I understand we are saved by faith and I’ve read where you said our actions or how we live don’t matter when it comes to being saved…we only have to believe. Does repentance therefore only have to do with our relationship to God? The Bible says we are given a new heart when we believe…how then can someone say they believe in what Jesus did for us yet continue to grievously sin? I’m still confused.

If we are to walk in the spirit so as not to sin, why do we still fall prey to sin? I try hard not to sin but I find that I keep slipping up, letting temptation get the better of me. I’m afraid God will just give up on me. What can I do?

My father and I live together. He and I are both disabled, so its hard for both of us to do things. I am in better shape than him but I still have a hard time doing things around the house. He gets demanding sometimes, expecting me to help him do even ordinary things. The doctor told him to go to a rehab place for therapy to strengthen his muscles so he can take better care of himself, but he stopped going and now he’s so weak he can’t do much of anything. I get angry at him and say nasty things, trying to get him to go back to therapy. Then I feel guilty about it. Is it natural for family members to get mad at each other and say nasty things? Can I be forgiven?

After reading your response to the question “Do We Have Our New Heart Yet?”, you stated that we will not get a new heart until after the rapture when we are changed. What about 2 Corinthians 5:17? It states that we are made new creatures the moment we believe and are saved. Doesn’t that include a new heart?

Many people I have come in contact with over the years in the church I go to say ” I can remember the exact date I was saved”. I personally remember walking the aisle as a young boy of about eight are nine then getting baptized when I was around thirteen years old when I became aware of right and wrong but I can not remember the exact dates. My question is how does knowing the exact date and time matter?

What is your view in regards to the book of remembrance and the rapture of the church in respect to one’s salvation? It would seem to me that one could be saved and still not go in the rapture due to their inclusion/exclusion in the book of the remembrance spoke about in the book of Malachi ch 3.

Romans 8:32 says: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” What does it mean that “…graciously give us all things”? What are these “all things”? God bless you!

Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied that believers would have “a new heart” (Jer. 31:33, Ezek. 11:19-20 and 36:26-27), and Paul and other N.T. writers seem to indicate this prophecy has come true in Rom. 2:29, Rom. 6:17, and Heb. 8:10. Would you say that this prophecy has been fulfilled or do you believe the new heart is not yet available to us?

I receive a number of devotionals each day in my email. One that arrived from (a well known teacher) recently didn’t set well with me and I would appreciate your input on it. Here’s what it says in part.

He said, “God doesn’t have a “wonderful plan” for everybody’s life. Not here on earth, for sure. For some lives His plan is Lou Gehrig’s disease. For some lives (like Job’s) His plan is a life of pain. For others, heartbreak and brokenness, blindness or paralysis, or congenital complications. For many, His plan is to say no to their requests for healing. But we don’t like that. Some won’t accept it. In fact, they go so far as to say, “If you believe that, you lack faith.” On the contrary, I say if you believe that, you believe the Bible!”

If this statement is correct would you please explain to me how this could be so? If it is God who is giving us diseases, pain and suffering, what hope do we have?

My question is about sanctification. I have family members that can point to a time in their lives (30 years ago) when they accepted Christ as their personal savior, but they show no ‘spiritual fruit’ at all . They do not live as Christians in any sense of the word. I know that the bible basically says “once saved always saved”, but if there is no spiritaul growth & no desire for God or His word, meaning they are not being sanctified, is it possible that the conversion was not genuine? I’m confused about this. Does this mean that they are still saved, but it will affect their rewards once in Heaven?