In your article Lessons From Jonah, you made a comment that captured my attention. You stated “And just as Jonah had given Nineveh 40 days notice, Jesus waited 40 days after His crucifixion for Israel to recognize Him before finally departing for Heaven (Acts 1:3,9).” During the 40 days after Jesus’ crucifixion, why didn’t Jesus visit the chief priests and the elders? If He had, then there is no way they could have claimed that His disciples came at night and stole Him away (Matthew 28:13) and they would have had to admit that He had given them the sign they asked for.

I have fallen into a grievous sin the last few years and I am afraid that I am falling away from the faith. I have been saved and still believe the gospel with all my heart. However, my sin has beaten me down to the point that I have become indifferent to things of God (i.e. don’t want to go to church, don’t want to read my bible, etc.) and I have no fire or zeal anymore for the gospel. I believe it but I have no power to live it. It’s like I have given up.

The three individuals whom Jesus raises from the dead always fascinates me this time of year when we remember Jesus’ resurrection. I’m never fully satisfied with the answers from commentaries who write on the significance of the three that Jesus raises. Most commentaries just address them individually. Is there significance in the 3 or is there only significance individually?

The term “pleading the blood” or “pleading the blood of Jesus” has been used in certain churches for some time. I cannot find this practice used in any of the Gospels or Acts. First, what is this based on, and is it scriptural? What do you think of this practice?

Would you be able to explain what “because of the angels” means in 1 Corinthians 11 v. 10?

In James 2:14 it says, “Can that faith (without works) save him?” Please explain how this seemingly contradictory verse, and others in James, relates to the fact that Christians are saved by faith not by works as discussed in Romans 3: 20 and 27 and other scripture.

You have said that after Jesus carried His blood to heaven to sprinkle it on the altar there, the gates of Heaven were opened to believers of all ages, and they no longer had to wait in paradise but could go directly to be with the Lord. How and when did this happen? Was it before He spoke to Mary Magdalene?

Who are the people you refer to as “Christians in name only”? Do they think they are saved? And if they are not saved but are just putting on an act (so to speak) why would anyone do that?

Descriptions of sin offerings, especially in Leviticus, show that they were for unintentional sins. No provision seemed to have been made for deliberate sins. Does that mean that Jesus died only for our unintentional sins? Does that mean that even today, after getting born again, “deliberate sins” we commit aren’t under the blood of Jesus?

Re: Saving Old Testament Saints. I looked in my concordance to see where the first time that the name of Jesus was used and it appeared that it was the first of Matt. So, how did the Old Testament saints know that they had to believe in Jesus in order to be saved? What was the exact time that that information was made known to humanity and how did it occur?