ThinkGOSPEL Q&A
Why do Christians believe that Jesus Christ was God?
Why do Christians believe that Jesus Christ was God?
Because the Bible distinctly proclaims him to be so: (John 1:1/14) calling Him by that name and also identifying Him as "our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13) He freely took the title of Deity in John 8:58 saying "Before Abraham was, I am" (and not "I was" but eternally present and above time) He is accredited with all the attributes and actions of Deity i.e. Creation etc., (John 1:3) When Thomas saw Him after His resurrection, he proclaimed Christ in John 21:28 to be "My Lord and my God" (Literally: "the Lord of me and the God of me") Christ commended him for his faith (John 20:29)
Is sin "really" dealt with if I continue to sin as a Christian
Dear J.....
Re: your question “how somebody could have their sin truly dealt with [seeing] we continue to sin, no matter what?”
The two facts you mentioned are not contradictory, i.e. our sin can be dealt with and we continue to sin. The Bible nowhere teaches that salvation from sin leads to a sinless perfection.
Our sin is dealt with by an act of God when we receive Christ as Saviour. The Bible refers to this act of God as Justification. Justification is the declaration of God that we are forgiven and righteous. How can God make such an irrevocable declaration? Because the righteousness that is given to our account is the righteousness of Christ; it is not our own. Our sins were imputed to Christ and His righteousness was imputed to us (II Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him [Christ]”). You see then, that our sin has been dealt with legally, finally and completely in Christ, it is not depending on our righteousnesses which are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
The Second fact that you mentioned is that we continue to sin. This is reconciled to the first point only because of the Grace of God. There is nothing in us, or anything done by us at any stage of our Christian life that makes us acceptable to God; it is all of grace.
Martin Luther struggled with this as he tried to work his way into favour with God. He came to understand the glory of salvation as peace with God by a righteousness that was outside of him. In reconciling the fact that sin is dealt with and yet he still sinned, Luther came to the conclusion that he was “simultaneously saint and sinner.” He was eternally right with God. The question then turned to how the Christian should live in light of the fact that sin remains. The first of Luther’s Ninety-five Theses states “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” This is what John spoke of in I John 1:9; the continual confession of sin. While our union with God is secure in Christ’s righteousness yet because of sin our communion (fellowship) is often spoiled. In confessing sins daily the Christian is addressing the area of communion, not union.
If fellowship with Christ is spoiled the Christian will continually feel his sin. He knows he is, to use Luther’s phrase “a miserable sinner” and he therefore lives in a state of penitence before God. But this state of penitence is not hopelessness or despair. Indeed sensitivity to sin is a mark of true conversion and a means of driving us continually to dependence on Christ, rather than our own virtues. The more we see our sin the more gracious Christ appears to us and the more we love Him for who he is and what he has done.
According to Luther and St. Augustine before him this was true godliness; true repentance for felt sin and the subsequent joy of resting in a sufficient Saviour. In the words of another more recent theologian, the Christian lives a life of “solaced contrition.” If you have a heart that is burdened with sin, a conscience that is plagued with the past, Christ says “come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
It is important to note also that in sanctification God graciously weans us off sin, Sanctification is the process of growing in Christ, whereby God graciously enables us to defeat sin in our lives and live more like Christ (Romans 8:1 cf. I John 3:3). In Short, the Christian is not alone in the battle against sin in this life; he has been given the directions and amour of warfare (Ephesians 6:10ff), the continual prayers of Christ (Hebrews 7:25) and the promise of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (John 16:7 cf. Hebrews 13:5)
Yours for Christ’s sake
A. Dunlop
The Origin of Sin
Dear J.......
The question of the origin of sin is very difficult. It has been variously answered through the millennia by either denying man’s responsibility or attributing to God what He cannot do or be.
It is instructive to notice the first time God asks about the question of sin; He does not ask with reference to causality but with reference to moral responsibility(Genesis 3:12-14). It is Adam who, trying to excuse himself, points the finger and looks for an answer in causality. God instructs Adam not to look at the first cause of sin but to take responsibility for it.
Since God does not satisfy our curiosity and identify the first cause of sin we are left to speculate. There are certain truths that are clear in Scripture.
- 1. God is sinless; He has not, does not and cannot sin. “In him is no sin” (I John 3:5). Sin is not in Him; either original, actual or latent. This we must affirm if we are to have a perfect Saviour.
- 2. Men and women are sinners (Romans 3:23 etc.) and this because of Adam’s first sin (Romans 5:19).
Our answer must not contradict these two biblical truths. For God to make man perfect not only means that he made him without sin but also that he made him with the ability of free choice. Man was not created like a robot, nor unintelligent. God made man with the ‘power of contrary choice;’ he could choose good or evil. Man in his choice to disobey God chose evil and therefore fell from favour with God. In this fall he lost the power of contrary choice. Now men and women have only the will to do evil and no will to come to God (John 5:40). The question of sin begins and ends with moral responsibility.
Trust this Helps. In Christ
A. Dunlop (Pastor)
How does the Death of Jesus provide for my salvation?
Dear A....
Christ’s death on the cross provides for our salvation because it was God’s sacrifice for sin. In announcing the ministry and mission of Jesus, John the Baptist said “Behold the Lamb of God...” (John 1:29). All of the sacrifices of ancient Israel pointed to that One and final sacrifice, the eternal Lamb of God. Not all the thousands of lambs slain in Israel could take away sin; God provided the sacrifice for man’s sin in sacrificing His Son.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), it is only death that can appease the wrath of God against sin. The life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11 cf. Hebrews 9:22). Christ give His life for ours, He shed his blood as a substitute for the blood of his people. By this sacrifice on the cross Jesus satisfied the demands of God in paying the penalty for sin. Those who believe in Christ and accept that sacrifice for sin find peace with God (Colossians 1:19-20) and life eternal. Those who refuse this sacrifice for sin must pay themselves by an eternal death (John 3:36).
In Christ
A. Dunlop (Pastor)
How can a Christian reconcile his faith with the theory of evolution?
Many approaches have been taken by Christians in the pursuit of answering this question, and they vary across the spectrum. At one end, some have abandoned their faith altogether finding the two entities unable to co-exist, while others have worked hard to fit the two together managing to hybridize both through a series of postulated explanations.
There are those at the other end of the spectrum who have opposed the theory of evolution altogether in favor of the scriptures. Those who hold to the Scriptures believe them to be the final authority and are not intimidated by modern science. They believe the Bible to be compatible with true science in how it describes the beginning and continuance of all things and not contradictory.
Scott Monette
(Creation science contributor)
Can science help a Christian in making a decision?
Science is a tool of organizing data and observations in a systematic fashion to describe general laws of nature. Many leading scientists in the past (Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, Johann Kepler...) and in modern times (Werner Von Braun [began NASA], and Raymond Damadian [inventor of the MRI machine]) are Christians among others.
Therefore a Christian should use science to help him make these decisions. Yet the Bible does have something to say about those who would mis-use science, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" (1 Timothy 6:20; KJV).
Scott Monette
(Creation science contributor)
Why is the Resurrection of Christ so Important?
The literal and actual bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational to Christianity. As the culmination of all miracles it was the last miracle of Christ on earth; that which declared Him triumphant and that event from which the Church was propelled forward. It was the greatest of all miracles. The life of every true and sincere Christian revolves around the resurrection; they celebrate it every “Lord’s Day,” it is presupposed in every conversation of heaven, and it is the hope of every sorrowing believer. On this impregnable rock every Christian anchors his soul.
Does The Christian have an Obligation to the World?
Does The Christian have an Obligation to the World?
God asked the pedagogic question "Where is Abel thy brother?" to cause Cain to think of his human obligations to his brother (I John 3:12). God did not need to solicit information from Cain, he knows all things. The sixth commandment not only forbids the taking of life but it requires “all careful studies, and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves and others by resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any... by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness; peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behavior; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil; comforting and succoring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent.” (Westminster Larger Catechism, #135)
We have an obligation to the world around us as fellow Creatures. John makes it clear in his first epistle that the “brother” is one who is our natural brother; he is a fellow human. This was an obligation that held the mind of Paul throughout his entire ministry. His “heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel (his nation) was that they might be saved” (Rom. 10:). His obligation to the lost did not stop with his own native blood, but the entire world, “I am a debtor,” he said “both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians (Rom. 1:14). As Christians we have a duty both to disseminate the truth, and maintain the purity of the truth for the love of others.
We have an obligation to the Church as fellow Christians. The Church is referred to in the New Testament as a family, brothers and sisters in Christ, with one heavenly Father (Rom. 16:1; I Cor. 1:1). We are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2) and both weep and laugh with God’s people (Rom. 12:15).
What is the State of the Christian Immediately After Death?
Dear ..... (Australia)
Among the many theories concerning the afterlife are Purgatory, and Soul-Sleep. Roman Catholicism teaches that in Purgatory the individual is "purged" and made fit for heaven. The idea of Soul-sleep is that after death the soul sleeps (is unconscious) until the resurrection. This however is a misunderstanding of the use of the term "sleep" in Scripture which refers only to the physical body (I Thess 4:14; Acts 7:60 etc.). Seventh Day Adventists also use Ecclesiastes 9:5 to speak of Soul-Sleep, but the context is clear that the writer is speaking of things temporal and tangible; the dead know nothing "of these things as the living do." This is clearly the comparison he is making. There are certain things about Heaven that we will not know until we get there, but the true believer in Christ can be assured that when he dies he goes directly into the presence of God to be with Christ (Luke 23:39-43). There is no need of Purgatory if faith lays hold of Christ as the complete salvation without works. And there is every indication of optimism that the vital and conscious presence of Christ is ours in death. This is why there is no sting in death nor fear of the grave. On the cross, Christ commended his soul to the Father in Heaven and the believing thief went to be with him that same day. Paul also was clear in where he would be immediately after death. "...Absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." (II Corinthians 5:8). In Luke 16:19-31 we have a very clear picture of what happens immediately after death; it is either Heaven or Hell. The rich man, who died without Christ, "was buried and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment." There is no lapse in time here in these events. Lazarus went immediately to be in the bosom of Abraham which is another clear indication that Old Testament Saints (cf. II Kings 2:11) and New Testament saints are not separated in death; they have the same Saviour, the same salvation and the same destiny.
I trust this helps and gives you an assured hope in Christ's full and free salvation.
Aaron
Why is the blood of Christ so important?
Why is the blood of Christ so important?
When Adam sinned the penalty of that sin was death. This death has come on all humanity. At that time God instituted the sacrifice, the shedding of blood to represent the giving up of life (Leviticus 17:11-14). But it is more than the mere giving of life; it is the giving of that life for another, the substitution of an innocent life for a guilty (Isaiah 53:10). All of the sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed to the ultimate final, full and once for all sacrifice of Christ at Calvary (Hebrews 10:11-12). It is by faith in the blood of Christ, the sacrifice of Calvary alone that saves sinners (I Peter 1:18-19; Acts 20:28b; I Corinthians 6:20).
What is Salvation by Grace?
What is Salvation by Grace?
When we speak of salvation by grace alone, we mean that the Bible says that every man is a sinner before God. Now we have to take that seriously. People say, “I am really not a bad person; I don’t drink, I don’t gamble, I don’t steal, I have never committed adultery, I have never murdered,” etc. etc. These are all good things in a relative sense; We applaud those social virtues, but before God we are all sinners. We have broken the first and great commandment of the Law of God, which is to love God with all our soul, strength and mind. We are all sinners, and not small sinners, but big sinners. We are dead in sin and corrupted in sin, we are self-centered and not God-centered.
The Gospel declares that man has no saviour from sin except the Lord God Almighty—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit revealed in the Holy Scriptures. God is the saviour of sinners. So salvation has to start with God. According to Scripture, it was purchased by God sending His Son into the world in the likeness of sinful flesh, taking a real humanity into union with Himself so that He could live, suffer, bleed and die in our place—so that He could pay the price and the ransom for our guilt and reconcile us to God—and, having died, that He should rise again from the dead to break the power of death, sin and hell and bring us into union with Himself in the living Christ.
Now, God offers this salvation free of charge. You don’t pay for it; you don’t work for it. It is not by tears of repentance, it is not by church or sacrament; it is by faith in Jesus Christ. This salvation is by grace alone, that is, it comes from God freely, because He loves us. It is in Christ alone, because He purchased it by His death on the cross, and it is through faith alone. You receive Christ by faith, not by works, not by effort, but by trusting Him.
What is the best definition of faith?
Mr. M. – What is the best definition of faith?
Mr. R. – Trust in the Son of God as the Saviour He has given to us. Simple trust, not only in a creed, but in a Person. I trust my soul to Him. I trust the keeping of my soul to Him. God has promised that whosoever trusts Him, mercy shall compass him on every side (Ps. 32:10).
