Healthy Questions

A couple of weeks ago a good friend asked me what I made of John 15, specifically these verses: "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." (John 15:2) "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." (John 15:6) Do these verses indicate that those who are "in Christ" may ultimately end up in hell? Allegory Alert Proposition: If "in Me" is to be born-again, and being "taken away" and "cast into the fire and burned" represents eternal punishment, then this passage clearly speaks to believers that become unsaved. Clearly, this view hinges on what Jesus means by being "in Me." Before we discuss that, however, a warning is needed: Allegory Alert! Yes, that's right, this is a symbolic representation, a visual aid. After le...

This question was raised by a friend who was reading Revelation 3:5: "‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." He's done his own research, but I wanted to think it through for myself. What is the big deal about this verse? Well, if God erases peoples' names from the "book of life" then it can be said that salvation may be lost. This shatters the notion of "once saved, always saved" and makes salvation always at risk, always hinging on each man's actions. Therefore this is a critical question; it touches on a fundamental issue of the Christian faith. I won't deal with the larger context, but rather just focus on the book of life and possibility of being erased from it. (If you're unclear on the purpose of the book of life, take a look at Revelation 20.) So, starting with Revelation 3:5. A plain readin...

We were just finishing our bedtime prayers last night, when my seven year old little girl asked me, “Daddy, if God knew that people would be bad, why did he make Eden and everything?” Passing the Test Sometimes parenthood can get real interesting, real fast. You’re tired… you’re ready to finish up your own day – and you are unexpectedly asked to give an account for God’s actions in the history of men. We had just read a few pages of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and with that in mind I responded with, “Because God wants the story to play out… He wants to see all of history happen.” I then held my breath to see if this would pass muster. I can’t imagine many situations being as tough as this; I felt like a candidate before a confirmation hearing, or a student in a national spelling bee final: I had given my answer to a complex question, and must now await the verdict. My daughter’s approval of my answer was evident in the fact that she moved on to a completely different subject. Trus...

A friend asked me a question last week that I had to admit I couldn't answer: What does Scripture mean when it says Christ is interceding for us? What is He doing? The greater part of my confusion on this matter comes from a misunderstanding of the word "intercede." I have always associated this word with prayer, and so when I hear the Word say that Jesus "always lives to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25) I immediately conclude that Jesus is in heaven praying for me all the time. I remember that Jesus prayed to His Father for His followers in the "High Priestly Prayer" (Jn 17), so this is at least conceivable. It does introduce another matter in which I have little understanding, which is why Christ prays to God… but I'm not opening that can of worms just yet. I think I can avoid that because, with a little study, I can conclude that Christ's heavenly intercession for us is not primarily about Him praying. Intercession Defined Here are ...

The study guide I am using for Ephesians contains the following question: The New Testament repeatedly calls the message of God’s offer of grace to sinners through the substitutionary death of Christ the “gospel” or “good news”. When we hear good news, we want to share it spontaneously with everyone we meet. For example, think of getting a raise, finding out you’re going to have a baby, and so forth. Yet many believers in Christ are reluctant to communicate their faith with others. They seem complacent about this staggering promise of salvation from sin and death through Christ. Why is this so? Thinking about this, I came up with three reasons. Firstly: Weak Faith …or, a lack of appreciation, understanding and love for Christ and all that He accomplished for us. When we barely understand the gospel ourselves we have little to tell anyone else. When we don’t see the exceeding sinfulness of our sin, the rightness of God in condemning us, the personal cost He paid to redeem us, and the pu...

The other night we stumbled upon (and over) 1 Timothy 1:19-20, in which Paul instructs Timothy to fight the good fight, "keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme." (1 Timothy 1:19-20) This passage raised a few eyebrows, mine included. We discussed it for a while, but I realized I needed to come back and study it closer. The questions that come to mind: Who were Hymenaeus and Alexander? What does it mean to suffer shipwreck in regard to our faith? What blasphemy caused Paul to react so strongly? What does it mean to hand someone over to Satan? Please don’t conclude from the title of this post that I find humor in the subject, or that I take lightly the notion of being handed over to Satan. Whatever it means, it is not something I wish to come within a million miles of. However, you may more...

They will cast their crowns before the throne. "The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne…" (Revelation 4:10) Preparing for worship this Sunday, we have a song that reads: We fall down, We lay our crowns, At the feet of Jesus. This song is most clearly taken from this scene in John's revelation. Okay, so we can sing the song and not be unbiblical in so doing, but can we sing it biblically? That is, can we sing it with the meaning intended in scripture? The impression I've always had when singing this song: anything of worthiness, any accomplishment, any acclaim we have, we surrender to Jesus as an indication of submission to His universal lordship. Does that hold up? My questions: What things does scripture have in mind when it mentions humans' crowns? If this is a heavenly scene, ought we be laying crowns down here on earth? Crowns in Scrip...