Being the sensible guy that I am (no editorial comments, Steve!), I have learned to curb my tongue when it comes to uttering that particular prayer.  I'm like a child at the dinner table when the spinach is being passed around: "Patience?  No, thank you, Lord.  I'm full."

On the other hand, I usually seem to have an appetite for more wisdom.  As it is with desert, my response to wisdom has usually been "May I have more, please?"
 

Consider it all joy
 

My congregation has been studying the book of James for the past few weeks and given some recent circumstances in my life, his words took on greater meaning for me.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  (James 1:2-5)
 

I definitely liked James’ advice about asking G-d for wisdom and that has been my recent prayer: "May I have more please, Lord?"

But trials?  Consider them joy?  Was James nuts?

We might be tempted to think so but let’s consider this from a slightly different perspective. In 2006 Americans paid $17.6 billion for something similar.  People willingly parted with their hard-earned dollars (a lot of them!) for… physical fitness training.  They paid to be tested and trained for greater physical strength and endurance.  And they liked it!

Just as we go to the gym and get physical fitness training to increase our strength and endurance, G-d provides us with spiritual fitness training to increase our strength and endurance. Sometimes He has us "bench press" for patience.  Other times He might have us doing "curls" for kindness or perhaps He wants us to "flex" our forbearance.  When it comes to spiritual endurance, however, James tells us that the proper exercise is the testing of our faith.

James also ties our faith to wisdom declaring, "If anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask of G-d," and Solomon says in Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

How little did I realize that along with an answer to my prayer for wisdom I would also be getting a large portion of the fear of the Lord and an extra helping of faith.
 

Surgery
 

In December, my daughter, Alex, had surgery to correct a problem with her inner ear.  While all surgery carries a certain level of risk, my wife's side of the family has a history of major problems with general anesthesia including cardiac arrest and death on the operating table.  Thank G-d they have all been successfully revived and later recovered but I was more than a little worried with my little girl facing such risk.

In that situation I was forced to face a truth that most (especially men!) find highly uncomfortable:  I could do absolutely nothing to help or protect my youngest child.  Her life was entirely out of my hands.

For a guy like me who wants to help with everything and be "Mr. Fixit", this was a very frightening and humbling experience.  It forced me out of my normal "I'll call upon G-d as backup if I can't handle the situation" mindset and into the reality of "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).  My daughter’s life has always been in the Lord's hands, not mine and this circumstance bluntly reminded me of that fact.  If I can paraphrase Matthew 6:27: "Who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his daughter's life?"

On the day of Alex's surgery, as the nurses wheeled her out of my sight into the operating room, G-d brought me to the point where I had to face the fact that He has the power of life and death and I did not.  To stand face to face with that realization before the sovereign G-d of the universe is a humbling and fearful place to be.  But the fear of the Lord is only the beginning of wisdom.

As He brought me to that realization, G-d also placed some questions upon my heart:

Do you trust Me?
Does your faith in Me extend to the life of your daughter?
Does your love for Me go that far?

<Gulp>

Yes, Lord.  I trust You.

Through that circumstance, the Lord increased my faith and drew me closer to Him than I had been in a long time.  I was joyful at the nearness of His presence and at the healing He performed in my daughter.  She is doing well and continues her recovery after the surgery.  Praise His Name!

As G-d served up that bit of faith and I found that it was good, I thought to myself, "May I have more, please?"

Whoops!

I had forgotten that the testing of our faith builds endurance.  Apparently, my endurance training wasn’t finished yet.

This week, my wife also had to have surgery and as I was brought back to that humbling place of fearful reverence before G-d, I felt the same questions upon my heart:

Do you trust Me?
Does your faith in Me extend to the life of your precious bride?
Does your love for me extend that far?

<Gulp> (again)

Yes, Lord.  I trust You.

This time, however, I found it easier to trust Him.  It was not quite as frightening because I knew G-d in a way that I hadn’t known Him before.  As Solomon said, "the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

Like repeatedly running a mile builds our endurance physically, repeatedly having our faith in G-d tested and drawing near to Him builds our endurance spiritually.  Maybe James was right and we should consider such testing pure joy.

Having tasted and seen that the LORD is good (Psalm 34:8), I find myself (cautiously!) thinking again,

"May I have more, please?"

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It is never appropriate to assume that any particular Biblical promise is addressed to us individually. The vast majority of Biblical promises are made to specific individual or groups (usually Israel) and are not applicable to all believers. For example, the promise in Malachi 4 was not a promise delivered to a Christian today.  Malachi 4 is speaking concerning unbelieving Jewish people living in the time of Tribulation.

In Malachi 4, we find the follow prophecy:

Mal. 4:5  “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
Mal. 4:6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a  curse.”

The prophecy in Malachi (repeated in Luke 1:17) is a promise speaking to Israel concerning the days of Tribulation. The timing for this promise is said to be "before the great and terrible day of the Lord." This phrase is a reference to the time of Tribulation, a time of retribution and judgment promised for the Jewish people and for the world. Prior to Tribulation, Malachi says the prophet Elijah will return to preach to Israel, and that preaching will result in the hearts of children returning to the fathers and the fathers to the children.

In this context, the phrase "children" is a reference to the descendants of Israel and the phrase "fathers" is a reference to the Jewish patriarchs and prophets. Specifically, Malachi is promising that Elijah's return will result in Israel returning to observing the the Biblical traditions of orthodox Judaism and to following the example of the "fathers of Israel" in their observance of Jewish Law. Elijah's call to return to the Law will lead the nation of Israel to a revival during the first part of Tribulation.

God's purpose in this revival will be to encourage many in Israel to join in worship at the newly reconstructed Jewish temple during Tribulation.  You can learn more about this purpose in our ongoing Revelation study, specifically in Lesson 11.

God delivers promises to specific people or groups, and so we cannot "claim" a promise in Scripture for ourselves. The Bible never instructs us to engage in such a practice, and there is no mechanism given in Scripture by which we can redirect God's promises to ourselves and apart from His intentions. The concept of "claiming" promises that were originally given to other people is an invention of false teachers, and sadly it has become a part of modern Christian culture.

In reality, God's promises cannot be appropriate for our own desires. Instead, the context of Scripture must guide our interpretation and application of any Scripture, including our application of God's promises. His promises are only applicable to the audience(s) He intended by His word. Only when we find clear intent in Scripture that a promise was intended to apply to all believers universally (as when Christ promised that all believers will receive the Holy Spirit) can we then assume that the promise is ours as well. In the case of Malachi 4, however, the intended audience for God's promise was Israel during Tribulation.

On the other hand, if you believe God has indicated to you personally in some manner that He intends to restore your family or heal a broken relationship, then you can trust in that assurance, for the Lord will do as He has said. If such a work of restoration does happen in your life, you should give God the glory but you should not claim that this work of God was a fulfillment of His promises in Malachi 4.

Since you raised the question of how salvation works, we want to begin our answer with a clear and concise explanation of the salvation God has made available to men. According to Scripture, salvation from the penalty for sin is made possible by our faith in the work of Christ, Who atoned for our sin by His death on the cross in our place. All that God requires as payment for our sin was accomplished by Jesus on the cross.

Therefore, our personal works play no part in our salvation.  We can add nothing to the accomplishments of Christ on the cross, and therefore only by faith in His work may we be saved. Our faith is in the sufficiency of Christ's work and the truth of His claims to be the Son of God, and our faith takes the place of relying on our personal works of righteousness. This is the heart of the Gospel.

If you believe that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God, and that His death and resurrection is proof of His claims, then the Bible commands you to confess this belief and receive water baptism as a sign of your faith. Having made this confession, the Bible says you will be saved. The word of God leaves no doubt or question concerning this outcome. The moment of your faith is the moment of your salvation…by faith you have already been saved! Consider the following statements from Scripture:

Rom. 10:9  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Eph. 2:4 But God, being  rich in mercy, because of  His great love with which He loved us,
Eph. 2:5 even when we were  dead  in our transgressions, made us alive together  with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),
Eph. 2:6 and  raised us up with Him, and  seated us with Him in  the heavenly places in  Christ Jesus,
Eph. 2:7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing  riches of His grace in  kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Eph. 1:13 In  Him, you also, after listening to  the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph. 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of  God’s own possession,  to the praise of His glory.
 

The Bible testifies that those who confess faith in Christ receive a downpayment on their eternal inheritance, which is the Holy Spirit taking up residence in our hearts. This downpayment is God's pledge to us that the work He has begun through our faith He promises He will bring to completion in the day of our resurrection, as Paul says:

Phil. 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
 

Regarding your concerns of not being saved, rest assured that such doubts and feelings are normal for Christians. The enemy delights to bring doubts to our mind and to cause us to wonder if we are "good enough." The irony is that we aren't good enough to be saved! We never were. We don't merit the salvation we have received, and we can never allow ourselves to think that we "deserved" God's grace. Grace, by definition, is not deserved or earned.

Furthermore, our faith is a gift of God. It did not depend on our own resolve or determination to believe. The Bible says our belief is a gift from God, as Paul explains:

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph. 2:9  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
 

Finally, John wrote to those who have the Spirit and know the truth of the Gospel to address this very doubt of whether we are truly saved.  He said:

1John 3:23  This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
1John 3:24  The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.  We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

1John 4:4  You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
1John 4:5  They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
1John 4:6  We are from God; he who knows God listens to us;  he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1John 4:7  Beloved, let us  love one another, for love is from God; and  everyone who loves is born of God and  knows God.
1John 4:8  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1John 4:13  By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
1John 4:14  We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
1John 4:15  Whoever confesses that  Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
 

John wrote to assure the church that we can know for certain we are God's children by our post-salvation experiences, especially by our awareness that the Spirit has come to dwell in us through the changes we witness in our life. Among other changes, John mentions that we will enjoy fellowship with other believers, we will feel separated from the world of unbelievers, we will begin to love one another with God's sacrificial love, and we will grow to abide in Christ (i.e., depend on Him and follow Him).

More than all else, John says we have assurance of salvation simply by the certainty of our confession. Whoever confesses (i.e., gives a truthful testimony) that Jesus is the Son of God is saved, John reiterates.

In our experience, only Christians spend time worrying about whether they are truly saved. Unbelievers aren't troubled by thoughts or worries of not having salvation in Christ, because they are unfamiliar with God's grace and therefore they cannot know what they do not have.  In a sense, only those who have come to know the grace of God will worry over the prospect of not having it. For many Christians, these concerns simply testify to a relationship with Christ.

The process of maturing in our walk of faith is a process of moving beyond these doubts and questions and taking hold of our salvation and pursuing maturity in our witness and understanding of God.  The writer of Hebrews says:

Heb. 6:17  In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise  the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
Heb. 6:18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of  the hope set before us.
 

God has sworn by His own name that His purposes and promises are unchangeable, so that we who have been saved would have confidence to take hold of the hope set before us. Having taken hold of that hope, we will be encouraged to walk in faith not looking back in doubt.  This is the upward call of Christ, as Paul calls it:

Phil. 3:12  Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Phil. 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
Phil. 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
 

So based on your confession of faith in your letter to us, we encourage you to take heart that you know the Lord and that your worries are natural and shared by many Christians at various times.  Your worries testify to the Spirit working in your heart convicting you of sin and preparing you for a life of holiness in serving the Lord. Move beyond your doubts and begin to ask how you can better serve the Lord Who saved you.  Glory be to God!
 

Recently, we've received feedback from listeners that our slides and handouts are causing problems for those who desire to print our materials on paper for distribution to students. Most of our Revelation handouts use a black background, which looks best when projected on a screen yet consumes large amounts of black ink when printed on paper. Since I teach Revelation with an overhead projector, the black background produces a pleasing look, but we never considered the effect of our color choice on the cost to print. Based on the feedback from our listeners though, we've made an adjustment.

Starting today, all our Revelation lessons offer both a Student's version and a Teacher's version of the slides. The student version retains the black backgrounds best suited to projection on a screen, while the teacher's version removes the black background to allow for economical printing. We hope this solution offers you the best of both worlds, and we appreciate the feedback.

We welcome other suggestions on how to make our materials better. Our ministry exists to teach God's word and to support and encourage other teachers in their ministry in the word. May the Lord continue to magnify these efforts to His glory! 

While the Christian is not bound by the Law of Moses (as we explained), this does not mean that the Law and related Scripture are meaningless for a Christian. As Paul said:

2Tim. 3:16  All Scripture is  inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for  training in righteousness;

Christians are commanded to read and learn from all Scripture, but learning from the Law of Moses is not the same thing as being bound to keep the Law of Moses. For example, the Christian is not bound to pay tithes as prescribed by the Law, but by studying the Law concerning tithing we come to learn important truths concerning giving to the work of God, (e.g., that the Lord provides for His priests and ministers through the giving of those who receive the service of those ministers).

Studying the lessons of the Law found in the Old Testament reinforces New Testament principles and gives context for God's expectations.  For example, in the New Testament we learn that a pastor or teacher is worthy of double honor and should receive support from those they shepherd, as Paul taught:

1Tim. 5:17  The elders who  rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who  work hard  at preaching and teaching.
1Tim. 5:18 For the Scripture says, “ YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING,” and “ The laborer is worthy of his wages.
 

The context for why this principle is true can be found in the Old Testament law where God explained His desire that His ministers receive support from those they serve. So the study of God's Law in the Old Testament is valuable and instructive and necessary, but we are not expected to follow it as one bound by it.  As Paul himself says:

Rom. 6:14 For  sin shall not  be master over you, for  you are not under law but  under grace
 

Regarding the specific question of sinning in ignorance, we were teaching how a person may sin without specific knowledge they were sinning. Even though they may be ignorant of their sin, it is still an offense to God and requires atonement.  Jesus' atoning work covers all sins, including sins we commit in ignorance. 

Like all sin, any sins committed in ignorance may result in earthly consequences, but our eternal judgment have been paid already by Christ. This is why the Bible says clearly:

Rom. 8:1  Therefore there is now no  condemnation for those who are in  Christ Jesus.
 

As Christians, we do not have condemnation from God for our sins because we have faith in Jesus Christ and His death on our behalf.  All Christians stand before God without condemnation because Jesus paid the entire price for our sin, and this fact doesn't change because some sins are committed purposefully or accidentally. 

Sin is sin, and Christ's payment was sufficient to cover all sins. We may suffer earthly consequences for our sin, as all men do, but we will not see an eternal penalty for our sin.

First, we commend you for your willingness to engage your family members in this important discussion. We know how challenging it can be to present the Gospel to family members, and we remember Jesus' words when He said:

Mark 6:4 Jesus said to them, “ A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”

Secular humanism is just the latest label for an age-old perspective that holds human reason and intellect as higher values than religious faith. The information in your family member's response was copied from a well-known online resource for paganism and anti-religious viewpoints.

Even though your relative appears to be engaging with you in this debate, in reality she is attempting to shut down the conversation to prevent you from presenting the Gospel. Laura was probably hoping the material she copied and sent you would put an end to your efforts. Most likely she is uncomfortable in engaging in this discussion personally, perhaps out of ignorance or an insecurity, and so she relied on someone else's words instead.

Ironically, this may be a good thing for your purposes, since it suggests she may be unprepared to defend her views and that the Lord may be at work to open her eyes. Since Laura side-stepped the conversation, we recommend you keep trying to engage her in the very thing she is avoiding: the truth of God's word.

Rather than responding to her copied content point-for-point (which just moves you further away from a discussion of the Gospel and God's word), we recommend you continue to speak to her from Scripture.  Explain the holiness of God and the sinful nature of men, explain the problem with our sin when it comes into the presence of a holy and just God Who must act in perfect justice, and explain the opportunity to escape that judgment by the grace of a loving God Who died for us.  These are the facts Laura was probably trying to avoid as she threw up the smokescreen of secular humanism.

Finally, keep in mind that secular humanism is nothing new and nothing different. Since the time of Cain, men had tried to see themselves as independent of God and capable of finding truth apart from God. The reality of our accountability to an all-powerful, all-knowing God is both inconvenient and convicting, and so mankind has sought to suppress this conviction by changing the topic away from God and toward nature, science, fate, and other sources for human wisdom.

Paul put it this way:

Rom. 1:20 For  since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,  being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Rom. 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not  honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became  futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom. 1:22  Professing to be wise, they became fools,
Rom. 1:23 and  exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and  crawling creatures.  
 

In reality, the enlightened reason of human secularism is neither enlightened nor reasonable. The Bible says the so-called wisdom of men is actually foolishness. The unbelieving men are deceived by the enemy, yet have no appreciation for the depths and power of that deception. Paul taught again:

2Cor. 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2Cor. 4:4 in whose case  the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving  so that they might not see the  light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the  image of God.
 

Nevertheless, there is reason to hope that your efforts to reach your sister will be effect.  God is capable of breaking through your sister's blindness and bringing her to a knowledge of the truth.  Paul says it this way:

1Cor. 1:18  For the word of the cross is  foolishness to  those who  are perishing, but to us who  are being saved it is  the power of God.
1Cor. 1:19 For it is written,
“ I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”
1Cor. 1:20  Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of  this age? Has not God  made foolish the wisdom of  the world?
1Cor. 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God  the world through its wisdom did not come to know God,  God was well-pleased through the  foolishness of the  message preached to  save those who believe.
1Cor. 1:22 For indeed  Jews ask for  signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
1Cor. 1:23 but we preach   Christ crucified,  to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles  foolishness,
1Cor. 1:24 but to those who are  the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ  the power of God and  the wisdom of God.
1Cor. 1:25 Because the  foolishness of God is wiser than men, and  the weakness of God is stronger than men.
 

Paul taught that the story of the cross of Christ was designed by God to appear foolish to those who think themselves wise, so that He may shame human wisdom by the "foolishness" of His plan of salvation. God also delights, however, to save those who believe in the message of the Gospel by the power of God. And the foolish and weak message of the Gospel is far wiser than the so-called wisdom of men, and the power of the Gospel to save is far stronger than the strength of men to save themselves by their efforts at "reason."

Therefore, take heart in knowing that if God is at work through you to save Laura, then His efforts cannot be stopped, and her adherence to pagan principles will one day give way to the truth of the Gospel.  In the meantime, continue to focus your conversation on the truth of the Gospel and don't get distracted in debates over the things she copies from the internet and throws in your face.

Like all unbelievers, she desperately needs to hear the very conversation she is trying to avoid.
 

“Those who have faith need no explanation. For those who have no faith, no explanation is possible.”

I talked about not needing an explanation for why the chair holds me when I sit in it, and how faith is like that – no explanation required.

Recently a friend who had read the post told me that she thought that it was important to occasionally do a chair inspection because sometimes the legs come out from under you. She should know. She’s been through a year of testing like I would not wish on anyone except that the result has been a sturdier chair than she sat in before, and I would not have thought that possible. But that’s just the thing. We get comfortable in our chair, and we take it for granted. We don’t go looking for ways to improve on what we’ve got or make it more solid. We sink into the soft spots that are shaped to our backsides, breathe a sigh and snuggle in.

My friend did nothing wrong. She was serving whole-heartedly, praying diligently, studying faithfully, loving God and people passionately, when suddenly there was a total collapse. Something she believed to be solid and unshakeable fell apart under her while she was snuggled up in her soft spot, and she crashed. In the months that followed she found herself shaking the dust off and putting the chair back together. And in that is the lesson: we can do a periodic inspection of the parts before the chair collapses, or we can inspect them as we reassemble the pieces.

What is it that you’re sitting on? Is it what we call, “Fire Insurance”; the “get-out-of-hell-free” card? Is it a Grandfather God of Grace who would never allow suffering to enter your life? Is it the God who rewards good works and tireless service but rarely lets you sit in the chair because of your self-sufficiency? Maybe your chair is sturdier than that, like my friend’s. Maybe it is carved out of a solid piece of the Rock but it’s never been tested by a burden that’s twice the size of your spiritual shoulders. Even that chair will at least wobble under the weight. And all of these chairs require careful inspection. Will they hold you when you really need to be held and your burden is heavy?

Our chair – our faith, is built on our God and who we believe Him to be even when He is suddenly unrecognizable. My friend had to ask, “Are You there?”, “Are You good?”, “Do You see?”, “Are You strong?”, “Are You faithful?”, “Can I trust You for every promise?”.  She had to inspect the faith for which she previously needed no explanation. As God began to answer her questions through His word, she has slowly begun to rebuild her chair. 

Her advice then, is a frequent inspection, but also that there truly is no explanation required. Yes, her chair was tested and collapsed under the weight, but the pieces were still there, and as she is putting them all back together she is affirming to herself that she doesn’t need to see God to believe He is there. She doesn’t need to feel good to know that God is good. She doesn’t need immediate intervention to believe that God sees. She doesn’t need to test God to know that He is strong.  She doesn’t need everything to go her way to know that He is faithful. She doesn’t need to see the fulfillment of every promise to know that she can trust Him for them. When she gets her chair reassembled it will be supported by the glue that holds it together – a trial. Even then, I don’t think she’ll take certain things for granted ever again, and I’m sure she’ll do a frequent chair inspection in the event that she can prevent another collapse.

How’s your chair? Have you done an inspection? Does it wobble a bit? Are the rungs dislodged? Better shore it up before you have to sit in it with a heavy load! 
 

In response to your first question, the Bible teaches death comes to the body but our spirit is eternal. After the body dies, angels will escort our spirit to either Hades, the holding place of the sinner (i.e., unbeliever) or to Jesus' presence in the Throne Room. Unbelievers are held in Hades (Hell) in torment until a day of judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20. Believers on the other hand will remain with Jesus forever, initially in spirit form and later in new bodies give to us on the day of Resurrection, also called the Rapture.

Regarding the stories of people who have visited heaven, we believe these stories are something other than a true vision of Heaven.  These visions are likely the result of demonic deception, hallucinations or even outright lies.  Most of the stories are sensationalized by the media, but as Christians we don't gain out knowledge of the spiritual realm from such experiences.

In fact, it is dangerous to incorporate worldly experience into our theology, since our world and even our sense lie to us.  The Bible was given to us so that we might have all we need to understand God and His plan fully.  As Peter explains:

2Pet. 1:2  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in  the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
2Pet. 1:3 seeing that His  divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true  knowledge of Him who  called us  by His own glory and  excellence. 
 

Consequently, we encourage you to seek for the truth of God through His word and not to rely on these supposed experiences to form your understanding of spiritual things.  Our experiences and emotions easily manipulated by the enemy to fool us.  As Paul said:

2Cor. 11:14 No wonder, for even  Satan disguises himself as an  angel of light.
 

Finally, there is no second chance for those who have already died.  If they died without faith in Jesus Christ, then they have already entered Hades and will receive their eternal judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment. Praying on behalf of these souls is a prayer spoken contrary to God's word, and therefore He will not honor it.  As Hebrews teaches:

Heb. 9:27 And inasmuch as  it is  appointed for men to die once and after this  comes judgment,
Heb. 9:28 so Christ also, having been  offered once to  bear the sins of many, will appear  a second time for  salvation  without reference to sin, to those who  eagerly await Him.

For more information on this area of study, we recommend you follow our Revelation Bible study.

First, we commend you for your willingness to engage your family members in this important discussion. We know how challenging it can be to present the Gospel to family members, and we remember Jesus' words when He said:

Mark 6:4 Jesus said to them, “ A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”
 

Secular humanism is just the latest label for an age-old perspective that maintains human reason and wisdom are higher truths than religious faith. The information in your sister's response was simply copied from a well-known online resource for paganism and anti-religious viewpoints. 

Even though she appears to be engaging with you in this debate, in reality your sister is attempting to shut down the conversation to prevent you from presenting the Gospel to her. She was probably hoping the material she copied and sent you would put an end to your efforts. Most likely your sister is uncomfortable in engaging in this discussion personally, perhaps out of ignorance or an insecurity, and so she relied on someone else's words instead.

Ironically, this may be a good thing for your purposes, since it suggests she may be unprepared to defend her views and that the Lord may be at work to open her eyes. Since your sister side-stepped the conversation, we recommend you keep trying to engage her in the very thing she is avoiding: the truth of God's word.

Rather than responding to her copied content point-for-point (which just moves you further away from the Gospel and God's word), continue to speak from Scripture.  Explain the holiness of God and the sinful nature of men, explain the problem with our sin when it comes into the presence of a holy and just God Who must act in perfect justice, and explain the opportunity to escape that judgment by the grace of a loving God Who died for us. These are the facts your sister was probably trying to avoid as she threw up the smokescreen of describing secular humanism.

Finally, keep in mind that secular humanism is nothing new and nothing different. Since the time of Cain, men had tried to see themselves as independent of God and capable of finding truth apart from God. The reality of our accountability to an all-powerful, all-knowing God is both inconvenient and convicting, and so mankind has sought to suppress this conviction by changing the topic away from God and toward nature, science, fate, and other sources for human wisdom. Paul put it this way:

Rom. 1:20 For  since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,  being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Rom. 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not  honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became  futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom. 1:22  Professing to be wise, they became fools,
Rom. 1:23 and  exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and  crawling creatures.  
 

In reality, the enlightened reason of human secularism is neither enlightened nor reasonable. The Bible says the so-called wisdom of men is actually foolishness. The unbelieving men are deceived by the enemy, yet have no appreciation for the depths and power of that deception. Paul taught again:

2Cor. 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2Cor. 4:4 in whose case  the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving  so that they might not see the  light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the  image of God.
 

Nevertheless, there is reason to hope that your efforts to reach your sister will be effect.  God is capable of breaking through your sister's blindness and bringing her to a knowledge of the truth.  Paul says it this way:

1Cor. 1:18  For the word of the cross is  foolishness to  those who  are perishing, but to us who  are being saved it is  the power of God.
1Cor. 1:19 For it is written,
“ I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”
1Cor. 1:20  Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of  this age? Has not God  made foolish the wisdom of  the world?
1Cor. 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God  the world through its wisdom did not come to know God,  God was well-pleased through the  foolishness of the  message preached to  save those who believe.
1Cor. 1:22 For indeed  Jews ask for  signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
1Cor. 1:23 but we preach   Christ crucified,  to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles  foolishness,
1Cor. 1:24 but to those who are  the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ  the power of God and  the wisdom of God.
1Cor. 1:25 Because the  foolishness of God is wiser than men, and  the weakness of God is stronger than men.
 

Paul taught that the story of the cross of Christ was designed by God to sound foolish to those who think themselves wise, so He may shame human wisdom by His plan of salvation. God also delights, however, to save those who believe in the message of the Gospel by the power of God. And the foolish and weak message of the Gospel is far wiser than the so-called wisdom of men, and the power of the Gospel to save is far stronger than the strength of men to save themselves by their efforts at "reason."

Therefore, take heart in knowing that if God is at work through you to save your sister, then His efforts cannot be stopped, and your sister's adherence to pagan principles will one day give way to the truth of the Gospel.  In the meantime, continue to focus your conversation on the truth of the Gospel and don't get distracted in debates over things she copies from the internet and throws in your face. Like all unbelievers, she desperately needs to hear the very conversation she is trying to avoid.

First, we applaud your sensitivity to the issue of headship. The Bible calls for men to take the leadership role within the church, particularly in the realm of teaching.  On the other hand, every believer is called to witness to the truth of the Gospel at every opportunity.  Pastors and men in general are not "specially commissioned" to share the Gospel.  On the contrary, all Christians are commissioned to share their faith.  As Peter wrote:

1Pet. 3:15 but  sanctify  Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready  to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet  with gentleness and reverence;
 

Peter wasn't writing this instruction only to the men in the church or to pastors; he was writing to the entire Church. So you should feel free to embrace the opportunities the Lord gives to explain your faith and share the Gospel, whether to women or to men.  Many men have been led to faith by the witness of a faithful woman, especially mothers to their sons and wives to their husbands.  This situation does not threaten the Biblical call for headship, since it is impossible for a Christian to assume the role of spiritual authority over an unbeliever. 

Should your efforts to witness to this man prove successful, then you should anticipate the need ultimately to refer this man to other godly men in the Church who may disciple him and minister to his needs.  In this way, you are both respecting male headship while at the same time seizing the opportunity to use your spiritual gifts and the power of your testimony to further the Kingdom and glorify the Lord.

Finally, we always advise Christians to remain vigilant in any situation in which you could be engaged in potentially sensitive and emotionally-charged discussions with someone of the opposite sex, especially if one or both of the individuals are married.  Unfortunately, sharing our faith with the opposite sex can lead to unwanted advances, and the enemy often exploits these contacts to tempt believers into sin or to give opportunity for false accusations.

Therefore, always conduct such conversations in a public space or under the watchful eye of other men or women who can protect you from a compromising situation or false accusations. Never agree to meet alone with a person of the opposite sex in a home or in a car, and avoid engaging in frequent phone conversations without disclosing those conversations to a brother or sister in the Church.

Nevertheless, disruption is the Lord's favorite tactic for growing us spiritually and bringing us to a greater understanding of Himself and of who we are in Christ. Recently, Verse By Verse Ministry had the privalege to engage in one these disrupting conversations with one of our readers on the topic of God's election in salvation. Few doctrines cause more angst and argument within the Body of Christ than election, and in my experience such debates are usually a battle of wits among unarmed men, as the saying goes.

Our ministry strives to handle these exchanges with grace and truth, and we work hard to present a logical and Biblically-based perspective on serious matters like election without resorting to clichés or recycling unhelpful arguments from various "camps" of thought. In this particular conversation with a reader (I will call "Sally"), we experienced a particularly fruitful outcome. I wanted to share the exchange in the hope others might benefit from it.  

Part One of our discussion follows below:

Sally: 

I was reading your answer to Is there an age of accountability in the Bible.  I liked your explanation of the verses and the final answer to the question, however I am confused and worried about some of the scriptures and explanation that you gave about being saved! You are saying that God decides who gets saved and who doesn't? God gets to decide who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell? Why don't we have free will?  I thought that we were able to decide for ourselves if we wanted to follow, accept and love God? If God chooses Who is saved and who isn't, why would there be judgement and what's the point of living life on this earth if our lives are already decided before we were even born?
 

VBVM:

We understand the challenge of understanding the important and foundational truth of election (i.e., the Bibical teaching of how God choses who will be saved). This core Biblical doctrine has been pushed aside in modern times, but it is the truth of Scripture.

Your surprise at learning of this Biblical truth is not uncommon.  Because many churches and pastors have rejected this truth or simply neglect to teach it properly, the doctrine of election (and others like it) has become unknown to many Christians though it was the teaching of the Apostles and the accepted view of the church for many centuries.

In more recent times, false teachings concerning salvation have supplanted the Biblical truth of election, most notably the claim that all men have "free will" to accept or reject the Gospel. To our untaught ears, such teaching sounds sensible, and so we accept it without questioning. Our false understanding will be reinforced and our hearts hardened to the truth if we seek Biblical instruction only from those who reinforce our preferred views, thus preventing us from ever discovering the truth.

Paul taught that we should expect this movement away from Biblical truth and toward preferred teachings during latter times:

2Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
2Tim. 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Rather than reinforcing such myths, our ministry is committed to teaching the truths of Scripture (even if they are unpopular), and the Biblical truth concerning salvation is that God chooses who will be saved.  While men do have free will to make many decisions in life, when it comes to accepting the Gospel message, the Bible says there is no such thing as a man who willfully chooses to follow God or receive the Gospel.

In fact, the term "free will" never appears in the Bible nor is there any such teaching in Scripture concerning salvation. On the contrary, Paul says in Romans:

Rom. 3:11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
Rom. 3:12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

The Scriptures teach that because of Adam's fall in the Garden, all men are born spiritually dead and unable to obey God's call to believe. Our fallen spiritual nature is incapable of accepting the things of God. We are literally deaf to the Gospel message, as Paul teaches:

1Cor. 2:14  But a natural man  does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are  foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually  appraised.
 

The Gospel message must be "spiritually appraised," which means it can only be accepted as true by a living spirit. If God waited for men to choose Him, no one would ever be saved, since all men are born with a dead spirit that cannot accept the things of God. Simply put, God MUST act first to give us His living Spirit before we have the capacity to demonstrate saving faith, as Jesus taught:

John 6:65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
 

This is the very definition of grace: God acting on our behalf because we were incapable of acting for ourselves.  As Paul taught in Ephesians:

Eph. 2:4 But God, being  rich in mercy, because of  His great love with which He loved us,
Eph. 2:5 even when we were  dead  in our transgressions, made us alive together  with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),
Eph. 2:6 and  raised us up with Him, and  seated us with Him in  the heavenly places in  Christ Jesus,
Eph. 2:7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing  riches of His grace in  kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
 

Our prideful, sinful nature prefers to believe that we are in control of everything in our lives, including over our salvation. God desires to confront our pride, and by His word the Lord makes clear we were not a participant in our own salvation, even in the process of believing. 

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved  through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph. 2:9  not as a result of works, so that  no one may boast.
 

The Bible teaches that even our faith itself was not something "of ourselves" but rather "it is the gift of God." This truth offends our pride, because it removes our opportunity to boast (even a little) that we accepted or received Christ. The truth is Christ received us. We prefer to think we were in control when we accepted the Gospel and that we chose Christ as our Savior. The truth is God chose us.

Naturally, we rebel at the notion that God retains control over our eternal destiny, but Scripture teaches that God made His decision concerning our salvation long ago:

Eph. 1:3   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in  the heavenly places in Christ,
Eph. 1:4 just as  He chose us in Him before  the foundation of the world, that we would be  holy and blameless before  Him.  In love
Eph. 1:5  He  predestined us to  adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself,  according to the  kind intention of His will,
Eph. 1:6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in  the Beloved.
 

Even before the foundations of the Earth, the Lord had already chosen who would be "in Him" meaning who would receive His grace. He determined His elect would receive His mercy before they were ever born.  He made this decision before the foundations of the earth so that His children could never claim that God's offer of mercy arrived on the basis of merit.  We could never say we "deserved" or "earned" God's grace – or even that we were clever enough to believe in the Gospel. 

Paul uses the story of Jacob and Esau to explain that this principle has always been God's way:

Rom. 9:10  And not only this, but there was  Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
Rom. 9:11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that  God’s purpose according to His choice would  stand, not  because of works but  because of Him who calls,
Rom. 9:12 it was said to her, “ THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”
Rom. 9:13 Just as it is written, “ JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”
 

Before these two children were even born and before either had done anything good or bad, God's choice had been made, so that the world wouldn't assume that Jacob deserved or earned God's favor. Instead, Paul says God loved (i.e., chose) Jacob and hated (i.e., rejected) Esau and made His choice before they were born. 

We should contemplate this example carefully. Before the twins were born, God told Rebekah that He would choose Jacob (the younger) over Esau (the older). and Paul says God did this so men would recognize that God assigned each to their respective fates apart from human actions or merit.  In other words, Jacob's "free will" had nothing to do with God's choosing of him.

Regarding your question on why God has purposed this plan, remember that all creation exists for one purpose: to give glory to God. Therefore, God's design of the universe and His plan for salvation is - by definition - the best way to glorify God.  We can begin to understand how this is so when we consider the possible alternatives.

For example, instead of saving some men, God could have chosen to save no one. Obviously, this option would not bring as much glory to God, since there would be no one in eternity to praise the Lord for His mercy and grace.

On the other hand, God could have chosen to save all men by grace and send no one to Hell. Though it may not make sense to us immediately, Paul teaches that this option actually brings God LESS glory. It is less benficial to God's glory that He save ALL men than if He were to save only SOME men and permit the rest to perish justly in their sin.

Paul explains:

Rom. 9:22  What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much  patience vessels of wrath  prepared for destruction?
Rom. 9:23 And He did so to make known  the riches of His glory upon  vessels of mercy, which He  prepared beforehand for glory,
Rom. 9:24 even us, whom He also  called,  not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
 

Paul says that even though God was willing to condemn all men to Hell (justly), for the sake of His glory He chose to appoint some men to salvation while assigning the rest to the destruction they deserve for their sin. By allowing both the elect and the nonelect to exist, God provided His elect a contrast that teaches us to understand and appreciate God's mercy and grace. 

If God had chosen to save everyone, we could never fully appreciate what it meant to receive His mercy. We would take His mercy for granted, since everyone received it. We could never appreciate what we were saved from, nor could we appreciate that sin deserves wrath from a holy and just God. This would cheapen our appreciation of grace and diminish God's mercy. He would appear to have less glory in our eyes, but because we do know of His judgment against sinners, we can better appreciate His grace to us. In this way, God's plan brings Him the greatest glory.
 

Continue to Part 2...

If you look at a map of the United States you will find us in the upper left hand corner of Arkansas. An hour from my driveway is the city center of Joplin, Missouri. If that doesn’t spark an “Ah-ha," let me remind you that in May of last year Joplin experienced the most devastating tornado in the nation’s last six decades of weather record keeping. The monster was over a mile wide, scrubbed the ground for a staggering 38 minutes, destroying 8,000 structures and leaving 1,800 acres of land scoured.

When all the statistics were tallied, 160 were dead – many were children literally yanked from a parent’s arms into the storm. The most frightening horror films ever made are those recorded by amateur videographers as they experienced the terror first-hand. It was an event that even from my cozy corner of relative safety will not soon be forgotten.  

On Saturday I had an opportunity to go to Joplin with a friend of mine to drop her daughter at Missouri Southern after Christmas break. I was not one of the relief workers who headed to Joplin post-disaster, so this was my first look at what is now recovery.  As we sat at a stop light, my friend pointed out a massive oak across the street that was the lone testimony to whatever stood on that square of ground, save a flat of concrete foundation. The tree had been debarked in a twisting pattern from the bottom of the trunk up to what was left of the branches. My friend said, “It must have some strong roots.”

Maybe you understand. Maybe you haven’t experienced a physical EF5 tornado, but you’ve been left in the wreckage of an emotional storm. Maybe you’re standing right now in the scraps of what was a prosperous life full of future hope. Maybe your body has been ravaged and scarred by a tempest of illness. Maybe you’re turning in a circle trying to find a recognizable point on the landscape of your life, and coming up empty. You’ve been debarked. The question is, are you still standing?

Standing may not seem like such a great thing relatively speaking, but as I looked at that tree compared to the devastation around it – the absence around it – what I saw was survival, hope, fortitude, and the promise of a future. There wasn’t much left, but by God it was still standing. And I mean, by God, and only by His strength.

Sometimes we live through debarking and just stand there dazed by the experience, shocked beyond comprehension. But we’re standing; roots dug down deep enough to not feel. Deep enough to hold firm. Deep enough to preserve life. There’s not much left that’s visible to the eye and what’s there looks pitiful, but the roots are strong and we're still standing.    

I could preach at you from the parable of the soils in Mark four, or allegorize the Root of Jesse. I could tell you that you should plant yourself in the Word, abide there and send down roots into streams of Living Water. I could remind you that the Word says that even from a stump, a tree can grow and bear fruit. But you should do that reading yourself. It will make your roots stronger. It will make you able to stand. It will preserve your life when the winds of destruction rage against you.

Those roots will leave you as a testimony of survival, hope, fortitude, and the promise of a future. To those who can already see the clouds gathering on the horizon you will be a tribute to your roots. When there is nothing else left, live from the Root. 

The lesson was delivered on January 6, 2012, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I’ve been equally frustrated of late with my spiritual growth. I have been as purposeful about growing in Christ as I was in deciding to let my hair grow, but I find the progress similarly slow-going and coming up short. Short on faith, short on love, short on long-suffering. Short on maturity. In times of small daily trials I am sure that I have closed the gap, and I walk away tossing my hair with joy. Then I get home and take a good look in the mirror and realize the truth that while there has been some progress, I’m still short-ish compared to the goal.  

This is usually the point, when I have attempted to grow my hair in the past, where I give up and head to the salon. I just can’t take it another minute. But I am determined and steadfast! Though it takes a million years, I will have chin-length hair! And though my spiritual life is still an untamed, unruly mess, I will stay in the grip of my God who will lead me long-distance to my long-range longing of being a long-standing, long-suffering, long-lived (although long-winded) Saint, because He is not longitudinally challenged! I will have no shortage of success because God is not in short-supply of grace and is not short-handed, short-sighted nor short-lived. Though He will not short-change me, there is no short-cut to victory. And that is the long and short of things.
 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)
 

Looking back on 2011, our ministry was most certainly blessed by the Lord with the opportunity to reach even more people with the word of God. We grew our audience and our reach, which was especially gratifying in a difficult economic climate and despite a slight drop in donations. By devoting nearly 90% of our revenue to the development and distribution of our teaching, we ensured our library of sound Biblical instruction continued to grow, so that by the end of 2011, our website offered students nearly 250 written articles and over 500 audio lessons teaching the Bible verse-by-verse. 

Beyond adding new material, the minsitry also made an important decision in 2011 to revisit some of our existing Bible classes, specifically our foundational Genesis and Revelation courses. The new classes have been re-written from the ground up and include much more material, new written notes and in the case of Revelation, overhead slides to compliment the teaching. Both classes started in 2011 and will finish in mid-2012, at which point I will move to new studies in the Old and New Testament. 

In early 2012, my teaching and traveling pace will pick up considerably. In addition to starting back with Genesis in Austin, Texas, and Revelation in San Antonio, Texas, I will be preaching in Colorado in early January and Costa Rica in mid-January.  If you live near Colorado Springs, Colorado, please join me at 7:00 PM on January 5th at The Underground Church and again on January 6th at 7:00 PM at the Lighthouse Christian Fellowship. For everyone else, we'll post my teaching from these events on the website later this month.

As we begin another year serving our Lord through the teaching of His word, I thank everyone who supports the work of Verse By Verse Ministry, whether through prayers, financial support, volunteer efforts, encouraging letters, personal visits – or all of the above! We are grateful for everything we receive, which is so much more than we can possibly give in return. It is an honor to teach the word of God.

May the Lord bless us as much again in 2012!

In September, 2011 CNN reported Strauss-Kahn, a married man, admitted to the liaison with the maid.  Rather than calling it adultery, he said what happened was a “moral weakness”.  He further described the event as “an error, a mistake -- a mistake concerning my wife, my children, my friends.”

Scripture calls what Strauss-Kahn did adultery, sin.  Scripture defines sin as “missing the goal or path of right and duty”, “to incur guilt, penalty”, “to miss the mark”, "to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law.”

Part of Strauss-Kahn’s confession is correct; namely, he did indeed exhibit moral weakness.  To say what he did was an “error” is also correct, for an error is “a deviation from accuracy or correctness.”  Even calling what he did a mistake is accurate, for this literally means “to take in error”, “an error in judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, or insufficient knowledge.”

Now, I’m not picking on Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  Sin is a trait shared by all humans since the Fall of Adam.  However, while his admission of guilt may be technically accurate, the connotations of those words are not exactly the same as calling it sin.  The world does not like the term “sin”; it’s much too personal.  To say I made a mistake, or made an error has the connotation that it’s harmless, that no one is perfect.  And all of this is true, except that errors and mistakes typically don’t imply that eternal damnation awaits those who made the errors and mistakes.  There may be consequences in our human relationships, as his admission above shows, but errors and mistakes don’t imply consequences in our relationship with God.  It’s been well said that we ALL have a relationship with God.  We will either be blessed by His eternal presence or be cursed by His eternal damnation.

Sin, on the other hand, does imply damnation.  If anyone has broken God’s law, missed the mark, missed the path of right and duty, and if God is a holy and just God (and He is), then there must be punishment for the lawbreakers.  We’re all guilty of not calling our sins sin, because to do so acknowledges the existence of God, and the consequence of sin.

Thankfully, the Lord provides a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  It’s as simple as acknowledging that we are sinners and asking for His mercy.  James 4:6 tells us that “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”  Jesus demonstrated these attributes of God in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14:

“9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:  10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11 The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself:  ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people:  swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’  13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’  14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Thanks be to God for pouring out His mercy on us who believe.  Let us pray for those who do not believe.  For it is in Christ alone that a person is justified.  If your relationship with God is defined by faith in His Son, then you will be blessed by God’s presence for all eternity.  If you do not believe, you are condemned for all eternity.  The first time Christ came into the world was not to judge it, but to save it.  John 3:16-21 makes this clear:

“16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Let’s pray for those who do not believe, and behave as those whose deeds may be seen as having been wrought in God.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more germaphobic, and chicken juice tops my list of disgusting contaminants, even though its potential salmonella is technically not a germ. When I handle chicken in my kitchen I have the chicken in one hand and a gallon of bleach in the other. Every germaphobe knows that a simple swipe of the counter with the dish-cloth only spreads the juice around – it takes bleach to wipe it out.

So there I was at my kitchen sink while preparing dinner, trying to figure exactly what I had touched with chicken-juicy hands when it hit me. You can’t see it. It contaminates everything it touches. You can’t casually take a swipe at it and forget it. It’s gross. It’ll kill you if you don’t deal with it correctly. Only two things can handle it – fire or bleach. It's sin.

The Bible mentions bleach actually. Mark writes “His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” describing Jesus during his transfiguration. (Mark 9:3) But the verse that sticks out to me when I think of bleach is this one, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. (Revelation 7:14) And these, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.” (Revelation 19:11-14)

Now I don’t pretend to know one blessed thing about the book of Revelation beyond what I can read on the surface, (you’ll have to click over to Pastor Armstrong’s fine teaching on Revelation for more than that!) but did you ever wonder why Jesus’ robe is stained with blood but the armies of heaven wore fine linen, white and clean? Bleach. Holy bleach. Blood of Christ bleach. The only true stain remover. And the only way Jesus could get us clean was to contaminate Himself. He waded through that nasty chicken juice so we could be clean and holy, spotless and white. Bleached before a holy God.

And that fire I mentioned earlier? Well, “If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15) Fire purifies as well, but sometimes the damage is done before the fat hits the pan. I don’t mean that to minimize the tragedy, but the choice is truly that simple. Bleach or fire.

Next time you get that chicken out to thaw on your counter (we all do it…don’t pretend you don’t!) thank Jesus for His holy work that makes us too, whiter than anything in this world could bleach us. Never thought you’d be grateful for chicken juice, now did you?

The Bible has much to say concerning the destination of men's souls at death and the dwelling place for demons.  First, the Bible teaches in 1Corinthians 15 that our existence is one partly of flesh and partly of spirit. The flesh of our bodies is destined to end at our physical death, but our spirit is eternal. Therefore, when our physical body dies, our spirit must go to a new place.

Jesus teaches in Luke 16 that God has prepared a place of confinement for the souls of those who die without faith. The place is called Hades, which we call Hell. This place holds the souls of all men who have died without faith in God's promises (i.e., unbelievers), and these persons will remain in soul-form in Hades until the day of their judgment. That day is called the Great White Throne Judgment, which is described in Revelation 20:

Rev. 20:12 And I saw the dead, the  great and the small, standing before the throne, and   books were opened; and another  book was opened, which is  the book of life; and the dead  were judged from the things which were written in the  books,  according to their deeds.
Rev. 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and  death and Hades  gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them  according to their deeds.
Rev. 20:14 Then  death and Hades were thrown into  the lake of fire. This is the  second death, the lake of fire.
Rev. 20:15 And if  anyone’s name was not found written in  the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

Once the Great White Throne Judgment concludes, the souls of all unbelievers will be condemned for their sin and cast into the Lake of Fire, which is their final eternal home. Jude 7 speaks of this eternal home.

Jude 7 just as  Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after  strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 

Finally, the bottomless pit or the abyss is a place where God keeps demons captive until they receive their judgment and punishment, also in the Lake of Fire.  Luke 8 references this holding place:

Luke 8:30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “ Legion”; for many demons had entered him.
Luke 8:31 They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into  the abyss. 

You can learn much more about these two places in our Revelation course. 

Yes it is possible for a person to sin without knowing it, including a Christian. Sin is any offense against God, and even when we lack a full knowledge of what offends God or the self-awareness to recognize that our actions are offensive, nevertheless we are still acting in a way that offends Him.

The Bible teaches this truth in both the Old and New Testament. In the Law given to Israel through Moses, the Lord described many requirements for the people of Israel. God told them not to murder and not to commit adultery, but Jesus said that hating a person was equivalent to murder in the sense that it was a sin coming from a similar sinful heart. Likewise, lusting was equivalent to adultery, Jesus said.

So even though Israel's Law did not prohibit lusting or hating specifically, those behaviors were still sin.  Undoubtedly, many Jews were guilty of these unnamed sins and never knew it. Therefore, God specifically described unintentional sin in the Law:

Lev. 5:17  “Now if a person sins and does any of the things  which the LORD has commanded not to be done,  though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.
Lev. 5:18 “He is then to bring to the priest  a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned  unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him.

Notice the Lord said that even when a person is unaware of their sin, he is still guilty.  For this reason, God made a sacrifice available to the people of God in the Law to cover their unintentional sin.

Similarly, today Christians can sin in ways we don't fully appreciate, but our ignorance doesn't lessen our sin. We are supposed to remain forever in study of His word and under counsel of the Spirit so that we might better understand God's expectations and thereby cease sinning. Nevertheless, by our faith in Christ all our sins are forgiven - both those we know and those we don't know - so that we stand before Him eternally justified. Praise the Lord for His grace!
 

Today many false teachers have taught that God's word teaches that believers should expect great material and financial blessing, and these false teachers often turn to passages like Malachi 3 to support their twisted claims. While it is true that God is loving and caring for His children, it is NOT true that He promises to bring great riches and an abundance of material blessings to believers.

Regarding Malachi 3:10, the Lord was speaking specifically to the nation of Israel in this verse concerning their sin under the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was given to Israel through Moses, and the Law required Israel to contribute tithes to the temple in support of the Levitical priests.  In Malachi's day, the nation of Israel had forsaken the covenant and was no longer tithing as required by their Law.

Consequently, the Lord told the nation they must bring the missing tithes to the temple or else the Lord will bring curses against Israel.  The says:

Mal. 3:8  “Will a man  rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In  tithes and  offerings.
Mal. 3:9 “You are  cursed with a curse, for you are  robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
Mal. 3:10 “ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be  food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not  open for you the windows of heaven and  pour out for you a blessing until   it overflows.
Mal. 3:11 “Then I will rebuke the  devourer for you, so that it will not  destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.

God offered to bless the nation for their obedience to the covenant, but if they did not obey the covenant, they would be cursed instead.  If someone teaches that God intends to bless Gentiles with great material rewards on the same basis, then why don't they also teach that Gentiles will receive the curses for failing to keep the Law? In reality, both claims are false: believers are not promised the blessing nor the curses of the Old Covenant. 

Today as Christians, we are not bound by the Old Covenant nor are we commanded to follow the Law:

Gal. 5:18 But if you are  led by the Spirit,  you are not under the Law.

Israel is bound by their covenant, and the tithe is a specific requirement in the Bible for Israel to observe in support of the Jewish temple and the Levitical priests.  There is no requirement for Christians to tithe, and since Christians are not bound by the Law of Moses, we have no requirement to give tithes.  We are expected to support the work of the Lord as we are led by the Holy Spirit.  You can read more about the true Biblical perspective on tithes the article "How much do I have to tithe?"

Generally, any teaching that focuses on prosperity and material "blessing" from God are false and should be avoided along with the men who deliver these false messages.  We recommend you listen to the Sovereignty of God teaching series to learn more about this dangerous and unbiblical teaching