Is God the same yesterday, today, and forever? Can He make different rules for different folks in time concerning their salvation? Can He change the rules for salvation? What happens to one that looses ones faith today verses yesterday or tomorrow? What happened to Saul? Is the whole council of God for different times in History, or is it for all ages? I am confused by your applying the 10 virgins to the tribulation saints, I can not find that applied to them as being the bride of Christ. I am also confused that the parable of the vine dresser is not applied to the Church. Did not Jesus give this to the first members of His church?

I have to respectfully disagree with something you said in your “All Three Agree” response. You said: “No one can come to the Son unless the Father draws Him, but the Father only draws those who have chosen to come.” This makes God’s election subject to, and dependent on our foreknown choice, and thus introduces merit on our part, in regards to our salvation. This does not agree with the teaching of Scripture on the Sovereignty of God, and the depravity of man.

Your interpretation of Romans 8:29 assumes a temporal sequence of events in the eternal counsels of God – who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. This does not mean that we don’t have free choice. I believe that God’s complete Sovereignty and our free volition are completely compatible. But, election can’t be contingent on our foreknown choices without doing violence to God’s Sovereign Grace. Election was necessary because God knew that without it, no one would chose Him. Do we envision the foreknowledge of God as being, in any sense, incidental? I dare not! Rather, I see God as the Author and Orchestrator of the circumstances that led me to my choice. I can’t take credit for choosing Him, for if my life had played out differently, who’s to say that I would have made the same choice?

I’ve been reading your answers to questions on Romans 8:29 and 2 Peter 3:9 and they’ve been a BIG HELP! The notes in my Study Bible have been too convoluted for me to figure out what that text is saying! So would it be accurate to suggest that John 6:44 might fit under the umbrella of God’s Foreknowledge?

As a former Catholic it was such a revelation to find out I did not need a middleman (priest) to go to the Father to confess my sins and be forgiven. But in reading John 20:19-23 where Jesus states “if you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven and if you do not, they are not forgiven”. My question is, how can a man, even someone as close to Jesus as an apostle, forgive sins? Is not that only for the Father to do?

In Revelation 7:15 the Angel tells John that the great multitude who is worshiping God and the Lamb are those who came out of the Great Tribulation (Martyrs). They are then serving God in His temple day and night. I believe you have mentioned that they have a different destiny than the Church, who will reign with Christ. But when we get to Rev 20, that same group of martyrs comes to life, and then we see them reigning with Christ also (Rev 20:4).

We know that this second group is the same as the first group, because John mentions that they didn’t take the mark or worship the beast, so they are clearly Tribulation martyrs, just like in Rev 7. Can you reconcile the differences? I was under the impression that only the Church will reign with Christ, but here we see non-Church members also reigning with Christ.

I always took it for granted that Balaam, son of Beor was a descendant of Shem, the godly line of Noah. I assumed he was a descendant of Eber (hebrew speaking), and had some insight into Jehovah. It says in Numbers 31:8 the Israelites killed the kings of Midian, including Balaam, the son of beor. Also, are the Midianites the sons of Japheth/Madai from Genesis 10:2?

How do I meditate?? I’ve always seen buddhists “meditate” by saying ohhhhmmm and such but I know that isn’t how a born again Christian meditates, so how do we meditate? I can’t seem to grasp the concept of it. Thanks! Your website is extremely helpful.

I was reading C.S.Lewis this week and in one of his books he said that the white stone we will be given by Jesus when we reach heaven will be the only possession we will have in heaven. Private ownership evidently will not exist. God will (and does) own everything except that white stone with a new name on it which only yourself and Jesus will know. It must be a very precious thing Do you have any comments or teaching on this White Stone?

I know without a doubt I’m saved by grace and I have accepted Jesus Christ as MY personal savior. I believe I’m from Philadelphia (the one in Revelation 3 that John speaks about). Please explain this sentence from your study on Re. 2-3 (Epilogue). “And don’t be surprised when you’re joined (in the rapture) by some who were Catholic, some who were Protestant, some conservatives and some liberals and even some who didn’t appear to belong to any church at all.” Do you mean that some will be saved that have not been to church?

Thank you for your interesting site. You have probably covered this but I would appreciate your opinion on why Jesus was so adamant that in John 3:3 and 5 we must be born of water and the spirit or we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Is it your view that this is pertaining to the rapture and the withdrawing of the Holy Spirit from earth? If so ,will those ‘nominal’ christians who have not been born again be unable to be raptured?