, but discipleship is costly.” I agree wholeheartedly. Following Jesus means making decisions that could cost me something – even if the cost is as small as choosing to use my time to pursue kingdom purposes rather than personal interests. It could cost minor persecution, severe persecution, or maybe even death. It could cost money and other possessions. It could cost loss of relationships with friends or family. The cost is indeed high, and we do need to count the cost (Luke 14:25-33).   Discipleship is costly, but I believe in the bigger picture it costs less to follow Jesus than to not follow Him. Here’s why. Discipleship is costly in the absolute sense only if we look at the costs in this life. In this life, the costs are, in fact, high. Sometimes very high. But when I look at the whole story, the benefits of following Jesus far outweighs the cost. No matter how high the cost.

  Dear FGA Members and Friends, In just a few days the FGA national conference will convene in Irving, Texas. I must tell you that this year I believe we have an excellent field of speakers and workshop leaders.   The theme is “Discipleship in the Gospel of Luke”. This is such an important topic for us in the Free Grace Movement because our theology clearly emphasizes the distinction between what is necessary to gain the free gift of eternal life and the requirements to live a life of discipleship.   The gift is free, but discipleship is costly. There has been so much confusion as theologians and pastors seek to blend the two conditions together with the result that the freeness of the gospel is clouded and confused. This confusion leads to a charge of “easy believeism” or “cheap grace”- a charge and a caricature that we strongly reject. At the conference we will hear from Dr. Dave Anderson, President of Grace School of Theology, Dr. Charlie Bing, Dr. Jody Dillow, Bob Tebo

Have you ever wondered how God can be in control of everything and still allow people to have free will? I think that for many Christians, this is a real conundrum. Sure, there have been “fights” between Calvinists and Arminians over this issue for 500 years; Calvinists argue that God is great and in control, and Arminians counter that God is good and offers salvation to all.   For many Christians, though, neither answer is sufficient because God says both in His Word. But how can both be true?  Well, this week John Correia, an FGA executive Council member, published a new book titled Refreshing Grace . This book takes a new approach to this often emotionally charged issue and explains the issue, and a fresh biblical solution to it, in an understandable way.   If you’re interested in the issue of God’s sovereign control and our free will in salvation, our prayer is that Refreshing Grace will help you understand the issue with more clarity and passionately pursue Christ with that

Dear FGA Members and Friends, The fall season brings with it a long awaited cooling off for those of us who live in Phoenix. After many months of hovering between 100-115 degrees, we are ready for a change. The fall also means that we are near to the FGA National Conference, which will be held in Irving, Texas October 8-10. We are looking forward to a wonderful line-up of speakers including, our banquet speaker, Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Seminary. We will also hear from Dave Anderson, Jody Dillow, Charlie Bing, Tom Constable, Bob Teebow, and many more. For those of you who live locally and cannot attend the entire conference, you can register to attend for one day. We hope to see many of you in just a few short weeks. One of the most exciting developments in the FGA is the list of new resources. There is always a danger of listing some resources, because there is the chance that you will leave someone off the list. Forgive me in advance if my list is incomplete. But there a

Dear FGA Members and Friends, It is interesting and important to note that the first and most important issue the early church faced had to do with the clarity of the Gospel. The book of Acts is rightly called the “Hinge of History” for it functions as a hinge and forms a transition between Jew and gentile, between law and grace, and between Jerusalem and the utter most parts of the world. As with many transitions it is often not always smoothly or seamlessly expressed. Such was the case in the early church. Many of the battles the Apostle Paul faced revolved around the formation of the doctrine of justification by faith alone and the function of sanctification by faithfulness in the lives of believers. This is seen to be the case in the Jerusalem Council and other events recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts. The Apostolic Fathers who should have known better comingled justification with sanctification and so confused the clarity of the gospel. Salvation seemed to be tied to bap

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          M emorials are used in the Bible to help us remember the loyalty of God to His people. They allow us to recall the goodness and faithfulness of God in dealing with both Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church.   The month of July for Americans is a time to commemorate and celebrate the liberty and freedom we have as a nation. It also allows us as Christians to realize the tremendous role we have had in forming and fashioning this nation. Freedom is the hallmark of our nation. Liberty was what our founding fathers desired as they sought to escape the tyranny of the law under King George in England.   And as we know, freedom came with a price. The

Justification is a central topic to Free Grace theology, and as such when a book is written in scholarly circles to discuss justification it is worth considering!    Beilby, James K., and Eddy, Paul Rhodes, eds., Justification: Five Views. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2011. 308 pp. $15.38.   Multi-view books rise and fall on the quality of their representatives, and Justification: Five Views stands with an impressive list of contributors. James Beilby and Paul Eddy, both professors at Bethel University, have edited several books for the IVP Spectrum series of multiview books and are therefore quite well qualified to edit this volume as well. The flow of the book shows their prowess. This is the fourth multiview book that they have co-edited for IVP, and their experience shows through in the book’s layout from Reformed to Catholic.   In addition to this, the book brings together an impressive list of contributors to their viewpoints, drawing some of the best and bri

                                                                                                                                                                                       June 1, 2012 Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus,   One of my functions as President of the Free Grace Alliance is to respond to the mail.   Each month I receive a variety of letters and e-mails containing comments, and requests regarding the Free Grace Alliance. The queries usually involve one of two types of questions. Many have ministry questions and are interested in ministry opportunities, looking to network and align themselves with like-minded people from their ministry perspective. This is always a delight to be able to connect people and encourage them to maximize their ministry. The second topic of interest that

Greetings FGA Members and Friends, It is unfortunate that in theological parlance, people often find themselves limited to two perspectives, Calvinism or Arminiansim. In the Christian world and in the theological world as well, many people still do not realize the third option is Free Grace Theology. And we must make sure that people know and understand that third option. Free Grace Theology is a theological system. The best theological system is the one that deals with the most data and brings the fewest assumptions to its system. Free Grace Theology at its core is concerned with Soteriology or the doctrine of Salvation. And so it is essential that we have an understanding of the term "Justification" for it is critical to understanding God's work and His gift. Let me call to your attention a new book titled   "Justification-Five Views" (IVP 2011). As the title indicates, it is a multi-view and multi-author book following the helpful format of a

A Greeting of Grace to those of the FGA, In case any of you wondered if the FGA is necessary let me assure you that it is. One only needs to read some of the latest Christian books to see that the fight the Apostle Paul had is one that we are still engaged with to this very hour.   This is evidenced in two recent books. Both come from associate pastors under Dr. Mark Dever, Ph.D., Cambridge University, who is the Senior Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.   Dr. Dever has created the “ 9 Marks of a Healthy Church Ministry ” and a series of books written to help churches in a variety of ways regarding both theology and ministry. The first book is by Greg Gilbert, B.A., Yale and M.Div. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called “ What is the Gospel? ” The foreword is by D.A. Carson and it is endorsed by many of the “who’s who” from the reformed theology arena. This is a small slender volume that is very attrac