Search Results

During a conversation with friends, the “why do you believe” question came up. Since I’m a fairly new believer, it was a difficult question to answer. Their comments were there are many faiths, and who am I to say Christ is the only way. I told them that’s directly from the word of God. Then they wondered how I know it really is the word of God. Can you help me do better with questions like this in the future?

I know that we should pray for the unsaved to come to faith. However, how are we supposed to pray when a person won’t even listen to reason? My son says he doesn’t believe in any idea of a God, and doesn’t want to hear about it. Please help me to understand how to pray for him, and how to influence him to discover the God who loves him.

In your article, What did Jesus do in Hell, you said, “Of course the real issue is whether the Bible is the inspired word of God or not. If it is, then Jesus, the thief, and Lazarus all went to Paradise when they died, just like the Bible says, until Jesus went to Heaven to sprinkle His blood on the altar there and opened its gates to the spirits of all dead believers who would follow.” Since the blood of Jesus has been completely spilled out from his body according to John 19:34, how did he do the sprinkling?

If some people believe that water baptism is required for salvation, does this mean that they are not saved since they aren’t depending fully on the Lord’s work on the cross for salvation? I ask this, because I have come across people that are putting water baptism into John chapter 3, which is just a misinterpretation. I know its impossible to say if a person is truly saved or not, but if they are claiming Jesus’ death plus water baptism, is there a reason to be concerned for these people?

My pastor, associate pastor, and chairman of deacons want to have a Sunday night supper at church near Thanksgiving, and celebrate that holiday along with participating in the Lord’s Supper at the same time. Is this possible according to Baptist beliefs, and should it be kept separate from a regular meal? Please advise, since I am going to have a hard decision to make about this. I am the past Chairman, and I am against it.

When you say John 3:16 proves that the Calvinists aren’t correct, how do we know it doesn’t prove that they are? Their whole idea is that God makes people believe, right? And John 3:16 says whosoever believes has everlasting life. Do you see what I mean?

Could you please advise me whether we should be buried or cremated? I have always thought that Christians must be buried as a whole body and not cremated, as this could be against God’s law. The way cemeteries are going these days (not much room), I wonder if cremation will become law. Thank you so much for your teaching, you have helped me so much.

Re: Matt 17:24-27. What is Jesus saying when he implies to Peter that foreigners must pay the tax and that the subjects are exempt? Does this have to do with being exempt from paying the penalty of sin or is there more to it, such as gov’t taxing schemes?

Re: Does God Call Everyone? I see what you are saying for the two different Greek words used for “called” in Romans 8:30 and Matthew 22:14. However, the Greek word in Romans 8:28 is also the same as the one used in Matthew 22:14. Does this mean the people in Romans 8:28 are not the same as the ones being discussed in Romans 8:30? This whole thing is really confusing.

I just read an article which gave a view of 2 Thessalonians 2 that I have never heard before. The author said in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Paul called the Temple “the Temple of God’, which could not be the case if the Church was still here, for we are the “Temple of God”(1 Cor. 3:16). I never thought of that before. And with the following verses speaking of the restrainer being taken out of the midst it fits the context perfectly. I believe there are both grammatical and contextual reasons to identify the Holy Spirit as the restrainer. What are the other views concerning the identity of the restrainer?