Lets Answer Mike's Questions

A few days ago I posted a blog titled; "Mike has Questions?".  Today I will start to answer his questions, taking one at time.  When Non-Christian's have questions or attacks, the area of answering is referred to as "Apologetics"; defending or defenders of the faith.  I don't like to use Wikipedia much, but found it convenient for our discussion.

Real quick, I am NOT the authority on the Bible although I have studied for quite some time. However the Bible makes it clear that EVERY Christian needs to be able to give (at least basic) answers to their faith.

1Pe 3:15 AMP  But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord.  Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.

Further, usually those who have questions, the answering of one leads to several others.  I am going to do my best to give a succinct answer to the specific question.  Some of you might be angry that I have not responded to Mike earlier or think I should answer all the questions for him at once, possibly because "time is of the essence"?   This however is not how people come to Christ - HE CALLS THEM.  Now answering questions is important and may help to remove obstacles that the enemy uses to block people from seeking God, but it is the drawing of the Holy Spirit.  While I am saying that, I'll say this too;  The Bible is more than... (insert all the more than's)  it is a Spiritual Book and in order to understand it - you must be of the Spirit.  I will hammer this home at the end of all the questions with a unique analogy.

1Co 2:13-16 NLT  When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom.  Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.  
(14)  But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.  
(15)  Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.  
(16)  For, "Who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?" But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

Ok lets get started.  "About time ERNIE!"  How rude.

Mike wrote:

1. Do not worship any other gods. This one is pretty cut and dry. But WHICH god is he referring to? So many different people worship differently. If you choose the wrong religion, are you dammed?

Answer:

Mike asks a GREAT question and what is interesting is that he (Mike) is naturally pointed in the right direction.  I will answer the statement I just made when we get to question #6 (remind me please), for now, IT IS CUT AND DRY on not worshiping ANY OTHER god's.  But "WHICH"?  AWESOME Brother!!!

Before I answer this...  "ERNIE, are you kidding me, stay focused."  I am, I am, I just wanted to say to Mike - I have bad news and good news, which do you want first?  The Bad?  Ok;  You are getting closer to God than you think.  The Good?  Ok; You are getting closer to God than you think!

WHICH god?  This question reveals part of the answer, because of competing religions (I hate that word), faiths or beliefs - THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!  Even our natural thinking makes us ask WHICH ONE is the right one?  Think about this for a minute, in order for God to be God, He must be the only one.  How many persons can be at the very top of (blank)?  How many Presidents at one time can there be in our nation, how many kings in another country and so on and so on?  Only ONE!  Now if there is only one, their can be no others.  So, in other words, if you have not put your faith and trust in the One True God, then it is in an impostor!  Only the God Jehovah (Yahweh) claims to be the One and only!  Any other false god(s) acknowledge other false god(s) - check it out yourself?

Consider opposites for a minute.  What is the opposite of;

Up - ? (down) (I knew you would get it)

Fast - slow

High - low

Big - small

God - ????????????  Most people say satan.  WRONG, satan is a created being like all other angels and people and false gods.  God has no opposite - HE is in a category of His own!  You say you don't understand how He could have always been?  I don't either Brother, however our lack of understanding does not diminish Whom He is.

Gen 1:1-31 KJV  (This is just the first chapter)

(1)  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

(2)  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

(3)  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

(4)  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

(5)  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

(6)  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

(7)  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

(8)  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

(9)  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

(10)  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

(11)  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

(12)  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

(13)  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

(14)  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

(15)  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

(16)  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

(17)  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

(18)  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

(19)  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

(20)  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

(21)  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

(22)  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

(23)  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

(24)  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

(25)  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

(26)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

(27)  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

(28)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

(29)  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

(30)  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

(31)  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Mike asks: 

If you choose the wrong religion, are you dammed?

Answer:

YES!

Joh 14:6 NLT

(6)  Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.

Acts 4:12 [Peter telling the crowd about Jesus] "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

1 John 2:23 "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."

Romans 5:21 "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

1 John 5:11 "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."

John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Hebrews 9:22, "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."  In other words, only the death and spilling of the blood of a substitute victim will allow our sins to be forgiven.  In the Old Testament they killed bulls and goats and the blood shed by the animals gave temporary forgiveness and the sacrifices had to be made over and over.  However Jesus, the perfect, sinless Son of God gave his life and shed His blood for the remission of sins.   He became our substitute victim.  If you believe that He did that you are forgiven by the blood He shed. Jesus died on the cross, shedding His own blood for the world.  But unlike the bulls and goats, Jesus died and God raised Him from the dead.  He is alive today, now, this very second.  His blood no longer needs to be shed.  He died and shed His blood once for all and His blood never needs to be spilled again like the blood of the bulls and goats.

No one else has shed His blood for you, not mohammad, not buddha, not anyone.  And not one of the founders of any religion is alive today.  Only Christ, who founded Christianity, is alive today.  He is the only one to shed His blood for all and then be raised from the death.  He is the only way to get to heaven.  There is no other.  If there was, God would be a liar, and not God - but He Is...

Blessings

ernie