Answer:
Before this question is answered, the term “Christian” must be defined. A
“Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an
aisle, or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things
can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a
Christian. A Christian is a person who has, by faith, received and fully
trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation?
Perhaps the best way to answer this crucially important question is to
examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation, and to study what
losing salvation would therefore entail. Here are a few examples:
A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a
result of being “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new
creation would have to be canceled and reversed.
A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable
things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way
of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being
paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to
revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.
A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified
through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus
as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose
salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what
He had previously declared.
A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God. God
promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to
lose salvation, eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian
is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by
taking away eternal life?
A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “And those he predestined, he
also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he
also glorified” (Romans 8:30). As we learned in Romans 5:1, justification is declared at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30,
glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies.
Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection
body in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
Many more illustrations of what occurs at salvation could be shared.
Even these few make it abundantly clear that a Christian cannot lose
salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when
we receive Jesus Christ as Savior would be invalidated if salvation
could be lost. Salvation cannot be reversed. A Christian cannot be
un-newly created. Redemption cannot be undone. Eternal life cannot be
lost and still be considered eternal. If a Christian can lose salvation,
God would have to go back on His Word and change His mind—two things
that Scripture tells us God never does.
The most frequent objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose
salvation are 1) What about those who are Christians and continually
live an immoral lifestyle? 2) What about those who are Christians but
later reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these two
objections is the phrase “who are Christians.” The Bible declares that a
true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle (1 John 3:6). The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he never truly was a Christian (1 John 2:19).
Therefore, neither objection is valid. Christians do not continually
live immoral lifestyles, nor do they reject the faith and deny Christ.
Such actions are proof that they were never redeemed.
No, a Christian cannot lose salvation. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29). God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us. Jude 24-25,
“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before
his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God
our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Answer:
The cosmological argument attempts to prove God’s existence by observing
the world around us (the cosmos). It begins with what is most obvious
in reality: things exist. It is then argued that the cause of those
things’ existence had to be a "God-type" thing. These types of arguments
go all the way back to Plato and have been used by notable philosophers
and theologians ever since. Science finally caught up with theologians
in the 20th century, when it was confirmed that the universe must have
had a beginning. So, today, the cosmological arguments are even powerful
for non-philosophers. There are two basic forms of these arguments, and
the easiest way to think of them might be the "vertical" and the
"horizontal." These names indicate the direction from which the causes
come. In the vertical form, it is argued that every created thing is
being caused right now (imagine a timeline with an arrow pointing up
from the universe to God). The horizontal version shows that creation
had to have a cause in the beginning (imagine that same timeline only
with an arrow pointing backward to a beginning point in time).
The horizontal is a little easier to understand because it does not
require much philosophizing. The basic argument is that all things that
have beginnings had to have causes. The universe had a beginning;
therefore, the universe had a cause. That cause, being outside the whole
universe, is God. Someone might say that some things are caused by
other things, but this does not solve the problem. This is because those
other things had to have causes, too, and this cannot go on forever.
Let's take a simple example: trees. All trees began to exist at some
point (for they have not always existed). Each tree had its beginning in
a seed (the "cause" of the tree). But every seed had its beginning
("cause") in another tree. There cannot be an infinite series of
tree-seed-tree-seed, because no series is infinite—it cannot go on
forever. All series are finite (limited) by definition. There is no such
thing as an infinite number, because even the number series is limited
(although you can always add one more, you are always at a finite
number). If there is an end, it is not infinite. All series have two
endings, actually—at the end and at the beginning (try to imagine a
one-ended stick!). But if there were no first cause, the chain of causes
never would have started. Therefore, there is, at the beginning at
least, a first cause—one that had no beginning. This first cause is God.
The vertical form is a bit more difficult to understand, but it is more
powerful because not only does it show that God had to cause the "chain
of causes" in the beginning, He must still be causing things to exist
right now. Again, we begin by noting that things exist. Next, while we
often tend to think of existence as a property that things sort of
"own"—that once something is created, existence is just part of what it
is—this is not the case. Consider the triangle. We can define the nature
of a triangle as "the plane figure formed by connecting three points
not in a straight line by straight line segments." Notice what is not
part of this definition: existence.
This definition of a triangle would hold true even if no triangles
existed at all. Therefore, a triangle's nature—what it is—does not
guarantee that one exists (like unicorns—we know what they are, but that
does not make them exist). Because it is not part of a triangle's
nature to exist, triangles must be made to exist by something else that
already exists (someone must draw one on a piece of paper). The triangle
is caused by something else—which also must have a cause. This cannot
go on forever (no infinite series). Therefore, something that does not
need to be given existence must exist to give everything else existence.
Now, apply this example to everything in the universe. Does any of it
exist on its own? No. So, not only did the universe have to have a first
cause to get started; it needs something to give it existence right
now. The only thing that would not have to be given existence is a thing
that exists as its very nature. It is existence. This something would
always exist, have no cause, have no beginning, have no limit, be
outside of time, and be infinite. That something is God! "The heavens
declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day
to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge" (Psalm 19:1-2).
Answer:
There is a great deal of confusion in regards to this question. This
concept comes primarily from the Apostles' Creed, which states, “He
descended into hell.” There are also a few Scriptures which, depending
on how they are translated, describe Jesus going to “hell.” In studying
this issue, it is important to first understand what the Bible teaches
about the realm of the dead.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word used to describe the realm of the dead is sheol. It simply means the “place of the dead” or the “place of departed souls/spirits.” The New Testament Greek equivalent of sheol is hades
which also refers to “the place of the dead.” Other Scriptures in the
New Testament indicate that sheol/hades is a temporary place, where
souls are kept as they await the final resurrection and judgment. Revelation 20:11-15
gives a clear distinction between the two. Hell (the lake of fire) is
the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades is a
temporary place. So, no, Jesus did not go to hell because hell is a
future realm, only put into effect after the Great White Throne Judgment
(Revelation 20:11-15).
Sheol/hades was a realm with two divisions—a place of blessing and a place of judgment (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27–31), the abodes of the saved and the lost. The abode of the saved is called “Abraham's bosom” (KJV) and “Abraham’s side” (NIV) in Luke 16:22. The abode of the unsaved is called “hell” (KJV) or “Hades” (NIV) in Luke 16:23. The abodes of the saved and the lost are separated by a “great chasm” (Luke 16:26). When Jesus died, He went to the blessed side of sheol and, from there, took the believers with Him to heaven/paradise (Ephesians 4:8–10).
The judgment side of sheol/hades has remained unchanged. All
unbelieving dead go there awaiting their final judgment in the future.
Did Jesus go to sheol/hades? Yes, according to Ephesians 4:8–10 and 1 Peter 3:18–20.
Some of the confusion has arisen from such passages as Psalm 16:10–11
as translated in the King James Version, “For thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
. . . Thou wilt show me the path of life.” “Hell” is not a correct
translation in this verse. A correct reading would be “the grave” or
“sheol.” Jesus said to the thief beside Him, “Today you will be with me
in paradise” (Luke 23:43);
He did not say, “I will be with you in hell.” Jesus’ body was in the
tomb; His soul/spirit went to be with the blessed in sheol/hades.
Unfortunately, in many versions of the Bible, translators are not
consistent, or correct, in how they translate the Hebrew and Greek words
for “sheol,” “hades,” and “hell.”
Some have the viewpoint that Jesus went to “hell” or the suffering side
of sheol/hades in order to further be punished for our sins. This idea
is completely unbiblical. It was the death of Jesus on the cross and His
suffering in our place that sufficiently provided for our redemption.
It was His shed blood that effected our own cleansing from sin (1 John 1:7-9).
As He hung there on the cross, He took the sin burden of the whole
human race upon Himself. He became sin for us: “God made him who had no
sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This imputation of sin helps us understand Christ's struggle in the
garden of Gethsemane with the cup of sin which would be poured out upon
Him on the cross.
When Jesus cried upon the cross, “Oh, Father, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46),
it was then that He was separated from the Father because of the sin
poured out upon Him. As He gave up His spirit, He said, “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
His suffering in our place was completed. His soul/spirit went to hades
(the place of the dead). Jesus did not go to “hell” or the suffering
side of hades; He went to “Abraham’s side” or the blessed side of hades.
Jesus’ suffering ended the moment He died. The payment for sin was
paid. He then awaited the resurrection of His body and His return to
glory in His ascension. Did Jesus go to hell? No. Did Jesus go to
sheol/hades? Yes.
Answer:
How many Christians have prayed for someone, only to see their prayers
go unanswered? How many have prayed and perhaps have “given up” because
either they have become discouraged through a weakness of faith or have
come to the conclusion that whatever they have been praying for isn’t
God’s will? Nevertheless, how we deal with unanswered prayer is not just
for our own benefit but for the benefit of others as well. When we
pray, we are engaging in the most precious and God-given act of
communication with the One to whom we are accountable in all our
affairs. We have been truly bought at a steep price—the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ—and therefore we belong to God.
Our privilege of prayer is from God, and it is as much ours now as when it was given to Israel (Deuteronomy 4:7).
Yet, when we pray or speak to the One in Heaven, there are times when
He seems not to answer. There can be many reasons for this, and the
Scriptures suggest why and how our prayers are being dealt with by the
One who is so tender and loving, who Himself loves our communing with
God the Father, for He, Himself, is our representative (Hebrews 4:15).
A primary reason why prayer is unanswered is sin. God cannot be mocked
or deceived, and He who sits enthroned above knows us intimately, down
to our every thought (Psalm 139:1-4).
If we are not walking in the Way or we harbor enmity in our hearts
toward our brother or we ask for things with the wrong motives (such as
from selfish desires), then we can expect God not to answer our prayer
because He does not hear (2 Chronicles 7:14; Deuteronomy 28:23; Psalm 66:18; James 4:3).
Sin is the “stopper” to all the potential blessings that we would
receive from the infinite “bottle” of God’s mercy! Indeed, there are
times when our prayers are heinous in the Lord’s sight, most notably
when we clearly do not belong to the Lord either because of unbelief (Proverbs 15:8) or because we are practicing hypocrisy (Mark 12:40).
Another reason why prayer seems to go unanswered is that the Lord is
drawing out of our faith a deeper reliance and trust in Him, which
should bring out of us a deeper sense of gratitude, love and humility.
In turn, this causes us to benefit spiritually, for He gives grace to
the humble (James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).
Oh, how one feels for that poor Canaanite woman, who cried out
incessantly to our Lord for mercy when He was visiting the region of
Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21-28)!
She was hardly the person a Jewish rabbi would pay attention to. She
was not a Jew and she was a woman, two reasons that Jews ignored her.
The Lord doesn’t seem to answer her petitions, but He knew all about her
situation. He may not have answered her stated needs immediately, but
still He heard and granted her request.
God may often seem silent to us, but He never sends us away
empty-handed. Even if prayer has not been answered, we must rely upon
God to do so in His own time. Even the exercise of prayer is a blessing
to us; it is because of our faith that we are stirred to persist in
prayer. It is faith that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6),
and if our prayer life is wanting, does that not reflect our spiritual
standing also? God hears our impoverished cries for mercy, and His
silence inflames us with a sense of persistence in prayer. He loves us
to reason with Him. Let us hunger for the things that are after God’s
heart and let us walk in His ways and not our own. If we are faithful to
pray without ceasing, then we are living in the will of God, and that
can never be wrong (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).
Answer:
Gluttony seems to be a sin that Christians like to ignore. We are often
quick to label smoking and drinking as sins, but for some reason
gluttony is accepted or at least tolerated. Many of the arguments used
against smoking and drinking, such as health and addiction, apply
equally to overeating. Many believers would not even consider having a
glass of wine or smoking a cigarette but have no qualms about gorging
themselves at the dinner table. This should not be!
Proverbs 23:20-21
warns us, “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge
themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and
drowsiness clothes them in rags.” Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”
Physical appetites are an analogy of our ability to control ourselves.
If we are unable to control our eating habits, we are probably also
unable to control other habits, such as those of the mind (lust,
covetousness, anger) and unable to keep our mouths from gossip or
strife. We are not to let our appetites control us, but we are to have
control over our appetites. (See Deuteronomy 21:20, Proverbs 23:2, 2 Peter 1:5-7, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, and 2 Corinthians 10:5.) The ability to say “no” to anything in excess—self-control—is one of the fruits of the Spirit common to all believers (Galatians 5:22).
God has blessed us by filling the earth with foods that are delicious,
nutritious, and pleasurable. We should honor God's creation by enjoying
these foods and by eating them in appropriate quantities. God calls us
to control our appetites, rather than allowing them to control us.
Answer:
The Bible does not specifically answer this question. Will babies and
children who die still be babies / children in Heaven? What about
elderly people who die--do they remain elderly in heaven? Some have
guessed that babies are given a resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)
that is “fast-forwarded” to the “ideal age,” just as those who die at
an old age are "re-wound" to the ideal age. This would indicate that
there won’t be any children or elderly people in heaven.
What is the ideal age? Again, this concept is not specifically biblical.
Some believe it to be around 30. Some guess 33 since that is
approximately the age Jesus was when He died. First John 3:2
declares, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will
be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
One thing is for certain. Whatever age we appear to be, we will be
gloriously perfect. Our entire person will be remade flawless, wholly
and completely Christ-like. We will lose all trace of human fallenness,
wearing the white robes of purity, holiness and absolute perfection. So
whatever age we are, it will be the age of complete and total
perfection.
Answer:
The biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God states that God is
almighty over all. He is in complete control of all things—past, present
and future—and nothing happens that is out of His jurisdiction. Either
He directly causes—or He passively allows—everything that happens. But
allowing something to happen and causing something to happen are two
different things. For example, God caused the creation of the perfect,
sinless Adam and Eve; then He allowed them to rebel against Him. He did
not cause them to sin, and He certainly could have stopped them, but He
chose not to for His own purposes and to bring about His perfect plan.
That rebellion brought about all manner of evil, evil that was not
caused by God but which was allowed by Him to exist.
Sickness is one manifestation of the two broad types of evil—moral and
natural. Moral evil is man's inhumanity to man. Natural evil is composed
of things like natural disasters and physical sickness. Evil itself is a
perversion or corruption of something that was originally good, but is
now missing something. In the case of sickness, illness is a state where
good health is missing. The Greek word for evil, ponerous, actually
implies a malignancy, something that is corrupting a good and healthy
state of being.
When Adam sinned, he condemned all of humanity to suffer the consequences of that sin, one of which is sickness. Romans 8:20-22
says, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought
into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole
creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to
the present time.” God—the “one who subjected” the creation to
frustration following the Fall—has a plan to eventually liberate
creation from its bondage to sin, just as He liberates us from that
bondage through Christ.
Until that day, God uses sickness and other evils to bring about His
sovereign purpose, to glorify Himself, and to exalt His holy name. At
times, He miraculously heals sickness. Jesus went through Israel healing
all manner of sickness and disease (Matthew 4:23)
and even raised Lazurus from the dead after illness killed him. At
other times, God uses sickness as a method of discipline or as a
judgment against sin. King Uzziah in the Old Testament was struck with
leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:19-20). Nebuchadnezzar was driven to madness by God until he came to understand that “the Most High rules in the affairs of men” (Daniel 4). Herod was struck down and eaten by worms because he took God’s glory upon himself (Acts 12:21-23).
There is even at least one case where God allowed disease—blindness—not
as punishment for sin, but to reveal Himself and His mighty works
through that blindness (John 9:1-3).
When illness does come, it may not be the result of God’s direct
intervention in our lives, but is rather the result of the fallen world,
fallen bodies, and poor health and lifestyle choices. And although
there are scriptural indicators that God wants us to be in good health, (3 John 2), all sickness and disease are allowed by Him for His purposes, whether we understand them or not.
Sickness is certainly the result of the fall of man into sin, but God is
very much in control, and He does indeed determine how far evil can go
(just as He did with Satan and Job's trials—Satan was not allowed to
exceed those boundaries). He tells us He is all-powerful over fifty
times in the Bible, and it is amazing to see how His sovereignty unites
with the choices we make (both bad and good) to work out His perfect
plan (Romans 8:28).
For those who are believers and suffering with sickness, illness, and/or
disease in this life, the knowledge that they can glorify God through
their suffering tempers the uncertainty as to why He has allowed it,
something they may not truly understand until they stand in His presence
in eternity. At that time, all questions will be answered, or perhaps
more accurately, we will no longer care about the questions themselves.
