Difficult Questions Answered

The Bible is clear; there is a Hell. Yet, many Christians struggle with this reality because it seems unfair to them that every lost sinner must go to Hell for eternity regardless of the degree of their sin. Many Christians are helped to greater confidence in this Biblical doctrine when they learn that there are, in fact, degrees of punishment in Hell.

How do we know that this is true? We know because the God of the Bible is “a just God” (Is. 45:21). He rewards and punishes every man justly and fairly- “Every transgression and disobedience receive[s] a just recompense of reward (Heb. 2:2).” The reaping will be according to the sowing- “Whatever a man sows that he will also reap (Gal. 6:7).” Jesus was clear; some people will receive “greater condemnation” (Mark 12:40). The level of punishment in Hell is partly determined by the seriousness of an individual’s sins- “Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin (John 19:11).” The severity of our judgment will also be partly determined by the amount of Gospel light we had while here on earth. In Matt. 11:20-24, Jesus made it clear that it would be “more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment” than for Bethsaida and Chorazin because the latter cities had more Gospel revelation and yet still rejected Christ. Again, this is clearly seen in Jesus’ teaching in Luke 12:47 where some are “beaten with many stripes” and others are “beaten with few stripes.”

Be strengthened in your faith, Christian! Every person who goes to Hell will receive exactly the punishment they deserve.

If I could be saved and then by some act lose my salvation:

It would mean that I have no assurance. I could never be certain of salvation.

It would mean that I have no forgiveness. The Bible clearly teaches that Christ died for my sins. If I can lose my salvation, it must mean that there are some sins in my life for which He has not died. Clearly, no one is forgiven!

It would mean that I am not saved by faith alone. The Bible proves over and over that salvation is by faith alone, apart from any human works. Ephesians 2:8-9 say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works so no one could boast.” To imply that salvation is maintained by good works is to add works to salvation and then it cannot be by faith alone. Good works are not the root of salvation, they are the fruit of salvation.

It would mean that God’s power is limited. John 10:28 says, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” If we could lose our salvation, then God is not strong enough to keep us saved! Believers do not hold on to God. In Jesus, He holds on to them.

It would mean that our focus is not on Christ. As long as I worry about whether I can lose my salvation or not, my focus is on me and my behavior and not on Christ and His redemptive finished work on the cross.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made a frightening assertion: “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15 NLT)

Does this mean God’s forgiveness is conditional? Certainly not, because the New Testament makes it clear God in Christ has already forgiven us. But what it does mean is that if we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts, we will never fully experience God’s forgiveness. I like to compare it to a drain pipe that is clogged with impediments. Only when they are removed can water flow freely. In the same way, our lives are stopped up with all kinds of “stuff” that is a result of other persons’ poor choices. We can never fully receive God’s blessings, including His forgiveness, until we make room. The way in which this happens is by forgiving others.

Further motivation for forgiving others is found in Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant recorded in Matthew 18. Even though the king forgave this man’s enormous debt, he steadfastly refused to forgive the paltry debt owed him by a fellow servant. When the king found out what happened, he had the unforgiving servant thrown in prison and tortured. The message is clear: any sins committed against us pale in comparison to the sins we’ve committed against God. Since He has freely forgiven us, we are compelled to go and do likewise.

So the question is not, “If I don’t forgive others, will God forgive me?” Instead, we must consider, “If I’ve received God’s forgiveness, why in the world wouldn’t I want to forgive others?” The answer is obvious and forces us to take the Apostle Paul’s words to heart: “Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (Colossians 3:13b NLT)

Is God real? How do we know He really exists?    People have always asked this question, not just children or teenagers, but even adults.  In the Bible even Moses asked the question to God, “Who are you? What do I tell people when they ask, “who are you God?”  The answer he got was, “Tell them  “I AM THAT I AM !”   [EXODUS 3:14].  So even today this question is still asked.  Besides what the Bible tells us and the historical evidence shows, there is one thought I would like to share with you, to give you something to think about.  First, know we must come to God by faith, [Hebrews 11:6, “For he that comes to God must believe that He is.”]   So let’s look at some very simple things created by God that we can see and KNOW that He is real. Each day we see the sun, the stars in the sky, the moon, this earth and all the beauty He created. But let’s look at something we cannot see.  How many people have ever seen the wind?  We see the results of the wind, but have never actually seen the wind !   We  believe in the wind because we see the trees blowing, the flag waving, the bird being pushed through the air,  all by the wind that is there, but cannot be seen.   We can also know that we have not seen God, but just as the wind is real, He is real also. We want to see before we believe, but Jesus tells us “Blessed are those that have not seen but yet believe.” (John 20:29). The next time you look and see the trees moving from the wind, remember you cannot see the wind, but yet you believe. God is just as real as the wind.  By faith you can believe in God and know He is REAL !!!

The question your friends are asking is a common one, but one that results from not reading the Bible completely. First, God is not a God of hatred. God does hate sin, and ultimately God does send His wrath upon sin and those who choose to continue in sin. The wrath of God is a consequence of His holiness.

Holiness is the only part of the character of God that is thrice repeated in worship in heaven. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.”

• Out of God`s holiness, His wrath falls upon those that reject the one and only way God has provided for people to have sin forgiven and be holy also.
• This provision was made by Christ´s substitutionary death on the cross and His resurrection.
• It is accepted by putting one´s faith in Christ and trusting Him as Lord and Savior.

Both Old and New Testaments declare both the wrath and love of God.

WRATH:

Ezekiel 18:4 … The soul who sins shall die.

Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

LOVE:

Deuteronomy 23:5 … the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Only those who reject the provision of God´s love in Christ need fear His wrath

Because the church is people, not brick and mortar, there will always be obvious things “wrong” with the church, since people are not perfect! The church is a group of sinners saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, therefore, it is a good idea to look long enough to notice the wonderful things about the church.

The church is a loving spiritual family. With God as our Father and Jesus as our older brother, we unite in a love that is deep and sincere.

The church is a place where we tell one another the truth about ourselves and the world around us. Jesus told us that the truth would set us free, and despite the pain of hearing and acknowledging the truth, it does liberate us from our sins and pretensions.

The church is actively serving the “least of these” in the world in the name of Jesus Christ. Throughout our history the church has been involved in some of the most helpful projects to serve people – like creating hospitals, orphanages, rescue missions, etc. We follow the example of Jesus who came, not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The church is a community of encouragement. We are taught to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). People find real help and support from their church families, not just words.

Love, truth, service, encouragement – these are just a few of the things that are right with the church. To discover more you should really just go see for yourself!

I am an atheist. I will give you 10 minutes to convince me to at least reconsider Christianity before I completely write it off. What would you tell me?

There can be no such thing as an atheist. This is why: Let’s imagine that you are a professing atheist. Here are two questions for you to answer: First, do you know the combined weight of all the sand on all the beaches of Hawaii? We can safely assume that you don’t. This brings us to the second question: Do you know how many hairs are on the back of a fully-grown male Tibetan yak? Probably not. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that there are some things that you don’t know. It is important to ask these questions because there are some people who think they know everything.

Let’s say that you know an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. To know 100 percent, you would have to know everything. There wouldn’t be a rock in the universe that you would not be intimately familiar with, or a grain of sand that you would not be aware of. You would know everything that has happened in history, from that which is common knowledge to the minor details of the secret love life of Napoleon’s great-grandmother’s black cat’s fleas. You would know every hair of every head, and every thought of every heart. All history would be laid out before you, because you would be omniscient (all-knowing).

Bear in mind that one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, Thomas Edison, said, “We do not know a millionth of one percent about anything.” Let me repeat: Let’s say that you have an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. Would it be possible, in the ninety-nine percent of the knowledge that you haven’t yet come across, that there might be ample evidence to prove the existence of God? If you are reasonable, you will be forced to admit that it is possible. Somewhere, in the knowledge you haven’t yet discovered, there could be enough evidence to prove that God does exist.

Let’s look at the same thought from another angle. If I were to make an absolute statement such as, “There is no gold in China,” what is needed for that statement to be proven true? I need absolute or total knowledge. I need to have information that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or in any mouth (gold filling) in China. If there is one speck of gold in China, then my statement is false and I have no basis for it. I need absolute knowledge before I can make an absolute statement of that nature. Conversely, for me to say, “There is gold in China,” I don’t need to have all knowledge. I just need to have seen a speck of gold in the country, and the statement is then true.

To say categorically, “There is no God,” is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.

If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, “Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God.” Owning up to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don’t know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge, and why on earth would God want to deny His own existence?

The professing atheist is what is commonly known as an “agnostic” – one who claims he “doesn’t know” if God exists. It is interesting to note that the Latin equivalent for the Greek word is “ignoramus.” The Bible tells us that this ignorance is “willful” (Psalm 10:4). It’s not that a person can’t find God, but that he won’t. It has been rightly said that the “atheist” can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some.

It is said that Mussolini (the Italian dictator), once stood on a pinnacle and cried, “God, if you are there, strike me dead!” When God didn’t immediately bow to his dictates, Mussolini then concluded that there was no God. However, his prayer was answered some time later.

* Excerpted from God Doesn’t Believe in Atheists by Ray Comfort.

I would suggest that you use this time to allow your faith to grow by looking at some facts concerning our Bible.   Understand that the Bible was written over a 1500 year period by 40 authors, prominent men of their times and completed approximately 2000 years ago.  The Bible is not a scientific book but consider the following that before anyone understood the truth of these statements the bible records:

1. The earth is a sphere. (People used to think is was flat)    Isaiah 40:22

2. The number of stars are more than a billion.  (It was once held that there was only 1100.)  Gen 22:17, 32:12, Jeremiah 33:22

3. Every star is different.  (It was once thought that they were all the same.) 1 Corinthians 15:41

4. Light is in motion.  (It was believed that light is fixed in place)  Job 38:35, 38:19

5. Air has weight.  (The thought used to be that air is weightless.) Job 28:25

6. Winds blow in cyclones.  (It was believed that winds blow straight.)  Ecclesiastes 1:6

7. Blood is the source of life and healing.  (Practice used to be to bleed sick people.)  Leviticus 17:11

And I could continue with more facts but what is most important is that you should have an idea of what you believe and why you believe it.  Life will come at you with many issues and challenging problems but instead of allowing them to push you away from your faith, see it as an opportunity to grow spiritually and in knowledge of your faith by opening your Bible.

Also find comfort to know that many famous scientists were also believers (Newton, Kepler, Pascal, Bacon, Pasteur, Kelvin, Marconi, Maxwell, Carver, Fleming, Hertz, and Von Braun, to name a few).