Here’s a link to a short article I originally wrote for Bible Study Magazine on this passage. Its meaning is a common question from Bible readers: “Does God Always Give Second Chances?”
Soteriology
Michael Bird: Brief Thoughts on the New Perspective on Paul (NPP)
I get asked about my opinion of the NPP at events and on Q & A episodes of the Naked Bible Podcast. I always recommend Kent Yinger’s book, The New Perspective on Paul: An Introduction . It’s short and clear. I’m happy to also recommend this...
Thoughts on Some New Testament Salvation Language
I recently received a question from a reader asking me to comment about the NT phrase “born again” with respect to its relationship to “saved” language in the NT. What follows are a few thoughts. Here was the question: “My question, that...
New Perspective on Paul: A Recent Reading Group Post
Well, the Naked Bible Reading Group on the NPP has started up. I gave everyone a week to read Kent Yinger’s short book on it (The New Perspective on Paul: An Introduction), and posting has begun. What follows is my most recent post. I thought it might be useful...
Suggestion for Continuing with the New Perspective
A friend of mine, Prof. Kent Yinger, recently published a short, very accessible book on the NPP that would be good reading for anyone interested. You can literally read through in in the evening. It is aimed at the non-specialist. I would be willing to fire up the...
Further Commentary on the New Perspective
I thought I’d post some comment questions / statements produced by the initial NPP post that I said I’d return to. Here goes. My take at MSH. Q: What about the Romans 5 “sin is not counted where there is no law?” That can’t mean that...
Thoughts on the New Perspective on Paul
Time for a few thoughts on the “Law” article I posted lasted time to get us started on the New Perspective on Paul (NPP) topic. First, I think the article is telling in its summary of how modern reformed theology (and so, much of evangelicalism) has...
Perspective on the “New Perspective” on Paul
If anyone has read the comments recently, you know that I wasn’t planning on taking this topic. I had been thinking about the Pentateuch authorship issue, as noted a few days ago. But, over the past couple of weeks I’ve had several people email me out of...
The Premises of Universal Salvation
Creating this post was a bit of a challenge. I want to faithfully represent the position of Robin Parry (“Gregory MacDonald”) in his book The Evangelical Universalist, but I obviously can’t reproduce it here. Parry clearly lays out his thinking (and...
Election and the Subset Remnant: Thoughts on Predestination
Finally got this video made. The audio isn't great, so turn up your speakers. I hope this helps you see how I'm thinking about predestination with respect to election and the subset of the saved remnant, per earlier posts on those topics. Â Editor's note: fixed video...
Election and Salvation, Round Three
I decided to throw together a short video (9 minutes) to try and better explain/illustrate what my take on this topic is. I reference my thoughts on baptism therein -- how it is divorced from salvation, just as circumcision was -- and so it might be useful to skim...
Election, Salvation, Unbelief, and Eternal Security
Here we go. You’ll note by the end that I really don’t care for (or feel the need) to frame these issues they way they are typically framed. Election and Salvation The major point of my previous post on election was that it was not to be understood as...
Back to Election
Well, I’m finally over oral surgery, the holidays, and the beating I received this past weekend in the Naked Bible fantasy football league. (And that hurt more than the surgery). Time to get back to election. As indicated in my previous posts on this, I think...
The Election of Israel and Its Meaning
I want to take this topic in shorter, manageable posts. My goal is to take you through my thought process in shorter increments than usual. This topic seems to require it. We’ll start in the Old Testament. Anyone can tell from a lexicon or the list of verses I...
Choosing Election
Okay, it’s a bad pun (are there really any good puns?). I’ve decided that it’s time for the Naked Bible to weigh in on election. I’ve hinted at this a couple of times, but I figure it’s a good way to have 2010 go out with a bang and start...