- Question: “What did Lucifer do that upset God so much?” Answer: He tried to be God. Isaiah 14:12-14.
- Question: “Why did God place the ‘evil tree of doom’ in the garden?” Answer: The tree represented choice. Don’t eat = Be with God. Eat = Be separated from God. Love is not love, if it has no choice. You wouldn’t accept a “love” like that. Neither would God.
- Question: What does Heaven look like?” Answer: Words fail to describe it. I’ve seen some pretty amazing things here on earth. Heaven will blows those things away! For a very limited description see Rev. 21-22:5.
- Question: “Are Christians justified by faith or by works?” Answer: We are justified by faith through grace (Ephesians 2). Faith is not a work, as some teachers would imply. Our works, however, are an outward expression of our inward faith. You can do good works without faith, but if you have faith, you will do good works. James makes it clear in James 2:14-18.
- Question: “Are deathbed confessions legit?” Answer: It was for the thief on the cross, so yes, they can be. I choose not to wait til then, though!
- Question: “How is evolution not fact?” Answer: You’re asking me to prove a negative. But I’ll do my best by giving you a few examples, 1) Human population growth rate; by the math of human population growth, we all have a common mother/father within “thousands” of years not millions. If our first parents were millions of years ago, the current population of earth would be well into the trillions – not billions. 2) The life cycle of the sun. A “star” consumes it’s resources over thousands/millions of years getting smaller and smaller. Eventually it gets to a point where it goes from small to massive in size, and then implodes often creating a nova, supernova, or even a blackhole. For earth to be revolving around the sun for billions of years, the sun would have been so massive its size would extend well past earth’s position. 3) Living “fossils” that have been dead for “millions of years”. 4) A distinct lack of missing links – Neanderthal man was an old man who died about in a cave in France and had a severe case of rickets and arthritis. See this interesting article for more possible explanations.
- Question: “What is salvation?” Answer: Salvation is putting your trust in the work of Jesus as your only chance of getting to Heaven. It requires you to deny your own self and embrace God’s grace toward you. It’s like dying to yourself to be given the life that Christ gives to all those who call on Him to be saved. If anyone reading this wants to talk to me more about this, nothing would mean more to me than to help you. Email me at: [email protected]
Category: Series
The Questions You Asked… Part 6
- Question: “What did Jesus do for the 3 days He was buried?” Answer: From what He said to the thief on the cross, He was in “paradise,” often referred to in the Bible as “Abraham’s bosom.” It was kind of like the waiting room of Heaven. A reference in Acts leads some to believe that He went to Hell. While I think that could be possible, He was not suffering there, because our salvation was already paid for on the cross when Jesus said, “It is finished.” So that’s more speculation than a solid answer, but I hope it helped.
- Question: “Is a person saved who accepts Jesus, but shows no remorse?” Answer: Tough question because it’s a blanket assumption. I know that faith and repentance are hand-in-hand when it comes to salvation. But that looks different from person to person. I do believe that a repentant heart is always a fruit of true faith. Without humility, no one comes to Christ.
- Question: “What is the church position on karma?” Answer: The Bible calls it the law of “sowing and reaping” (Galatians 6:7-10). Our good will ultimately be rewarded, while we can also be sure “your sin will find you out.”
- Question: “Could the American government be considered evil?” Answer: It’s being run by politicians. Yes, it’s evil. As best as we can, as long as our conscience before God allows us, we should submit to and obey the authority over us, because God is the only one possessing the true authority anyway. But while I pray for the peace and prosperity of our nation, Jesus is the only “change we can believe in.” In God we trust, all others are prone to corruption. I love our country! But we should always be vigilant concerning those in power.
- Question: “What do Satanic churches do?” Answer: Worship Satan. Take pleasure in being rebellious. Commit acts of wickedness out of a shear desire to mock God. That’s about all I know. Technically the term “Satanic church” is a contradiction.
- Question: “Can a homosexual person go to Heaven?” Answer: Can an heterosexual go to Heaven? The only way that any of us will ever see Heaven is because we have been changed by Jesus. Someone who struggles with homosexuality can be saved in Christ. Will they continue to struggle with these urges after accepting Christ? More than likely. Just like straight people still struggle with their inappropriate heterosexual urges. We are saved through faith, not by works, and yet our deeds are a reflection of the true change God has made in our lives.
- Question: “Can stealing ever be justified?” Answer: Legitimately? Depends… what are we stealing? Cash from a bank? Diamonds? Food? I suppose few would blame a thief who steal to eat. Bit is it still stealing? Yes. This question is kind of like saying “Are white lies ok?” If something appears to be more gray than black-and-white, it’s usually more black than gray.
The Questions You Asked… Part 5
- Question: “Romans 8:30… predestination?” Answer: Yes. But your question is incomplete. Predestine to what? Verse 30 is based on verse 29 where it says, “whom He foreknew, He predestined…” God’s “election” is based on His foreknowledge of who would receive Christ. Scripture interprets Scripture. John 1:11-12 puts several huge holes in the idea some have that God chose some people to salvation and others for Hell based on anything other than receiving Christ.
- Question: “Does Pastor John have ADD?” Answer: Beavers and Ducks. I mean, yes.
- Question: “Why does God want us to save sex for marriage?” Answer: Because God created sex, and He knows that the vulnerability that true sexual intimacy requires is only safe in a committed marriage relationship. There is a trust that a couple builds together when they wait that is absolutely irreplaceable when sleeping together before marriage. Sex outside of marriage ruins good relationships and prolongs bad ones. I said more on the subject here.
- Question: “In Heaven, are we completely sinless?” Answer: Yes. Revelation 21:27
- Question: “What is the ‘Unforgivable Sin’?” Answer: Rejecting the Holy Spirit prompting toward Jesus (Matthew 12:22-32). And it’s only “unforgivable” in the context of John 3:18. At what point has a person hopelessly rejected Christ? I don’t know. Not my place to know. Only my place to speak in His name and draw others to Him (that’s your job too, by the way).
- Question: “Would God forgive the most awful repeat sinner?” Answer: He already did… me. That’s how big God is, and how small we are. He can forgive the most vile human being and make them like His Son. “Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound.” Romans 5:20.
- Question: “Who is God?” Answer: “God” is the single, all-powerful Being possessing all knowledge and existing outside of time and space. Therefore, all things created are per His authorship, and nothing has ever happened apart from His knowledge and foresight. From His perspective, the future is just as much a matter of fact as the past. As the greatest “thing,” all good is measured by His standard, and all things short of His standard are utterly short and wicked. His standard of perfection can only be compared to His standard of love. The cross of Christ is the perfect example of both. That’s as good as I can do for a reasonable human description of an infinite Creator.
- Question: “Where is the love in creating Hell?” Answer: Questions like this are lop-sided. I would counter this with the question, “where is the justice in letting every drunk, pedophiler, adulterer, serial-killer, and white-collar criminal go to Heaven?” The truth is, we can’t have it both ways: a God who forgives our sin, but has no sense of indignation toward it. If God would simply overlook sin without destroying it, then why overlook it? Just let it be! But God is loving and holy. The love you find in a God creating a place like Hell is two-fold: 1) That He loves us enough to destroy all wickedness that separates us from Him, and 2) That He would provide a means of not going there ourselves by trusting in Christ as the payment for our sin.
- Question: “Can prayer change God’s mind?” Answer: Good question. If God knows everything past, present, and future per our definition of God in question 7, then technically God already knows everything He is going to do (from His perspective, He already did it). But His motive for why He does what He is going to, is often because His people pray. The Bible is full of examples (2 Cron. 7:14). In other words, God already knows what He is going to do, and why He’s going to do it, because He knows our prayers before we ask them (Matthew 6:8).
- Question: “What is grace?” Answer: Grace is God blessing us with something we did not earn. I like the acronym: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.