Subject

Questions

Are the Sabbath laws binding on Christians today?

In regards to the Sabbath question, and why we don’t hold the Sabbath as holy any more in the fourth commandment. I’ve been talking to some Seventh-Day Adventists, and, in Colossians 2, it refers to the Sabbath as a mere shadow of things to come. How is it a shadow, and is it to be abolished?

In the Bible, John 3:3-5, it says here, "You must be born again to see the  kingdom of God." Then in verse 5, after Nicodemus questioned some, it says  "Jesus answered, 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of  water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." I always  understood that to mean that "except in water," being accepting the Word of  Jesus, and "of the Spirit, being born of the Spirit," being baptized by the  Holy Spirit. I am just curious, like the church teaches ceremonial  sacraments, the seven sacraments, plus the Catholic Church, I think, does  nine. How do you relate that to the Holy Sacraments?

What does Romans 12:1 mean--becoming a "living sacrifice"?

"As Christians we are supposed to have a smile on our face, yet I am sad and I am always thinking about what I can do to possibly help the unbeliever, is this normal?"

"What did Paul mean in Romans 1:7, concerning 'To all that be in Rome . . . called saints?  What is a saint?"

"I want to ask why lots of people accept the Lord only when something drastic happens in their lives?"

"In Acts 16:31--I come from a Pentecostal background, and they use this Scripture to claim their family's salvation.  I have read the Scripture myself and I don't believe it--I believe that a man has to give an account to God for his own salvation.  It says here, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

In Jeremiah, Chapter 30, verse 21, "'Their leader shall be one of them; their ruler shall come forth from their midst. I will bring him near and he shall approach me, for who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?' declares the LORD."  What does that mean?  Why would God say, "' who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?' declares the LORD."

Recently a friend and I had some discussions concerning the amount of information that is needed for salvation. My friend is a Charismatic and has that background. And we were discussing the “Heathen in Africa” question. His point was that a person could actually be saved without actually having the name of “Jesus Christ” mentioned or having the gospel, like the Word of God, read to him or preached to him, because God could actually speak to that person and they would be saved much the same way as Abraham was saved in Romans, chapter 4, where Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. And I disagreed with him, and I said, “No, because God has given the Word that is what needs to be brought to them.” And I brought to him Romans 10, that a preacher needs to come…so we come to you at this point.

Since Christ purchased our liberty consisting of our freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemnation of God, the curse of the law, and everything else that came with the saving work…and since God alone is Lord of the conscience, do we, in our trying to keep our conscience pure in the sight of God, find ourselves working out our salvation by works, and not by faith? 

I need to ask you a question about a quote you made a couple of months ago, in the second part of the Biblical View on Abortion. You said, “It is my conviction that God redeems murdered infants, that His grace reaches out and takes those little ones to be with Himself. The Bible is very clear that people perish in Hell because they refuse to believe, that Hell is for those who rejected God and who rejected Christ, something an unborn infant could never do. And so God, not having a just basis, either internally or externally, by virtue of the attitude or the action of an unborn child, would have no basis on which to sentence them to Hell, except for the depravity they inherited in Adam, which is never a cause for damnation, apart from its evidence in behavior or attitude. God must then embrace them into His own kingdom.” I had a problem with this, a couple of problems with it.

A couple of weeks ago at our Bible study, the discussion got onto the doctrine of election. And, inevitably, it got over to the point of: what about the heathen who have never heard the gospel? One group's feeling, since the Bible teaches faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word, that you have to hear the gospel and you have to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation through faith. And the other side, taking Romans 1, verses 16 through 19 (roughly), as meaning that anyone who believed in a god, or who saw God in the universe, could be somehow saved. Would you address that?

I have someone who’s close to me who lives out-of-state and he’s a professing believer, but I fear his faith is a dead faith given the lack of fruits in his life. He does not currently attend church, although I’ve encouraged him to go. The last thing I want to do is point him to a church that might lead him to conclude, falsely, that he’s delivered if he’s really not. I was wondering if you could share some of your wisdom on this.

My question comes from John 3, and particularly verse five were Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And my question is, what did he refer to when he said, "one has to be born of the water," because I know it doesn't mean that we have to be baptized to be saved?

How can I be sure of my salvation?

This question is about Genesis 3:1, and 3:14, In what form was Satan when he tempted Eve? It says something in here about "cattle" and he was put on his "belly" to go in to dust.

Does God allow Satan to buffet us for us to be stronger in the faith? Does this still happen today?

Even though Satan sought to defeat Christ and destroy him (as in the slaughter of the babies by Herod), why did Satan, speaking through Peter, try to keep Christ from the cross?

Some Christians in their prayers say, “We bind the power of Satan now that he won’t hinder our ministry” and they refer to Matthew 18:18.  But this, to me, is not clear; what is your comment?

Can Satan hear what we say and know our thoughts?

Does Satan have access to heaven?

Did Jesus really say, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me"? (John 14:6)

"Some Bible Scholars say that Christ did not promise to come again.  Is this true?"

"What does it mean when in the Book of Jonah it says, 'My spirit went into Sheol?'"

There has been much in the media about the shroud of Turin; I’d like for you to comment on that and tell us what you think.

In James 5:13-18, where it told about anointing with oil, my question is kind of a four-part question:

1. Is this for the church today?
2. If so, when is it appropriate for someone to call the elders of the church?
3. What kind of sickness is this for--is it only for sin sickness?
4. How does someone at Grace Community Church call the elders of the church if a serious circumstance should come up?

In James 5:14, it says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” Now, if that’s a promise to the church, then should we not be doing that? Or, I guess my question is: is it a promise? Can we claim that as a church?

What signs and circumstances does one need to be alerted to that God would use to confirm the gift of celibacy?

"If Christ didn't sin then how can I be acquainted with a God who could not sin because He doesn't really know my sins?"

I am looking for your interpretation of Hebrews 10:26 in context with the passage which says, "For if we sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins."  In desiring to use the Word of the Lord accurately, I have often used this passage in sharing with people who would consider themselves Christians and desire to continue to live with their girlfriends, or Christians who justify getting divorces.

Does a Christian have an old nature?

We know that sin entered the world through man--I assume the word "man" is used in a generic way, since all enter the world in sin. So, if Mary, by her own admission, needed a savior, making her a sinner, and since Jesus was part of her flesh as well as out of the Holy Spirit…I accept by faith that Jesus was sinless, but don’t understand how Jesus would not be tainted by sin, since he was born from her body?

The third commandment--“don’t take the Lord’s name in vain”… So, if a person is an actor and he’s going to play a part in a movie and he is going to take the Lord’s name in vain, should he not take the part? Or, if he takes the part, is he going to answer to God?

Are there degrees of sin, as far as...I’m thinking of lusting in your heart verses adultery?

What is the essence of sin?

How far can Christians go in sinning?

I have a question about worshipping and fellowshipping with so-called, or a professing believer who is in sin, hardened sin of a grievous nature. You’ve come along side them to confront them and there is no repentance. They go to another church and that church does not practice Matthew 18, and so you have a situation where the four steps of Matthew 18 are not applied by their church. They want to go to conferences with you, perhaps pray with you, have fellowship with you, and yet, you’re reluctant to do that because of their lack of repentance.

How do I deal with seemingly Christian people, who love the Lord a lot, who are coming to me, telling me...these are not [just] Charismatic people; [but] these are just people who look in the Word of God and [say] "you" say “works,” “works.” How do we deal [with this]? Because I want to stand up and say, “No way, this man is standing up for the Word of God.” But how do we show compassion to people who are saying that like Pastor Hocking, Pastor MacArthur is a cultist? Do we put them aside?

What is the difference between soul and spirit?

I was wondering what your opinion was on the sovereignty of God concerning picking up hitch-hikers or keeping a gun in your house. Do you believe that you need to take a step out in faith when taking risks like that?

I was wondering, are there conflicts between the different spiritual gifts? I mean, like do you have problems, like if you have an exhorter and a teacher?

On the willingness to appropriate those things which are ours...on a number of occasions Jesus said in Matthew 13, speaking about the parables and also in Matthew 25 speaking of the parables of the talents, He said, "For unto everyone that has shall be given and he shall have abundance, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Does that in any way imply that we could have spiritual gifts but because of our unwillingness to use them Jesus would take them away?

In view of the fact that as Christians we are to see ourselves as a part of the body, and we are to be exercising our talents in order to be most effective for the Lord.  How should we see ourselves relative to society as far as how can we be most effective as lights and as salt to the earth?  Should we view society as also being a part of the body?

What are the spiritual gifts and how do I discover mine?

In regard to Luke 22:31 ["Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat"] how might that apply to some of the experiences that Job went through?

The Bible teaches that as a Christian, when we die we receive different degrees of rewards in heaven. And, I’d like to know if you could expound on those different degrees, but also, if there are different degrees of suffering in Hell?

I’ve witnessed to several people who question the existence of God by saying, “Why does He let the innocent people suffer, innocent people get killed, children die, etc., etc.?”

Can one who commits suicide be saved?