Bible Bay : Frequently Asked Questions

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Home The Words That Make Up the Bible

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Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some questions that readers and Bible students commonly ask. Send us your questions and we may include them here.

Are All Foods Clean to Eat? - Virtually all Christian believers today accept the principle that the ceremonial parts of the law were given particularly to the people of Israel.

Are My Loved Ones Already in Heaven? - Christians generally hold one of two views. A minority—but growing—view hold to the teaching that men and women are souls, not that we have souls. In Genesis 2:7, when God created Adam, the Bible says simply, The man became a living soul.

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? - The fact is that the Word of God gives us no concrete evidence pointing in either direction. The one hint that there may be holy civilizations elsewhere in God's vast domain is found in the book of Job, which suggests a kind of heavenly grand council.

Are We Saved by Grace or Works? - The Christian gospel is gloriously clear about the truth that our commandment-keeping can never save us.

Can I be a Good Christian Without Joining a Church? - John Wesley is said to have remarked: "It's rare to find a person who leaves the communion of a church and, years later, is still having a vibrant and maturing Christian experience."

Can only Christians be Saved in Heaven? - It's difficult to search out any Bible answer to that question which doesn't sound both arrogant and exclusive!

Can We Communicate With the Dead? - This tragic story in I Samuel 28 raises thorny questions for all Christians—whether you believe in the immortality of the soul or in "soul sleep."

Did Jesus have a Holy, Sinless Nature? - This is an ongoing, sometimes heated debate that has especially troubled many in the community of faith.

Did Jesus Say We Should Hate Our Parents? - It takes maturity on our part to sort out what our Lord was really saying in this "hard passage"! Clearly Jesus cannot contradict himself, and all through both Testaments he tells us to love our parents.

Do People Really Speak In Tongues? - No matter what language Christians are speaking, this is a lively debate! Whole denominations hold to varying theological views on the question of what Paul means in the Bible about the spiritual gift of "tongues."

Does God Always Say Yes to Our Prayers? - It certainly sounds like it! "Ask, and it will be given to you," Jesus himself promised in his Sermon on the Mount. James wrote to the new Christian church: "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

Does God Know Every Detail About the Future? - One theologian who wrestled with the foreknowledge of God concluded helplessly: “We find ourselves trying to fit the ocean of God into the teacup of our brains.”

Does Good Sabbath Observance Preclude Cooking Meals? - If a Christian accepts the Ten Commandments as his eternal blueprint for obedient living, then the guideline is simple and straightforward.

Does Hell Burn Forever? - A number of Bible passages (including from the mouth of Jesus Himself) warn about hell's destructive and eternal nature.

Does James Teach a "Salvation by Works" Gospel? - This is a great question, and it lies at the very crux of the Protestant Reformation!

Does the Bible Forbid all Divorces? - In the Old Testament, the legal code broadly allowed for women to be "put away" for many petulant and trivial causes. In Deuteronomy 24:1, it seems that if a man simply became displeased, he could casually issue a certificate of divorce and hand it to his wife as he pushed her out the door.

Does the Bible Say We Have to be Perfect? - Unfortunately, yes! In fact, the command is more daunting than that. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he concludes the first third of it (verse 48), by saying, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Does the Bible Support Capital Punishment? - In the Old Testament, death was God's prescribed punishment for a great number of sins!

How Can I Be Saved? - Before I can be saved, I must first realize that I am lost. After our first parents' sin in the Garden of Eden we are all lost. We are all sinners condemned to death.

How Can I know God? - The human heart does not want to know God. We are afraid of Him. Since the sin of our first father we inherit the minds of aliens, with no desire to know Him.

How Can I Share My Faith? - Most of us recall the intensely pleasant feeling of telling our friends about that dream car we just bought!

How Can Jesus be God's "only begotten Son"? - This has actually been a pivotal question through the centuries since Calvary.

How did Moses Appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration? - It's rather sad and wistful to read, at the very close of Deuteronomy, how Moses quietly and willingly went up into the hidden hills of Mount Nebo and there lay down to sleep.

How Do I Join A Church? - How do you join a church? The word church has two meanings—it can mean a building where Christians meet, or it can mean a body of Christians composed of few or many members.

How Do I Keep The Sabbath? - The Sabbath is God's gift to us. At the end of creation week God rested from His work. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

How Do I Pray? - Jesus' disciples had often seen Him in prayer. One day they asked Him, ''Lord, teach us to pray." Jesus gave them a sample prayer. We call it The Lord's Prayer.

How Should We Treat "Rebellious" Christians? - If a close friend was involved in an adulterous relationship, and asked you to “cover” for him in case his wife called, you would say no!

I Find It Impossible to Forgive My Enemy! - You’re not alone! Most of us can think of one or more scarring life episodes that have grown into a Mount Everest of ongoing, nurtured resentment.

Is Birth Control Forbidden in the Bible? - There's only one passage in Scripture which has any bearing on this admittedly emotional subject.

Is Celibacy a Biblical Principle? - God’s Word glowingly describes the joys of marital life, including expressions of physical love within the sacred bounds of marriage.

Is Every Story in the Bible Really True? - What is the devoted Christian to do with some of these hard-to-swallow (no pun intended) stories?

Is It a Sin to Get Angry? - There are times when it is acceptable for a Christian to experience what we euphemistically call "righteous indignation." But what is it which makes our anger righteous?

Is it Wrong to Gossip? - It’s perversely enjoyable to gossip about others and tear them down, and yet the Bible describes it as a sinful, destructive habit.

Is it Wrong to Have Sex Before Marriage? - Here are a few more words about what a challenging reality this is!

Is It Wrong to Wear Jewelry? - In the fledgling Christian church, we do find both Paul and Peter warning that a focus on jewelry can be a spiritual detriment.

Is Jesus the Son of God? - Isn't it possible that Jesus was simply a gifted moral teacher – but not the Son of God?

Is the Devil Real? - If we believe God's Word, then we have no choice but to accept the reality of his ancient enemy, Lucifer.

Is the Virgin Birth of Jesus Biblical? - If a Christian accepts the possibility of miracles, then the reality of Jesus being born of a virgin poses no problem!

Is There More Than One God? - How then do we find the Trinity? The idea of God being three is not easy for us to understand. Jesus spoke of God as three persons.

Is There Such a Place as Purgatory? - Many good Christians accept the teaching that between death and heaven there is an indefinite time of "purgation," of a painful cleansing of our sins.

Is "Once Saved, Always Saved" Biblical? - Some denominations and evangelical leaders feel that once a person comes to Christ and accepts salvation, that gift can never be revoked.

Should I Worship God if I Don't Feel Anything? - It doesn't seem fair! Right next to you in church is someone who is bathed in ecstasy while they sing. Their eyes are closed, their hands are raised in joyful praise, they sway back and forth. They might even be crying.

What About the Rich Man and Lazarus? - What is the meaning of the story of the rich man and Lazarus told by Jesus in Luke 16:19-31? Was Jesus relating a factual story, or was He telling a parable to make a point?

What Does the Bible Say About a Secret Rapture? - If you've ever had the unfortunate experience of being robbed by a thief in the night, you probably noticed two things (too late): 1) the burglar came in on tiptoes and didn't make much noise, and 2) he showed up when you didn't expect him. These are the twin hallmarks of good thieves—unpredictability and quiet!

What Does the Bible Say About the Judgment? - It's certainly one of the most unnerving words in the Bible: judgment.

What Does the Bible Tell Us About Angels? - We can't learn much about angels by watching Hollywood films, though a loyal angel can certainly declare: "It's a wonderful life!" But the Bible does give us several important details about them.

What Happens at Death? - The idea that the soul is immortal does not come from the Bible. The Bible teaches that when God created Adam He formed him from the dust and breathed into his body the breath of life.

What is a Spiritual Gift? - The Bible tells us that a spiritual gift is one chosen for us by the Holy Spirit, and provided "for the common good" of the Christian Church.

What Is Faith? - To have "faith" in God is simply to know Him well enough to believe His promises, and to count on His Son for salvation as He has guaranteed to do.

What is Repentance? - Whatever it is, we’re not going to like it!

What Is the Apocrypha? - The Apocrypha is a collection of writings found in the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, but not included in the Hebrew canon of Scripture.

What is the Holy Spirit? - First, we need to ask the question this way: Who is the Holy Spirit?

What Is the Mark of the Beast? - Revelation 13:11 predicts a lamb-like beast that comes up out of the earth. It exercises all the power of the leopard-like beast described in verses one and two of the same chapter.

What is the Millennium? - This word actually isn't found in the Bible, but commonly refers to a thousand-year period.

What Is the Second Coming? - Jesus came the first time in response to plans made from "before the creation of the world."

What is Tithing? - It’s been suggested that for the Christian believer, God has a divine claim on one seventh of our time and one tenth of our possessions.

What is "Babylon"? - In the great themes of the Bible, we find two Babylons.

What's the Difference Between Grace and Faith? - The Bible describes both faith and grace as being all-important parts of the salvation process.

Which Day is the Biblical Sabbath? - The only reason we have a week of seven days is that God took seven days to create the world, and gave us the Sabbath as a day of rest and as a memorial of that great event.

Who is Michael? - This could be a trivial question—but it also has the potential to lead to dangerous thinking!

Who Wrote the Bible? - The 27 books of the New Testament were written in the Greek language. Matthew, John and Peter were members of the special group of twelve disciples who followed Jesus for the 32 years of His ministry.

Why Did People Sacrifice Animals? - The first record in the Bible of animal sacrifices was at the gate of the Garden of Eden.

Why Don't Religion and Politics Mix? - Religion and politics represent two different worlds; two different kinds of power. As long as we are here on this earth civil power and authority is needed to create the societal infrastructure needed to give order to our communities and world.

Won't God Eventually Save Everyone? - It's hard to understand how a heavenly Father who loves his children could ever permit a single one to be lost.