- Venustech Studios -

Salvation / Witness for Christ

SECTION UNDER DEVELOPMENT
for more answers to these and other questions go to Heaven Net and click on 'Questions'
or Who Is He - Tough Questions to find more information.

COMMON QUESTIONS

I. Who is God? [A definition of God and what He is]

God's Outer Nature

Let us first agree on what qualities make up God. He is the creator of all things and is thus more powerful than anything else in existence. God is considered infinite in his power and might. God is beyond human ability to scientifically measure but evidence he exists can be seen in creation itself and through the scientific laws that hold together time and space. Such laws suggest an intelligence and order to the universe and not utter chaos. If order then laws and truth are absolute and final. God is defined to be self existent, apart from creation and not subject to it. His will set in motion creation (however you choose to define the length or method of this is irrelevant for this article) and all in creation are His. He owns everything in it and breathed life into creation. He has been also described as being omnipresent (present everywhere), omnipotent (all powerful), all knowing, all seeing, etc. 

God's Inner Nature

Holy - above all else, God is Holy. His holy nature even supersedes his loving/ forgiving nature. God will not condone sin and it cannot be in His presence. This is why Heaven is for those who God has forgiven and who abstain from sin in deed and in mind. You have to ask forgiveness to get it. You have to leave the sin behind you and move on. 

Love - God is Love. Jesus commanded us to love one another. It is at the core of all His teachings. He loves us so much he does not want us to miss out on Heaven. Loving us enough to send His son to die so we and God are reconciled to each other. He freely gives this grace and mercy to us if we live it and believe it. I often hear what sort of loving God would create a Hell or allow such pain and suffering? There wouldn't be a Hell if we had obeyed Him at the first and obeyed Him all along. Hell was only supposed to house the angels who rebelled against God. This has changed. The laws of God are not meant to rain on our parade but to preserve us for something better and eternal. The life we have is short and we only get one chance to get this right. He loves us enough to give us his law because we were not meant to live in sin.

II. Who is Jesus Christ?

The BIBLICAL view of Christ - The son of God, born of a virgin. He was born into this world to proclaim God's Word to the Jews and he was to be their messiah. He is seen as sinless in the eyes of God. When he came to Earth he was to be put to death and take our sins upon himself. We must believe in Jesus as savior. By doing this we have no sin in us in God's eyes when it comes time for judgment. After he was crucified, he was dead 3 days but rose from the dead and was seen by man. We will rise from the grave and ascend to Heaven as Jesus did because we believe the blood spilled by Jesus was an atonement for our sins and as such God has given us His grace. Jesus is alive and serves God as our advocate, protecting us from the Enemy, Satan, who is known as the Accuser. This enemy accuses us in front of God. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit which is in those who believe on Him, who serves as a guide for our lives. We see evidence of this when our conscience tells us what is right and wrong.

III. What is a Christian and what is meant by being 'Born-Again'?

Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

A Definition of Repentance
Repent - repentance is not just feeling sorry for doing something bad it goes beyond this and is being 'sorry enough' to quit the sin. Yes, you will fail at times resisting sin but it is no excuse to give in willingly to sin, certainly the same sins over and over by an act of one's will.

Believe these things - Christ came, born of a virgin, as the only son of God, fulfilled the prophecies outlined in the Old Testament, He suffered and died on the Cross that our sins would be forgiven us bringing man and God back into union with each other, he was buried and dead three days, he was resurrected (and witnessed) and ascended to Heaven to be our advocate at the right hand of God, Jesus will return for his Church (believers). 

What I have to do - accept Jesus as Lord and Savior by praying to God touching upon these points : "I have sinned, I ask forgiveness in the name of Jesus, I ask Jesus into my life to be my Lord and Savior, I will leave my sin behind and live by your Word." Now follow your conscience. If you know something is wrong then do not do it. If your thoughts are immoral, analyze them, and pray for strength to overcome them, taking captive every thought. Pray for forgiveness and give thanks to God in all things. Do not be afraid to speak to him on anything. Church and Bible reading will strengthen you in this spiritual battle. It won't be easy. You battle your lusts and desires that are hard to break with. Your friends and family will often reject you or your beliefs but pray for them. Most of all, Love. It is the commandment of Jesus to love and forgive others. That is Christianity. 

Above all - Love God and Love each other.

IV. Why is there suffering in the world?

    Jesus suffered some of the worst pain imaginable and witnessed the suffering and hopelessness of countless others beforehand. I know I can't adequately answer this question to satisfy anyone (even myself at times). Even the believer has a tough time dealing with loss, pain, and abuse. Lets take a look at pain and suffering.
    This pain sometimes is self inflicted by the sin residing in one. One example would be a drug user having his body ravaged by his addiction. I would also point out God would even go so far as to pass (seemingly) harsh judgments on nations and people who disobeyed him. But even in this God allowed for his prophets to warn these people and give them chances to turn from their sins. When they repented, God would not pass judgment. But often times they failed to listen and brought suffering on themselves as a result of their own pride. This pain is here because you allow it to be.
    Pain comes from others at times due to their sinful nature. An example would be a husband abusing a wife and children. The husband chooses not to acknowledge his sin and continues in it causing more suffering and pain. 
    The last pain would be that unexplainable pain and loss in life we scream to God 'Why! Why have you done this?' An example would be the loss of a mother and child in child birth suddenly, with no cause. I can't give a response that will satisfy everyone, I wish I could. God, as Jesus, saw this sadness when Lazarus died. He was moved to tears himself even knowing he would raise him from death only a short time later. The suffering of those around Him didn't go unnoticed then or now. God does love and still cares for you and this suffering has reasons maybe in which you will not learn in this life. The Bible tells us from Romans 8:28 "and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God"
    Know that God once had man living with him in unity with him in a painless and sinless world. Man was seduced and sinned and was forced out of Eden by God for embracing his own sin. He chose to reject God, not to believe his words and promises. As a result we all suffer because of this failure in man. Life is therefore a divine test of one's willingness to serve and believe God's words in faith. We may not like to abstain from sin because it feels good but ultimately we suffer as a result. This is a dying world in which we live, according to God, because Adam sinned and we as well. Science has proven this to be true as the resources of our natural world are slowly being used up and brought into waste. We to who were once immortal now die because of this too. So as we and the world around us die we will experience pain. You have a choice to let this pain harden you against God or to overcome it in courage and continue to seek after God. 

V. Why should I believe the Bible?

There are many reasons one would believe such a book. Too many don't believe and choose to follow their own wills. As free moral agents God has allowed us to make that choice between believing and not believing his words. The Bible is his word. Some would say the Word is living as God lives. Step one in this is believing that God did indeed write this book and its words. 

VI. How does Christianity stand apart from other religions?

    Christianity is very clear there is only one way to God and eternal life in heaven and that is to believe in Jesus, his birth, fulfillment of prophecy, his death, his resurrection and ascendancy to Heaven witnessed by many. 

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.'"

    Works - One is not saved by works but for works. Our good deeds do not get us into heaven because the Bible clearly states that it is totally by grace alone that we have our sins remitted because of Christ's actions on the cross. Many other faiths and even many of the denominations claiming to be Christian think it is by our good deeds alone that saves us, taking Christ out of the equation. Always keep in mind though that if we are saved and our sins are removed God does expect we use our gifts and talents to serve Him by helping out our brethren and ministering to the unsaved. It is written that this is so none can boast that they are better or made it to Heaven by their own will or action but it was God alone who removed our sin through Christ that we will make it to Heaven.

    Unlike any other religion, the Bible has successfully predicted the future through prophecy hundreds of times and is still doing it today as we enter the End Times and the prophecies surrounding this period. All one has to do is read His word to see these things. Islam can not claim such a thing nor can other faiths.

VII. I need proof God and Jesus are real.

In the absence of an actual article here I would like to refer you to a great book about creation by Grant R. Jeffrey called Creation (go to amazon.com). This addresses some matters revolving around evolution. I would also refer you to the resources on Creation Science Evangelism for a full length study into this subject.

    Aside from all the misinformation given about Jesus on documentaries, he was real, he was documented to be, his ministry was real and documented, people saw him alive, people saw him die on a cross, people saw him alive again and no one can change that truth. If it was made up would people who witnessed this die in the thousands for his ministry? You really have to think on that one don't you? Why suffer extreme torture, execution, and humiliation for something not real? Even all the material in the Old Testament has proven to be historically accurate.

    Can God be proven? He wouldn't be God if we could quantify Him in a mathematical formula or put Him under a microscope. God is said to be spirit and thus invisible to us but His spirit has guided the early Jewish nation and yet the nation perseveres today after two thousand years of dispersal among the nations. You can see evidence of God in creation itself. It was no random chance life was born on Earth and that we are the way we are.

VIII. What is sin and temptation?

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

A definition of Death and Life pertaining to its Biblical uses
Death - is spiritual separation from God and is, therefore, Hell.
Life - is having been removed from sin/ iniquity and becoming Holy. It is achieved by faith in Jesus and repentance of sins and iniquity in one's heart (mind and spirit). God is not a 'god of the dead' but of the living only.

Romans 8:6-7 "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

So why do I like and get pleasure from sin? Sex doesn't hurt a person and it feels good so what's so bad about it? If drugs and alcohol make me feel good why stop? It's bad to hold in anger so I let it out. Sin is a very large subject for there are many sins and many reasons God has for us not to engage in each. A study on the subject would take up too much room here but I'll say this for sins of pleasure... God made sex and drugs. He gave guidelines for them... rules. Sex in marriage to the opposite sex is actually applauded by God and encouraged in married couples. Pretty simple rule and sort of breaks the stereotype of the prude Christian. You can have pleasure in the act but doing so outside this has obvious consequences like disease, hurting others by infidelity, unplanned pregnancy, and other drawbacks to society at large are part of the reason to keep it in God's laws again, for our benefits, not to rain on our pleasure parade. Drugs/ alcohol heal but when abused to 'feel good' become habitual and harmful. Strong emotional outbursts can become problematic. Think before you speak. Analyze your thoughts fully before running your mouth. God does allow for righteous anger, but be sure of your reasons and don't keep angry and turn to bitterness (that is not the Love of Jesus).

IX. Why am I here then? What is the meaning of life?

There is only one shot at life. God made us for His pleasure and wishes for us to serve Him. He made us creatures of free will. We can choose to serve Him or to reject Him. It is our choice. We do make mistakes. If we persevere we are rewarded with eternal life because our mistakes are forgiven because of Jesus' work on the cross. As stated earlier, we are to love and serve God with all heart, mind and spirit and we are to love our fellow man. Yes, its simple in principle but hard to do isn't it.

X. All roads lead to Heaven, right? Why is Christ right and other religions wrong?

coming soon - 

XI. I'm basically a good person, will I go to Heaven?

"Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of God; but he doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (the words of Jesus, Matthew 7:21, 23)

    It is not disbelief in Christ but sin that condemns us. To those who have justified to themselves the old argument "I'm basically good, I haven't robbed or killed anyone. I'll go to Heaven when I die, if not, what kind of 'loving' God would send us to Hell." You have been fooled by your pride what we might call the wisdom of the world which in this day and age is called moral relativism where truth for one differs for another but the idea of absolute truths such as in the Bible are offensive to the world. Don't fall into this faulty logic. For we have all fallen short in God's eyes and all of us have some sin no matter how good we might strive to be. The world and those around us are not the ones we answer to ultimately. It is only Jesus as our atonement and our advocate before God that can wash the dirt of sin from us upon our judgment. 

Matthew 10:33 "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven"

    Jesus is essential to being this atonement and advocate. We cannot deny His work on the cross because the very nature of God is Holy and to be in His presence we also must be sinless. See my description above about God's holy nature. It is this very nature that can not come into contact with sin for sin is death. Willfully accepting a sin is accepting death and denies life/ God/ and Christ's work on the cross.
    The prevailing attitude in America in the modern era is this political correct sentiment that seems to stem from the media, celebrities, politicians that "all roads lead to Heaven (or to God)" but they do not. I'm sorry but they just don't. Please, do not EVER claim to be Christian if you believe this prevailing attitude of the World. Christ died on a cross so you would be forgiven right? Why would he suffer and die there at all if Muhammad and Buddha and David Koresh and every other 'would be' divine messenger would just come around and say "you don't have to do it that way to get to Heaven" it just doesn't make sense. Yes, America was founded a Christian nation but no you don't go to Heaven by bypassing God's son Jesus Christ solely because of the place of one's birth. This is very 'un-politically' correct to say in this day and age but so be it. The wisdom of the world says to believe in one's self and to take it further and further by satisfying one's own needs or relying on good deeds to buy one's way to heaven. 

XII. What about all those people who never even heard of God or Jesus?

    My friend brought this up the other day as a question and stumbling block why she had problems believing. I can understand this. I have only been a Christian myself a few years and before this I was very anti-Christian. Before the age when Christians sent missionaries around the world I have often wondered in my past why God would condemn someone, ignorant of His grace, to Hell. Remember, Hell is for those who sinned and rejected God and Christ. In the absence of the knowledge of God and Christ what happens to these people? Are they sent to Hell because of the place of their birth alone? Not so.

    The conscience of man, no matter what culture you are from, is the standard by which God judges (read Romans 2:10-16) as are those specifically mentioned sins in many passages (see Romans 1:28-32) and it is by these standards in the absence of the knowledge of Christ that people are judged in these circumstances. Those who partake in sins their 'conscience' tells them is wrong are subject to Hell/Death even if they do not know Jesus. HOWEVER, once the knowledge of Christ IS there in one, to deny it is to bring condemnation. The problem is people go to Hell because of the sin inside all men, not because God or Jesus are playing some cruel joke with them. 

XIII. Why do Christians act different than others? 

    Some see 'born again' Christians as weird fanatics in this day and age because we don't go along with the regular flow of most the other people out there, even many other 'professing' Christians for that matter. Why are we seen as strange in the eyes of some?

Romans 12:2 says "and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God"

Which is essentially saying we are not to conform to the present world standards (or its current way of seeing things like its value system and conduct). The Word of God is our guide and standard of living. If society says something is acceptable when in the past it wasn't we do not go along with society because of this. Even if the greater majority of the people on earth agree with a way of thinking we can't go along unless it lines up along biblical lines. The world has accepted smut on television, its accepted gay marriage, its accepted casual sex, its accepted profanity, and I could go on but we can't go along if we really are followers of Christ. It isn't that we are any better than anyone else its just that its wrong. The Bible states there are absolutes. There are absolutes in sin and conduct and we are not to conform otherwise. We are instructed to live by the Word of God and the Bible says these things are wrong regardless of political correctness so we follow the Word.

XIV. Where do we go when we die? What is Heaven and Hell?

Death - Luke 16:19-31 (Parable of Abraham's Bosom) Sheol/ Hades/ The Grave

    Paradise vs. Hades - 

Heaven - 1st mentioned in Gen 1:1 when God divided the Heaven and the Earth. Jesus described Heaven or the "Kingdom of Heaven" in various parables in the gospels.

    Rapture - I Thess 4:13-18 = the dead in Christ will rise first, then those living in Christ; return with Christ as stated in Rev 19:14 (Armies in Heaven in white linen, earlier attributed to both those taken in the Rapture and those killed for being Christian in the Tribulation period).
    1st Resurrection - at Rapture = 
    Tribulation Saints - Rev 19:11-14/ 20:4-6 = 

Hell - original purpose was to serve as the prison for the fallen angels but man's fall made it also serve a new purpose.

    2nd Resurrection - The Great White Throne Judgment

<< BACK