Sinning in the will of God

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Acts 1:20 [speaking of Judas and how he betrayed the Lord]
“For it is written in the book of Psalms,  ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘let another man take his office.’

QUESTION:
“If Adam’s sin was all part of God’s plan then his disobedience was actually fulfilling God’s will and therefore, not really sin.”  Can it be sinful to do the will of God?  In the same way here, it was prophesied that Judas would deny the Lord.  This was part of God’s plan of salvation for mankind and yet Judas is condemned for carrying out God’s plan.  Doesn’t that seem unjust?  The answer isn’t really that difficult to understand. Continue reading →

I didn’t do it!

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Romans 7:20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
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For the longest time I thought Paul was saying. “I am not responsible for my sin”.   I didn’t do it.  The old “Devil made me do it” excuse.  I’m not accountable for the bad things I do.  I am just a victim.  I am actually a good person but this old sin within me just won’t leave me alone.

This verse troubled me.  It just didn’t sound right, didn’t seem to align with other Scripture, but that seemed to be what the passage was saying. Continue reading →

Do sinners experience God’s love?

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QUESTION:

In my reading I came across some statements that do not quite sit right with me.   What do you think about them?

“Because of our rebellion and disobedience we are separated from God and we do not experience His love. As long as we are going our own way and doing our own thing we do not experience God’s love.  In order to experience God’s love we must be ‘born again.'”

ANSWER:

I would disagree and here is why. Continue reading →

Why Crucify?

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Question:

What was the big deal about Jesus being crucified that in 1 Corinthians 1:23 Paul said that is what he preached?  It seems he should have said “but we preach Christ” risen from the dead.  Wouldn’t it have been the same if they stoned him or killed Jesus with a sword?

Answer:

You are right that a major message of Paul was not just that Jesus died but that he was “crucified”.  He should have been stoned.  At his trial he was convicted of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65) and Scripture clearly teaches a blasphemer should be stoned (Leviticus 24:16). Continue reading →

Is sex before marriage a sin?

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I was recently asked this question via a FaceBook chat.  The “friend” who asked it was someone I did not personally know but who had visited the church.  I anticipated after my answer they would sign-off with a quick “thanks” or less.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Here is what I told them: The Bible is very clear on that issue. Continue reading →

If 2 pray for the same job who gets it?

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QUESTION:
If two Christians are praying for the same job, which one will get the job?

ANSWER:

Probably the one that is the boss’s nephew.

I don’t want to appear flippant because this question has some profound implications.   Does God play favorites?  Do we earn our answers from God?   Continue reading →

Will everyone eventually be saved?

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QUESTION:
Someone told me that hell is just temporary and that the greek word associated with eternal punishment really meant for a limited time but the church translated it “eternal” to control people through fear.  Is God saving some people now but will save others after they have been in hell for awhile?

ANSWER:
Some refer to this teaching as Biblical Universalism trying to distinguish themselves from the traditional universalists that deny the Scriptures.  

While Biblical Universalists lay claim to believing the Bible it is still the same old heresy “in sheep’s clothing”.  First, they deny all major translations of the Bible as being accurate.  These “mistranslations”  include the King James Version, New International Standard Version, New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, the Amplified Bible, The Net Bible, New Century Version, New Living Translation, International Standard Version as well as many others.   Instead, they refer you to a few obscure translations which, if you will check it out, you will find were almost exclusively done by other universalists who were not well educated in the original languages and had a point to prove by “correcting” the translations done by scholarly teams of translators both old and new. A key to cult success and heretical teachers is to undermine the trustworthiness of Scriptures so you are left having to depend upon their word, or their translations, for the “truth”. Continue reading →