The Bible
These are a collection of FAQ's
about the Bible from my Wednesday night Bible study at
my church, Summit Assembly of God. The questions were asked by people in
the class,
and some were answered every Wednesday. These are all the questions that
were
answered. I hope they answer some of your questions, too. ;-)
Wherever Scripture is quoted,
there is a link to the verse from The
Bible Gateway,
which can be found at http://bible.gospelcom.net.
Scriptures are quoted from the NIV.
On each page, there is a link at the top where you can see the same verse from
the
KJV. Just click on the KJV at the top of the page. ;-)
Ok, here's the big question on
all our minds...
I set this off specifically cuz I know how many wanna know. ;-)
Click here
to read this as a text file.
Click on the back button of your browser to return from the text file.
1) What is blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit? There are 2 types... Holy Spirit and persecution of character. Attributing the works of God with the works of the devil. Giving the devil credit for what God does, like in Matthew 12:22-30. Calling good evil and evil good. You cannot be forgiven for this. You need to have known the Holy Spirit in a personal way to commit this sin. It starts by grieving the Spirit (Hebrews 9:26), resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51), putting out the Spirit's fire (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and hardening of the heart (Hebrews 3:8-13). It's an attitude of the heart, not a single act. If you are interested in forgiveness, you have not committed this. Those who commit it refuse forgiveness. It's an active position where you seek a lifestyle of sin, choose to sin, and up with a hardened heart. No one but God knows at exactly what point this sin is committed. |
![]()
|
2) Will God ever take back a
gift He gives you? Romans 11:29. Once God gives you a gift, he never takes it back. You can give it up, but He will never take it back. This has nothing to do with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit or the gifts and abilities God bestows on you. God does and doesn't. When you remove yourself away from God and put yourself in a place where you're not responding to God, you have given it up. God doesn't take back the certain abilities He gives you, you give them up willingly. |
![]()
|
3) Is speaking in tongues
necessary for salvation? No. John 3:16 says that anyone who believes is saved... it says nothing about speaking in tongues. Romans 10:9 (my favorite verse ;-) says the same thing. The thief on the cross next to Jesus didn't speak in tongues, and he went to heaven... and he wasn't baptized in water, either... that's not necessary either, that's a public profession of your faith. There is no work that will get you into heaven. Only asking for forgiveness and accepting Jesus as your Savior will do that. |
![]()
|
4) If you get a divorce and
get remarried, is that considered adultery? Matthew 19:3-9 says you can only divorce and remarry if your spouse has been unfaithful. If you have remarried for any other reason, yes, you have committed adultery. 1 Corinthians 7:10-17 says you can divorce, but not remarry. If your spouse is not a believer, and chooses to leave you, you can divorce because you are no longer bound to them. You can't leave your spouse just because they aren't a believer, they have to make the choice to leave you before you can divorce. But no matter what the situation is, you should always try to keep the marriage together and work things out. Try everything you can think of first. Divorce should be the absolutely last resort. |
![]()
|
5) Does God sanction
interracial marriages? There is nothing in the Bible that says you can't marry outside your race. Black, White, Asian, and Hispanic and all aren't the only ones considered to be races... there are Italians, Germans, French, Spanish, Swiss, Portuguese, Irish, Scottish, English, American... everyone from a different culture or nationality is a different race. It may be considered culturally wrong, but there are no scriptures against it. Some try to say Deuteronomy 7:3 is against it, but that was there only for that specific situation at that time. They were told not to marry into that race of people because they were pagans, and might lead them away from God and lead them into idol worship. |
|
6) What race was Jesus? Jesus was Jewish. In Matthew 1:1-17 (and also Luke 3:23-38), it gives the whole list of Jesus' ancestors starting all the way back from Abraham. His whole human family, from Abraham to Mary, the woman who gave birth to Him, was all Jewish. |
![]()
|
7) Can Jesus disguise himself in
other religions so that they would still be worshipping Him, but in their own
understanding? No. Jesus does not disguise Himself as any other deity. To disguise yourself is to give a false impression of who you are. To give a false impression is to lie. To lie is a sin. And Jesus is sinless. The only one who would disguise themselves in another religion would be a liar... the devil. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 says that the devil would be the one to do this... he appears as an angel of light. If this were to happen, and He were to do this, He would have had to be reincarnated over and over as all these different deities, but the Bible says that Jesus came to earth ONCE... and this one time is the time that is recorded in the Bible.
|
|
8) During the Last Supper, did the
bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus? No. This belief is based on a preist or pastor having the power to perform what's called "transubstantiation," or to change the substance of one thing into the substance of another. No human has the power to do this. This is a false teaching because nowhere in the Bible is this practice ever written. In the Communion Passage, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, Jesus uses the bread and wine to represent His body and blood, to show what will be done to His body and blood when he is crucified (breaking the bread to show how His body will be broken for them, and giving them the wine as He will give his blood for them), and to show what will be given as the price of the salvation of the entire human race. This was "consubstantiation," or using one thing to represent another thing. The Last Supper was symbolic, and is to be done in rememberance of the Lord to acknowledge that we accept and are thankful for what He did for us, and the Communion Passage says we should do this until He comes back.
|
|
9) What should we do about
situations not contained in the Bible? The Bible doesn't specifically mention certain things that are done in churches, but that doesn't mean that they are wrong. The Bible never mentions youth pastors, worship leaders, or even church custodians. The time period that the Bible was written is very culturally and technologically different from the time period we live in, so many of the situations we have, they didn't have back then, and vice versa. Just becasue the Bible doesn't mention these things doesn't mean we can't answer them... like the common disagreements about whether or not it's right to wear a hat or shorts in church. When it comes to things like this, you decide for yourself what you believe about these things... just make sure that what you decide does not contradict any Scriptures. Romans 14 talks all about this. But if you feel one way about something, and someone else feels another way, do not look down on them or tell them that they are wrong. Romans 14:10 mentions that. This is all based on love. The one thing you should always do when deciding on these things is to try and decide on a thing that will make your life a good example of Christianity to others. If it gives the apperance that your are bad or evil, don't do it. You still have to obey the laws of the land as long as they don't contradict God's laws. And also, don't take these things to extremes, either. So when you're faced with a situation like this, study the Scriptures, find out all you can, and make a decision that goes along with what is written in the Bible.
|
|
10) Can the sins of an individual
be forgiven through the prayers of others? No, but, in a way, yes. In the truest sense, no. The only one who can take away sins is Jesus. Matthew 26:28, and also Ephesians 1:7. No person can have sins forgiven for another person. To have a sin forgiven, you have to want that sin forgiven, and you have to ask for yourself. Answering "yes" would be in the sense that you can pray that God will convict that person of their sins, and they will see that they have sinned and ask for forgiveness. But your prayer cannot save someone else.
|
|
11) Who created God? This is a simple question, but it is not to be explained and believed through evidence, but through the very thing that justifies us... faith. Genesis 1:1 simply says "In the beginning, God created..." God was there right from the start. Nothing could have ever been without God. Revelation 21:6 says He is, He always was, and He always will be. It's something we will understand when we get to heaven and God tells us Himself. ;-)
|
|
12) Is Christ coming back soon? Yes. Matthew 24 tells all about the signs of the end of the age. Not just about the rapture, but also the things that happen before the rapture, and about when Christ comes back and establishes His kingdom. Matthew 24:36 says that no one, not even Jesus, knows when this all will be. Only God knows. So basically, He'll get here when he gets here, so just be ready. ;-)
|
|
13) What is the 2000 year theory,
and is true? The 2000 year theory is a theory in which time was traced back to the beginning, and it was decided that each 1000 years of time was representative of each of the 7 days of creation. According to this theory, Jesus was born at the end of 5000 years (or, the 5th "day"). It is called the 2000 year theory because, according to this theory, since there are 2 more "days" of creation, that there will be 2 "days," or 2000 more years, after Jesus was born. At Jesus' birth, the years changed from BC to AD and they started with year 1. The 2000 year theory believes that, since there are 2000 years left after Jesus was born, that he will be coming back in the year 2000. But as for being true, the 2000 year theory is just that... a theory. There is no real way of dating the time when Jesus will come back... aside from just waiting to see when it will be. It might be true, but then again, it might not be. As it is said in Matthew 24:36, No one knows for sure but God.
|
|
Note from the editor: I would just like to comment on questions 12 and 13. I have an interesting theory about this, myself. Since Matthew 24:36 says that no one knows what day Jesus will return, I think that God is going to pick a day that no one on earth has guessed or tried to name as the day that Jesus is coming back. I think it will be a day that no scholar or geneologist has ever tried to put into a theory as the day, or no pastor or preacher decided that it might just be the day, or even a day that a little kid might have imagined would be the day s/he's going to get to see Jesus. I think this because the whole idea of not knowing is to keep us from rebelling and doing all the wrong things and living a terrible life and then deciding to repent and all immediately before He comes so that you can go to heaven. It would be totally unfair if even just one person knew, and God is a fair and just God, so He lets no one know. Not even Jesus. But it is proven that the next event, in the order stated in the Bible, to happen is the rapture of the church. So I believe he's coming very soon, but I also belive that it will not be until that one day comes around that no one ever guessed it would be. ;-) If you have any questions or comments about this or any other of the FAQ's, go to my e-mail section and send me them. ;-)
|
|
14) Are there aliens and spaceships
in the Bible? No, there are no aliens or spaceships in the Bible. The official position of my church, Assembly of God, is that there is only life on Earth. UFO's are not in the Bible either. There is no mention in the Bible that Jesus died for any other planets except Earth.
|
|
15) How do you know when you are
hearing God's voice? If you have absolutely no idea what God's voice is like, and you're hearing it for the first time, the best way to know if it's God and not your own conscience or even the devil, is that the devil will never tell you to worship God, to do anything that gives God or Jesus any of the honor or glory they deserve, or to ever trust or have faith in God. Also, your own conscience will sometimes tell you to do things that will take away some of the honor and glory from God and will give it to yourself. God will never tell you to do anything that will not glorify Him, or what His Son did on the cross for us. But when you spend time in God's presence and pray, you can "hear" Him a lot more clearly. He speaks to your heart, and you can recognize when it's God. It's not difficult at all to hear God speaking to you, but what is difficult is to do what He tells you. It's difficult for us all because we're all human and we all are tempted at one time or another, but stay strong... and if you fall, get right back up again and keep going. Don't let one incident bring you down because God is always there to pick you back up.
|
|
16) If you are saved and you commit
suicide, will you still go to heaven? And what if you ask forgiveness for what you
are going to do before you do it? First off, you can't be forgiven for an act you haven't committed yet. The Scripture used most is 1 Corinthians 6:19. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is a sin to do anything that destroys your temple, and committing suicide destroys your temple. In my church, Assembly of God, the official standing is that you have forfeited your salvation if you commit suicide. My personal standing is the same... you'll be standing before God with a sin on your heart that you never had the chance to ask forgiveness for, and God doesn't allow sin in heaven, so He can't allow you with that sin in heaven.
|
|