By the Numbers

Monday, October 19, 2015

Questions Many Christians Can't Answer!

                   Questions Many Christians Can't Answer!

Skeptics often claim Christians are emotional narrow minded persons who can't give good answers to honest sensible questions about their faith. They fail to understand the situation and may act no different themselves if questioned about their beliefs. Pastors don't conduct Sunday services the same way skeptical college professors conduct their classes. Skeptics usually have a secular background, are ignorant of Bible teaching, have heard only a secular viewpoint, are hostile toward persons of different beliefs, and pride themselves on being intellectually superior. I ask only that you try honestly to be open and fair-minded to a Christian biblical answer to these following questions. Thank you. 
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Why do Christians try to impose their beliefs on others? Some malign Christians as biased, arrogant, intolerant, narrow-minded even dangerous in their beliefs about God and morality. But lets be honest: the politically correct crowd seeks to stifle free speech. Atheists preach science destroys belief in God. Muslims try to impose their law on the world.  National socialists (Nazis) try to force everybody to have all things in common. ISIS beheads everyone who disagrees with them, especially Christians. All these groups think they are right and fight to control or eliminate the others. It reduces our world to a jungle and us to mere animals in a power struggle for evolutionary survival of the fittest. Instead of working for the common good, it seems people today care only for their special interests. Isn't this making our world increasingly insane, dangerous, and diabolically evil?
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Christians believe that we are created in God's image with dignity, and equality, thus entitled to respect, freedom, peaceful discussion and negotiation. That's what made America great! Only Christians have historical eyewitness evidences how a real God has acted in our real world that provides the basis we need for a rational world, absolute truth, authority, justice, peace, love, empirical science, and hope for life after death. Could the Bible be right that those who hate God love death (Proverbs 8:36). I believe honest, open minded persons willing to look at the evidence will see it far superior to any alternative.
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 How Then Can a Loving God Send Good People to Hell? This question is loaded with many unfair assumptions like the question: Have you beat your wife lately? What is a loving God? What do you mean by good people? Is it really God that sends people to Hell, or could it be their choice?
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 God as Creator is the only being who is good and loving. His standard is absolute perfection (Psalm 25:8; Matt. 5:48; 19:17).  We are evil doers who can't attain His perfect standard (Rom. 3:10, 23). PLEASE BE HONEST AND THINK THIS THROUGH. Love seeks the good of people; evil is the defect that destroys good as a broken arm, blindness, hate instead of love. UNDERSTAND; First, if evil were allowed into heaven, it would spread and contaminate everything, like a disease it would destroy Heaven. Second, if there's no Hell and we rebellious sinners are allowed into Heaven, then morality is meaningless---no matter what we believe or do results are the same. Third, we have a conscience to discern right and wrong and God gives us the choice to trust Him and His way, or go our own way living apart from Him. This gives us dignity, and freedom--we're neither animals nor robots. Finally, knowing we can't live perfect lives, God provided a way to know Him giving His sinless Son Jesus to bear our just punishment--what greater display of love can there be? We can be forgiven, cleansed, and made fit for Heaven in right relationship with Him. THAT'S GOD'S WAY--But it's the choice each of us must make--Jesus and Heaven, Or our selfish rebellious way and Hell. Read the Gospel of John carefully and you'll see it's taught a hundred times!
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But Why Are Christians Such Hypocrites? Can we view this issue with some openness of mind? Does anybody live consistently with what they believe or claim to believe? Can our different beliefs make us hyper critical of others who don't believe as we do? Are we prejudiced for some reason, and don't we put others down to make us feel good/prideful? Do we know for sure they even are Christians? Anyone can go to a church, carry a Bible, even serve in a church office and not be a real believer. Nobody is perfect according to the Bible, so that's why we all need Jesus to save us. If we search our own heart and pray for the hypocrites instead of condemning them, we might help them, and be more humane ourselves.
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Must a Person Be A Church Member To Go To Heaven? Let's be realistic about this. Some persons are simply unable to walk and can't go to a local church. In many areas there is no gospel church nor Christian believers to fellowship with. In some areas, persons dare not attend a Christian church for fear of persecution and death. Some hear the news of the Savior and trust him in their dying moments. Some churches have forsaken the faith and don't even preach Jesus is Savior. But we should join with other true believers when possible to be informed, encouraged and strengthen in faith. We can learn and/or share with other believers by radio, television, email, home Bible studies. The thief on the cross next to Jesus acknowledged his sin and received the Lord's promise of Heaven while dying on the cross. What's most important is that we look to the Lamb of God who alone can take away our sin (John 1:29)

Consider these words of God's apostle (sent one) Peter. "There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 "He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and love what is right." First Peter 2:24 "Christ suffered for our sins for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. First Peter 3:18. Just having our name on some church register doesn't change our sinful hearts to love Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We could join a church and be a hypocrite who cares nothing at all that Jesus died to pay for the sins we committed or God's way to make us clean and acceptable to Him.
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Are Some Persons Predestined to Heaven and Others to Hell? Yes, in one sense from God's perspective. The Bible says, "I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things that are not yet done (Isaiah 46:10).  Our Creator of the space-time universe existed before time and exists outside of time. But He everywhere sustains the universe so He knows all that takes place. For him everything is fixed, determined, certain. This means He knows our every thought, word, and deed in advance and if we will become believers. God doesn't force His way on us, but lovingly invites us to Him. So it's our choice to receive Jesus and Heaven, or reject Him and spend eternity in the self-inflicted torment and darkness of Hell. See John 3:16-20, 36. Won't you say, Lord Jesus as an unfit sinner, I trust you now to save me and be your child from now on. 
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Are We The Terminal Generation?  We don't know the exact year, month, date, or hour when Jesus will return to take His true believers to be with Him forever (Mark 13:32; John 14:1-3). But He will rapture His church (1 Thess. 4:16-18, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). Then, God will judge this rebellious rejecting world like never before. If this tribulation were not cut short, nobody would survive (Matt.24:21-22). After that Jesus will return to earth to reign as King of kings over the world in Jerusalem as the Tanakh or O.T. prophets foretold (Daniel 7:27; Rom. 11:26-27; Rev. 20:1-4). Then, the final great white judgment and the New Heaven and Earth. Praise God!
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