En EspañolQ. I have been taught that when we confess our sins and ask forgiveness of God, that through His sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross, our sins are washed away, and you accept Him as your own personal Savior you are His forever. We have been doing a Bible study on Revelation we’ve learned that when Christ comes back he will open the book of life and judge us. If, as it says in His Word, His blood cleansed me why will I be judged? This question bothers me and I would appreciate your input.
OSAS And The Church At Ephesus
Q. I scanned thru your library of articles in regards to the fate of the church at Ephesus in Rev 2. Historically it is known that the city and church by whatever means were destroyed. This seems to demonstrate Christ’s promise of having its lamp stand removed. A friend of mine suggested that removal of the lamp stand symbolizes loss of salvation and supports the Arminian view of conditional security (which I don’t subscribe to).
Physically we see that Ephesus is no longer. However what became of the spiritual fate of the Ephesus church? Does this mean the Ephesians lost the Holy Spirit (or have fallen away or have fallen from grace) and were all condemned to Hell because they didn’t repent? Or is this in reference to inheritance and rewards that they blew (or never had)? Or is it something else?
Finding God Again
Q. I totally agree with you that salvation is a gift and there is nothing anyone can do to earn it. Is it possible for someone to accept the gift and years later change their mind and say they do not want it? I accepted Christ in my early 20′s. (I’m now in my early 60′s.) The only reason I can remember for doing so was because I was afraid of going to hell. There are so many things I do in accordance with God’s teaching that are either out of habit or because I feel I should. At times I believe the best I can hope for is a lesser degree of hell.
Are Tribulation Believers Saved By Grace?
Q. Can I know if the tribulation saints are saved by grace through faith in Jesus like the church or by their ability to endure and keep their faith to the end or by enduring and keeping their faith based on the eternal gospel announced by the angel. Are the Jews who survive the Great Tribulation judged based on their faith in the coming messiah or their ability to endure to the end?
Leaving Some Behind To Minister?
Q. The day’s current world events leave me wondering if God might leave some believers behind during the rapture to evangelize or minister to those who are suffering. Despite my attempt to share the gospel with unbelieving friends and family, I hate to think of leaving them behind to suffer during the imminent tribulation. What are your thoughts about this?
Can Some Believe But Not Understand?
Q. I heard a prominent bible prophecy teacher say that people who believed but did not “understand” the salvation message would miss the rapture and be saved during the Tribulation. He went on to say that those who did not believe and understand would have a deluding force sent from God so they would not believe. If I understand the whole concept of being saved, it is the Holy Spirit that draws you to a spiritural understanding when you hear and believe. Also, do any gentiles get saved during the Tribulation?
Won’t All The Christians Be Gone?
Q. I love your site and have learned so much. In one of your answers you stated, “However, the scenario you describe will come to pass after the Church is gone. It will happen during Daniel’s 70th week when millions of Christians will be martyred for their faith, and for their refusal to worship the anti-Christ and take his mark.” My question is, if all the believers in Christ have been raised with him, I didn’t think there were any Christians left.
Forgiving Sins
Q. Thank you again for your teaching! Could you explain John 20:23? So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Also, I know that Jesus asked the Father to forgive the people who were crucifying Him. Can we ask God to forgive the sins of others?
More On The Parable Of The Wedding Banquet
Q. Re: Saved From The Worst But Kept From The Best? When you wrote about the man being ejected from the wedding feast, you said “He hadn’t kept himself pure and had lost his salvation. When the Lord returned, he tried to gain entrance into the Kingdom in his own clothing (on the strength of his own righteousness) without the righteousness imputed to him by faith (the wedding clothes). He was discovered and ejected.” This man was already at the wedding feast. How then did someone who God knew was not a Christian get into Heaven in the first place? Am I reading this incorrectly?
I’ve been researching the term “outer darkness lately”. There are many sites on the ‘net that bring in this wedding crasher man into this phrase, and a lot of them suggest that Christians who do not get any crowns, or lazy Christians who have no reward are thrown into the outer darkness. No matter where I search, I keep getting conflicting ideas and different opinions. It seems as though no one has a clear answer. To say this has me perplexed is putting it mildly.
Satan’s Greatest Defeat
Q. In Matthew 16:21 Jesus tells his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to be put to death and raised on the 3rd day. I’ve always understood that Satan must have been ignorant of the fact that Jesus needed to be crucified for our salvation. Other wise he would have tried with all of his might to thwart this from happening. If he heard this straight from the mouth of Jesus that this should happen, then why wasn’t he trying to stop it? We all know that God’s plans would always trump man’s and Satan’s plans, but seems curious to me that he seemed to help the Jewish leaders anger against Jesus.
