Ask a Bible Teacher

Communion And Unbelievers

Published: October 31, 2023
Q

In the church I attend, there is an invitation to everyone present to share in communion when we have it. This includes visitors and non-Christians and I know it is so they won’t feel conspicuous or awkward by abstaining. I feel uncomfortable by it and my thought is that non Christians shouldn’t partake of the Lord’s supper since it has no meaning for them. Does scripture address this?


Following Jesus

Published: October 30, 2023
Q

I am very thankful to God for the wisdom He had given to you. In this regard, I would like to hear from you a clearer explanation regarding Mathew 8:20 which says: Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” I guess, this is figurative speech, however, in verse 19 The teacher of the law was seemingly willing to follow Jesus wherever He went.” What was really the reason why Jesus answered that way?


Misunderstandings About Salvation

Published: October 30, 2023
Q

Last week when I was reading thru the Bible, I got to a couple of rather bone-chilling verses and I’d like to get your 2 cents worth on it:

Mat 7:21-23 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

I don’t know if I can think anything more frightening than come final judgment day if the LORD tells me “depart from me I never knew you”. After giving it some thought I’ve come to the conclusion that just merely accepting Christ and that He died for my sins is NOT sufficient. I don’t mean that works are required except for ONE thing in addition to having faith—REPENT. The forces of darkness know who Jesus is and they believe in Him and know that thru Christ the sins of the people are forgiven. The difference is that they never had any intention of repenting. I don’t want to sound doom and gloom but this is starting to bother me a bit, which I assume is a good thing because that means the Holy Spirit is doing some conviction in my heart. But, what do you understand these passages to mean?


1260 Days Or 1290 Days?

Published: October 30, 2023
Q

Can you explain why in Revelation the second half of the tribulation is 1260 days and in Daniel, the second half is 1290 days? Somewhere during the last 7 years of Jacobs trouble, there must be a leap year (extra 30 days) added because of the 360-day Jewish calendar. Is that what happens?


Witnessing To Atheists

Published: October 27, 2023
Q

I recently went a few rounds with some pretty hardcore atheists, and I quickly discovered that trying to refer to Scripture was absolutely useless because their position is that the Gospels were written by a committee who simply scoured the OT for various prophecies. Then they patched it together and then presented the myth of Jesus. What are the most effective ways to counter this? All I could think of offhand was that utterly squelching Christianity would have been as easy as falling off a log in the face of such silliness. What else could one say to this?


Gospel of Mark

Published: October 27, 2023
Q

First of all, I think your website is excellent and you are doing a great job. I’ve been doing some research on the Book of Mark in an effort to learn the following. Who was the author, who was the author speaking to and when was it written? Your response will be greatly appreciated.


Question On Genesis 3:22

Published: October 27, 2023
Q

I would like to hear your thoughts on Genesis 3:22. What does God mean in this verse? How did we become like “Them”, and what does it mean to know good and evil? Also, please explain the concept of people eating from the Garden’s Tree of Life and living forever after sinning? Did this mean that Adam would have circumvented the Redemptive Plan?


Pauline Dispensationalism

Published: October 25, 2023
Q

A friend is taking some online Bible classes and said he just learned that Romans, 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians were written to Gentiles. While Hebrews, James, 1,2,3, John, Jude, and Revelation were all written to the circumcised Christians. He has been to several different Schools and is a relativity new Christian and still looking for what he believes.


Is A Defining Moment Necessary?

Published: October 25, 2023
Q

I can’t seem to find my defining moment as to when I became saved. A lot of people say that there has to be an “ah-ha” moment. I am 53 years old and have really been growing closer and closer to the Lord for the past 10 years. I never ever doubted that there was a Jesus, God’s only son or that he died on the cross and I gave my life to Him in my teens. But now I can’t pinpoint the time I came to know the truth and how it happened. It’s like I just slowly grew into the truth. Can that be? Sometimes I get scared that maybe I’m not really saved. Please help me understand this.


The Rapture And The Bride

Published: October 25, 2023
Q

If I’m not wrong there is no evidence in the gospels of Jesus mentioning about the rapture. Since this is an important subject why hasn’t Jesus spoken a single word about it? I tried to figure out an answer by myself: maybe because the people He was addressing to would not be involved with the rapture. But, even so, He spoke a lot about the wedding of the Lamb and the bride, the wedding banquet, and they were not involved in these topics as well. Could you please give me some light on that?