How do we die to Christ?

Dying to Christ means surrendering our will in place of His will. It means acknowledging that everything that comes from ourselves is evil and the only true good comes from God. We need to empty ourselves of all sins and barriers that prevent us from being true worshiper of God. Once we have emptied ourselves, there is the necessary next step of filling ourselves with the Holy Spirit. This means asking Christ to live His life through us, because we cannot do it on our own. If we just exterminate our sins, but do not fill ourselves with Christ, we will have accomplished nothing: our sins will retain with more power than before. This is why it is so important to die to Christ and carry our cross daily. We need to ask God to keep us close to Him and shield us from the many evils in this world that threaten to rear up and choke us. This is why it is fully necessary to commit ourselves to Christ everyday.

Are freewill and predestination contradictions?

It depends on the sense in which your talking about them. If you are talking about man's autonomic will of choosing God versus God's sovereign unconditional choice of man? If so, then they both cannot be true at the same time. If both of these terms are used in the context of salvation they are polar opposites. In this sense, we are comparing salvation that ultimately comes down to man, with salvation that ultimately comes down to God. If we hold to a salvation-based predestination, we COULD still hold to a non-salvation-based style of freewill. I believe that salvation comes down to God choosing man, but we know from the bible and our experiences that we still make decisions and choices all the time. There are many interpretations about these matters, but this is how I see it: God chooses us for salvation, but it is up to us to pursue Him once we have become regenerated. We must exercise our "freewill" and choose Him daily over sin. For if we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. (James 4:8)

What is the lake of fire?

The lake of fire is found in the book of Revelation and is known as the second death. The first death is when unbelievers die physically, and the second death is when they die spiritually. The lake of fire is a symbolic portrayal of an unbelievers eternal disunion from God. The flames represent the pain that will be caused from being fully and utterly separated from Christ.

What is the difference between Good and Evil?

The only possible way that we can define good and evil is by introducing a deity. Without God there are no objective morals; we cannot say what is right and what is wrong. For a logical atheist, what is "good" and what is "evil" is rather arbitrary based on some notion passed down from society. We can only define good in this way: God is good and subsequently so is every law, commandment and word that He says. Anything that is not God or from God, is evil. When we are acting outside of God's will, we are acting "evil". Therefore, sin is "evil" and doing God's will is "good".

Did Jesus really have to die?

If Jesus Christ didn't die, He would not have fulfilled His mission here on earth. Jesus had to die because He came down to earth to become a sacrifice for our sins. It was through His death that we can now be reconciled with God. Because of Adam's sin, we all deserve to go to hell. The only way that God could reach us, is if He Himself died for our sins. This is because without blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. This is why in the Old Testament they were required to sacrifice animals for their sins.

Is Jesus equal to or lesser than God?

Jesus Christ is the second member of the trinity and is therefore equal to God Himself. The Bible tells us that Jesus has been around since before the universe and by implication, is eternal. Jesus Christ made Himself less by confining Himself to the limitations of a human body. This is why Jesus said that even He did not know when the rapture would be. Jesus Christ claimed to be equal with God numerous times, and was almost stoned for it. He was eventually crucified for claiming Divinity.

In the Book of Revelation, what does "new world" mean? Does that mean the world will start over again?

When Revelation talks about a "new earth" it's referring to the eternal destination of everyone that has ever accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. A lot of Christians these days seem to think that our eternal home is in heaven, when actually the Bible teaches that it is right here on earth! But not this earth, because this world will pass away. God doesn't bring us to heaven, He brings heaven to us! In the new earth we will be granted new resurrected physical bodies. Christ will reign over the new earth and we will enjoy intimacy with God forever.

Do all Christian denominations accept the Trinity?

All orthodox denominations do accept the doctrine of the trinity and they all acknowledge that the concept wasn't articulated until the 4th century. It is however backed my numerous passages in both the Old and the New testament. Roman Catholics, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox all agree that the Godhead involves 3 distinct "person" that are all God.

Why did God create evil? He obviously did because He's sovereign!

In some way, God DID orchestrate His absence to be in the world, namely evil. He is sovereign over all His creation, but it would be more helpful to look at the motive behind this common question. We should be questioning Atheists that ask this. Who are you to question God? What if God did create evil to magnify His goodness? Are you in a position to tell God what is right and what is wrong? In some way, God is using evil to show us Himself. It's a divine plan, so why do humans question it? It's the same thing with people saying "I don't believe that a talking snake and 2 naked people caused all this evil". How do you know what God used in His divine plan? Just because it sounds ridiculous to you, doesn't mean that it's proof that Christianity isn't true.

What is the active presence of the Spirit of God in our time?

The Spirit of God is just as active now as He was during the writing of the Old and New Testament. God is unchanging and His spirit is available to us as often as we are open to it. Th spiritual realm is always open to us; we are just the ones that always shut the gate. God's Spirit gets quenched in our North American culture because we simply don't believe that God will work. Most theists these days seem to act more like deists and this is true of myself more often than not. If we want to feel God's presence, we can! If we are Christians, we know God's presence is always with us because He has promised that. It is just a matter of us being aware of his presence. This is what's referred to as the "divine presence and apparent absence". Sometimes the Spirit seems to depart from us and we really do need to walk by faith and not site. We can get through these tough times by believing what we know: that God is always with us and will never leave us or forsake us.

What does the Bible say about divorce and remarriage?

"I hate divorce, says the LORD God of Israel." Malachi 2:16

"So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" Matthew 19:6

"But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." Matthew 5:32

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Genesis 2:24.

The Bible is very clear about divorce and remarriage. The ONLY condition in which divorce is acceptable is adultery. Many people state that there are other conditions for divorce such as physical and emotional abuse. The problem with this is that Jesus says explicitly that the only case in which we can divorce someone is marital unfaithfulness. If the relationship is physically or emotionally abusive, separation is a good idea. Just because you don't live together, doesn't mean that you need to be divorced. What God has joined, man should not separate. There is ALWAYS a chance for reconciliation. With prayer and mutual forgiveness, any marriage can be successful.

How does one live in the world yet be not of the world?

As Christians, we are told to not be "of the world". When the New Testament uses the word "world" (kosmos in Greek) it uses it in two different ways. First of all it uses it to talk about this physical world. In this sense, Christians are very much "of the world". The second way that the NT uses "kosmos" is to talk about the fleshly, sinful environment that we find ourselves in. It is in this way that Christians are not to be "of the world". This "world" is tainted; we as Christians should not conform to the debauchery that goes on among us. We are called to live a higher life than that of society. Society will always be predominantly immoral to varying degrees because it is made up of people who are sinners. Because of this, this world will always decay and we will always see a "deterioration of morals" in every society. That is why we are called to be the salt of the earth: we need to preserve this place as long as we can. We should not live how the majority does; we are not "of this world".

Why does God take our loved ones away?

I don't really have any clear cut answers to this question, but I would like to say a few things. For starters, God did does not take our loved ones away prematurely; Satan does. We should not blame God for what Satan does, although I do understand that God is fully sovereign over His creation. The next thing that we should note is that death is a consequence of human actions. For Christians, it is better to die than it is to live.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

We NEED to die in order to get new bodies, so because of Adam's sin, death is necessary to fulfill God's divine plan. The last thing I want to say about this is that if God always listened to everyone's prayers about keeping people alive, no one would ever die. I'm sure that in the majority of cases of people that have terminal diseases, there is someone praying for them. God's plan is better than ours and sometimes that's tough to see at the time. There is always comfort though, everything will be fixed beyond the grave.

At what point in eternity did God create the universe?

God is outside of time, so there can be no "quantification" given to answer this question. He is completely and utterly outside and independent of the universe, so the question itself is impossible to answer. The question is asking for a "time point" in a realm where there is no time. The only way to put it is this: God is eternal and He created us at the beginning of time, because time started with the universe. It's important to remember that we can never comprehend this though, because we will never be outside of time even when we die. We will always experience a procession of events. This is why talking about these things is so complicated: we are using finite minds to try to understand the infinite.

Can you hear God's voice? The Bible says His sheep can hear his voice?

The Bible is a book with many different styles of writing, not all of which are meant to be taken at face-value. This particular passage is referring to what is commonly called "spiritual intuition". We can "know" part of God's plan for our life because we "hear God's voice". Most of us do not audibly hear God, but we all can perceive His "still small voice". He leads us, convicts us, teaches us and fellowships with us. This can also manifest itself in the gift of discernment: listening to others and knowing if what they say is actually from God or against God.

What does apostolic mean?

It means "pertaining to the apostles".

ex. The papal system is an example of apostolic succession because the papacy was apparently passed down from St. Peter to the next-in-line pope all the way to Pope Benedict XVI.

Are all Gods the same? Can they all be true?

The problem with all God's existing simultaneously is that many of them contradict one another. For example, any monotheistic God will automatically rule out every other God. Therefore, for Allah to exist, Christ cannot exist. Consequently, Allah and Christ cannot exist at the same time and cannot be the same God because they each have different divine attributes, some of which contradict. By definition, two monotheistic Gods cannot be the same God, nor can they coexist together.

What exactly is a "real" Christian?

A real Christian is someone that has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and now has a personal relationship with Him. We need to believe in Him with our hearts and this is called "faith". The reformers said that there were three aspects to faith and this seems to be in line with the Bible. Faith they said, involved knowledge, belief and trust. We need to know ABOUT Jesus in order to make a choice to follow Him. Once we have the required knowledge we need to believe that He is who He claimed to be. Finally, we need to trust fully in Him. We cannot simply believe in Him; this does not make us a Christian. We need to fully trust Him with our lives from the point of conversion on. This does not imply that we can lose salvation, rather it implies that at the moment of conversion we need to be bearing our naked souls to the Divine. Many people think that belief alone is what faith is all about, but consider this: We are saved by faith alone, yet James says this:

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
James 2:19

Belief is not enough; even the demons believe! Does this mean that the demons have faith? Of course not. We need to know what we believe, believe what we know, and trust in what we know and believe. The people that do these things are real Christians.

Should we reject tradition as a source of truth?

Due to the division between the Protestants and the Catholics it is easy to condemn tradition because it is something that "only Catholics follow". Tradition can a be a rich and interesting thing to study; why throw out the baby with the bath water? Although most evangelical Christians adhere to sola scriptura (the view that the Bible is the only source of infallibility) this does not mean that Church tradition is not a source for truth. The early church fathers wrote great things about God and the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are well worth the read, but are almost avoided by Protestants because of their "Catholic ties". Did you know that at one point to be Christian was to be Catholic? Being Catholic simply meant "worldwide" or "united". You can now say the Nicene creed without feeling guilty! In my opinion we should not reject tradition, as there are many things to be learned from it.

What about those who have never heard?

What we know as Christians is this: If someone rejects Christ, they are lost in their sins. When they die they will follow their chosen pathway that leads to eternal separation from God. Those that are saved by the blood of the Lamb will enjoy eternal life with Christ. What about those people who are unreached by the Gospel? Are they destined to hell? We can't give a full answer on this because the Bible does not tell us. We do know however, that God IS just and He IS loving. It seems improbable that a God of Justice and Love would condemn someone to hell who never had the chance to accept Christ. Ultimately though we do not know what happens to unreached souls. This should give us all the more urgency to preach the Gospel.

Are angels always good?

Angels are good or they would no longer be angels, they would be demons. A demon is a former angel who has rebelled against God and has consequently "fallen" from heaven. In this world there are only two types of spiritual creatures: those that are for God and those that are against Him. A human is also a spiritual creature...

Why would God choose fallible human beings to speak on his behalf?

God didn't have to use us humans, but He chose to. Not only does He use us on occasion, He actually seems to use us anytime He can! It almost seems like the general rule is: If God can use humans no matter what the cost, He will. We see this all through scripture numerous times; even the scriptures themselves are proof of this! God chooses to use fallible humans to reveal His written word. Why did He do this? Perhaps 2 Corinthians 12:9 might help us:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

God is so powerful that He can work through our failures and our weaknesses. What's even greater is that He chooses too! Instead of doing everything Himself, He leaves the task up to mere mortals to accomplish the spreading of His Gospel. I don't know why God trusts us with so much but I'm glad He does!

How did God create evil? Is this a paradox?

God did not create evil; evil is the absence of God. In the same way that darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat. God created two beings that were capable of choosing not-God or God and they made the wrong choice. This does not mean that God created sin, rather He "orchestrated" it because He IS sovereign over all creation. There is no paradox here.

Can God make a rock so big He is unable to pick it up?

Although most people think that this "disproves" God, it is only paradoxical if you have a warped idea of God's omnipotence. The answer to this question is a simple "no". God cannot create a rock so big He cannot pick it up. God also cannot sin or stop being God. Being omnipotent means being all-powerful, not being able to do "anything".

what year did the prophet Abraham live in?

Although there is no agreed upon date among biblical scholars, the most common date given is ~1850 BC.

Which Bible translation should I use?

A good translation is one that is mostly literal but still has some room for cultural interpretation. There are too sides of the spectrum: word for word and thought for thought. It's good to pick a version that's somewhere in the middle but preferably closer to the word for word translation. Two good translations are ESV and NASB. Both are mainly word for word
and still retain some instances of thought for thought to help us understand more clearly. If we are fluent in Hebrew and Greek, and have studied the culture, we could read a full word for word translation. For most of us though, we will need to find a happy medium.

Where in the body is our soul?

Our soul is our conscious thought, will, emotions etc. It is intimately connected to the body, as the body is the vehicle of the soul. If the body is damaged the soul will be unable to function correctly. Our soul would then be "located" in our brain, although it is nothing physical. That being said, there is no certain dichotomy of the body and soul. They are connected, yet distinct.

Are Christians bound by the Old Testament laws?

Throughout the Old Testament there are many different laws that were to be followed at that time. Should Christians still follow them today? In order to answer this question we must realize that there are two categories of Laws: cultural and moral. The first category was specific to the Jewish people during that time frame. Those laws include things like not eating certain foods and purity laws. Moral laws are timeless laws that detail what is objectively wrong to do. They include things like prohibiting murder, adultery, lying, etc. When reading the Old Testament it is important to distinguish between the type of law that was written. This can be done by checking for context and the reason behind the law. For example if the law was given to keep someone "clean", we know that we are not obliged to follow it.

Are animals spiritual? What about bacteria?

Contrary to what most people believe, animals DO in some way have a spirit within them. God is life and therefore anything that is "alive" has the breath of God in it. This does not mean that man's spirit is the same as the "spirit" of bacteria, but there is SOME amount of spirit present. In Genesis 2:7, we have an account of the creation of man.

"the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

The word "breathe" can also be translated as "spirit". Later on in Genesis 6:17, we are told that the animals also have the "breath of God" in them.

"I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it."

So to answer the question, in some way animals and bacteria ARE spiritual, but this is very different from man's spirit.

Why does Love triumph over the Law in the New Testament?

Love is more important than Law in the New Testament because Love encompasses all things. If we truly loved God with all of our being we would never sin. Sin is always a result of loving something more than God, whether that be an action, a person or ourselves. This is why loving God is the greatest commandment and loving others is the second greatest commandment. We do not need law if we follow these two commandments.

Do humans have intrinsic value apart from God?

If we look at the world from an atheist point of view, humans are nothing more than highly evolved animals. It is impossible to say that humans have special intrinsic value apart from the fact that we are made in the image of God. We do have unique DNA, but so does a cockroach. We may be the most intelligent, but what if we find an animal that is more intelligent than a person with a mental disability? Would that make the animal more valuable than that human? We all FEEL that we as humans have intrinsic value, but from an atheistic perspective there is simply no reason to think that humans have any value greater than our animal "relatives". The only way we can have intrinsic value is if we were made in the image of God as the Bible suggests.

Does it matter that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on a pagan date?

To put it frankly, no, it does not matter which day we celebrate the birth of Christ on. It was a pagan date in the past, but if we do not celebrate it as one there is no harm done. Many things were once pagan including drums, birthday candles, Christmas trees and tattoos. If the meaning now has been well disconnected from the origin there should not be any negative moral implications.

Can you prove that God exists?

One basic proof that has been around for quite some time is what's called the cosmological argument. The basic idea is that something couldn't have come from nothing. Everything in the world is caused by something and those causes need to be caused by something too. Eventually, you are left with an infinite regression of caused causes. This of course is impossible because infinity does not exist in nature and modern day science tells us that time had a beginning. Because of these factors, there must be one initial uncaused cause. This cause must be outside of the universe and outside of time. This uncaused cause is God.

Why do John 20:17 and Luke 23:43 seem to contradict eachother?

In Luke 23:43, Jesus tells the thief on the cross: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." In John 20:17, Jesus tells Mary: ""Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." The reason that Jesus told Mary not to hold onto Him was because Jesus had not yet ascended into heaven. Mary was still alive, therefore she needed to live out her life on earth. In contrast, the thief was just about to die, therefore he was going immediately to be with Christ, who is God. Although Jesus was the manifestation of God on earth, He is was and still is God. Therefore, He cannot be fully contained in a human body. In some sense, Christ was always in heaven, even when He was on earth.

Should Christians date non-Christians?

If you are a believer who is dating an unbeliever, the result can be very painful. If we are true Disciples of Christ, that means that Christ is the most important thing in our lives. Why would we want to share marriage with someone who we cannot enjoy intimate fellowship with? It will only lead to heartbreak. Furthermore, the scriptures command us against it:

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:14

Is there a separate place besides hell for morally upright non believers?

When people die, there are only two places they can go. The bible teaches that people who have accepted Jesus as their saviour will go to heaven, and people who have not will be eternally without God in hell. We have all sinned and without God's intervention, we would all be going to hell. The bible does however teach that there are different degrees of punishment.

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows."

Luke 12:47-48

Why do I feel bored and useless in my life?

As human beings, we all have a desire for our lives to have meaning. If you stick with the transient things in life, you will find no lasting satisfaction. We all have a want for the "eternal" because God has placed this want in our hearts.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." - Ecclesiastes 3:11

In our innermost being we all desire something more out of this life. That something is God. A relationship with Him is truly eternal and we will not feel that our time has been wasted.

Is the word translated poor in Luke 13:18 and the word translated poor or meek in Isaiah 61:1 the same word?

It seems to me that you are talking about Luke 7:22

"The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

The word translated "poor" is the Greek word Ptochos.

Luke is quoting Isaiah 61:1:

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners"

The word "poor" here is translated from the Hebrew "anav.

These words due mean the same thing and can both be accurately translated as "poor" but they are not the same word because they are in different languages.

Where do dinosaurs fit in with the Bible?

In most cases, there seem to be two thought groups when dealing with the issue of Christianity and dinosaurs.

The first group would be called young-earth creationists. They believe that dinosaurs were created in the same week as humans and therefore coexisted with them on the earth. Most young-earth creationists agree that the dinosaurs then died out at the time of the great flood.

The second group is the old-earth creationists. They take Genesis 1-3 to be an allegorical account of creation and not a scientific one. If this is the case, then each "day" of creation could be seen as a time period of millions of years. They believe that the dinosaurs lived million years ahead of humanity and therefore agree with the majority of paleontologists. While this theory is most relevant with modern-day science, it also comes with numerous theological problems.

Do we have to choose between loving God and going to hell?

It is a common misconception to think that God gives us an "eternal ultimatum" between loving Him or going to hell. Hell is not a place of physical torture as is commonly thought. Hell is the infinite trajectory of us continually not choosing Him throughout our lives. God does not send us to hell, rather hell is the place that we could ultimately end up if we choose to be there. To put it simply, hell is the only conceivable place where God does not exist. It is the only place that is completely void of His presence and all of His attributes. It is a place of utter misery because it is there that people will be eternally separated from God. The Bible uses images of fire to display this utter misery, not to "scare" us with images of pain. Perhaps this quote sums things up best:
"Why would you want to be with God in heaven if you don't want to be with God on earth?"

If you knew there was no Heaven, would you still try to be "good"?

For theists of different faith-groups the answer to this question may greatly vary. For Christians, heaven is not pursued because it's paradisaical nature, rather it's pursued because of the Person who dwells there. As Christians, if heaven did not exist it would follow that God did also not exist. Humanity appears to be inherently destructive, therefore if God did not exist and all Christians knew this, it would be futile to be "good" to achieve some intangible goal. Christians strive to be good to please God and this has nothing to do with trying to be "good enough" to get into heaven.