Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Christians claim Jesus Christ died and then rose from the dead. Can His resurrection be proven?

Answer: Since science is severely limited in that science can only prove what can be observed, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is beyond the reach of science, just as the origin of the universe is beyond the reach of real science. History is not as limited as science in this respect, in that much is proven historically that cannot be observed or experimented with. To consider the historic proof of Christ's resurrection from the dead click here.

 

Question: Is it possible to have genuine faith and not be saved?

Answer: Yes, it is possible to have genuine, God-given faith and not be saved.

For a complete answer to this question please refer to my sermon "Abraham's Faiths" preached on August 12, 2001.

My brief response is this: Abraham had faith when he left Ur of the Chaldees, according to Hebrews 11.8. But it wasn't until Genesis 15.6 that Abraham had saving faith, justifying faith. He had real faith according to the Bible, but it wasn't saving faith. Therefore, it is possible to have faith and not be truly saved.

 

Question: Can you prove God exists?

Answer: No. But consider these two lines of thought:

First, you cannot prove that God does not exist, and the consequences that you must face for being wrong about the existence of God are too serious for a sane person to ignore. Because you cannot prove that God does not exist (Have you personally explored the universe to enable you to pronounce that He is nowhere to be found?) you simply must live your life as though He does exist lest you find yourself irresponsible with your own eternal soul.

Second, the Bible is very clear in stating that God deals with people through faith (Romans 1:17: "The just shall live by faith."). Faith is defined as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," Hebrews 11:1. Thus, we see that faith can be thought of as the right conclusions drawn from circumstantial evidence provided by God. God's choice of dealing with mankind in this fashion excludes the use of proofs. Thus, you must take God at His word as expressed in the Bible or suffer the eternal consequences.

 

Question: I prayed to receive Jesus once, but I didn't get saved. Doesn't this prove that Christianity isn't real?

Answer: Not at all. In First Corinthians 15:2 the apostle Paul makes mention of believing in vain, which is believing without actually getting saved. How does such a thing happen? It happened with Judas Iscariot and it happened with Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-23). What must happen for a sinner to actually become a Christian is called the miracle of the new birth. The new birth is not something of the sinner's doing (John 1:13) but God's. As well, the new birth (being born again) is absolutely required to become a Christian (John 3:7). What happened to you can be explained as being similar to many others who seemed sincere, who seemed convinced at the time that they have really trusted Jesus, but who did not experience the miracle of the new birth.

 

Question: I believe in God and prefer to worship Him in a manner of my own choosing, instead of feeling obligated to adhere to Biblical demands and proscriptions. What's wrong with that?

Answer: Proverbs 14:12 declares: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Isn't life too valuable to waste on self-indulgence and trial and error? Life is so important as the time God has given to prepare for eternity that it shouldn't be wasted on experimentation and exploration, but should be expended in preparation for eternity. Rather than risk making mistakes with eternal consequences the wise person will pay heed to God's Word, the Bible, Psalm 119:105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

 

Question: Most Churches I have attended have invitations, but some Churches do not have invitations. This seems "liberal" to me. What do you think about invitations?

Answer: While it is true that most churches that do not have invitations are "liberal," there are a growing number of pastors who are uncomfortable with what is usually seen in most church's invitations. This is because the invitation system that is found in most churches grew out of the decisionism resulting from the 19th century evangelist Charles G. Finney's departure from orthodox Christianity. Though it must be understood that the underlying view of man and conversion that led to the errors of the current invitation system are not remedied by simply abandoning invitations, and that careful pastoral counseling is needed to deal with sinners to guide them to Christ, there is a very good article that deals with the history of invitations that I suggest you read. Click Here

 

Question: What are Baptists, really?

Answer: Though many churches identify as Baptist churches and are Baptist in name only, here is a link to an excellent article answering the question 'What is an Historic Baptist'?