Questions to Ask

The following questions are questions that we believe every person should ask at some point in his/her life.  However, if you have come to this site as someone who attends church services from time to time, but who has never trusted in Jesus Christ as Saviour, then we believe they are questions you need to ask and have answered.

  1. Why should I believe in God?  
  2. Why should I trust the Bible?  
  3. What is God like?  
  4. What does God look like?  
  5. Who was Jesus Christ?
  6. What did Jesus do?  
  7.  What is Man?  What makes Man so special?  
  8. What is God’s plan for me? What was God’s original plan for Man?
  9. What went wrong?  With Adam?  With me?  
  10. How can I know that I have sinned?  
  11. What is Death?  
  12. Is there Life after Death?  What is the Second Death all about?  
  13.  What can I do to avoid the Second Death?  To inherit everlasting life? 
  14. Why did Jesus have to die?  
  15. What do you mean by Salvation?  
  16. What do you mean by Grace?  
  17. What kind of Faith do I need to be saved?  
  18. What do I need to repent of  to be saved?  
  19. For whom did Jesus die?  For some?  For all?  For me?  
  20. If I want to be saved, how can I be saved?   

Why should I (or anyone) believe in God?  When we consider the things we see and sense all around us, it is more than reasonable to believe in God. (Romans 1:18-23)  The presence of matter, order, design and life around us is evidence of God’s handiwork is all around us.

  • The matter that is around us had to be caused by something, which had been caused by something, which had to be caused by something … ad infinitum. If we could back that far, we’d come to the first thing and its cause, which would be the first cause.  That First Cause is God.
  • It is obvious that there is order in the universe.  Planets orbit a sun for thousands of years without crashing in to each other.  Water always flows upstream.  In an electric circuit, electrons will always flow from the negative pole to the positive.  This order is evidence of the existence of laws that determine and regulate how things behave.  Where did those “natural” laws come from?  In the final analysis, the presence of laws demand the existence of a supreme law-maker or LawGiver. That supreme Law-Giver is God.
  • The life we see around us could only have come from pre-existent life because something that is dead cannot produce life.  Only life can beget life, so the existence of living things (such as birds and bees and flowers and trees) prove that there must have been an original source of life that brought about the first living thing.  That original Life-Giver is God.
  • The design we see in the things around us, as well as in the things we cannot see, such as the systems in the human body, are all evidence of a great designer because those systems could not just happen. That Great Designer is God.

Why should I (or anyone) trust the Bible?  The Bible is not just another book. The Bible is the Book of books, as well as a book of books.  It is the Book of books because it is the only book that is claimed to have been authored by God, working through humans.  It is a book of books because it is one large book that is made up of many books. Among the things that make the Bible unique, there are four (4) things that make it trustworthy, namely: 1) the historical accuracy of its accounts; 2) the prophetic accuracy of its claims; 3) the unity of its message in the scriptures and 4) the preservation of the books of the Bible.

  1. The historical accuracy is important because scholars, over the years, have doubted the existence of persons mentioned in the Bible and scoffed at events in the biblical record.  However, many archaeological finds over the years have provided evidence of people, places, and cultures that have been mentioned and described in the Scriptures. The same can be said of the geographical accuracy of the Scriptures, which archaeological finds have proven, in many cases, to be more reliable than the speculations of scholars.
  2. The prophetic accuracy of the Bible is most significant because of events that have occurred in history years, even centuries, after they had been recorded in the Bible.  For example, the Scriptures record that Moses predicted, before Israel even went into the Promised Land, that Israel would possess a particular land (as a gift from God) … would turn from God… would lose the land it was being given … would be scattered throughout the world … would be regathered … and would be reinstated as a nation.  Although the modern nation of Israel is not the totality of the descendants of ancient Israel, the establishment of the modern nation shows that the re-establishment of the Israelite nation may not be as far-fetched as it may initially seem. The Scriptures also prophesied that a Messiah who would save God’s people from their sins and eventually bring judgment and peace to the whole world. Christians believe that the first part of those Messianic prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and that the latter part(s) will eventually be fulfilled, at God’s appointed time.
  3. Despite the historical, geographical and prophetic accuracy of the Scriptures, it is the unity of the message  in the Scriptures that seal the deal for many.  Many of us can think of books, written by single authors, that have had to edited, even re-written, after only a few years of being published … because of discrepancies, inherent contradictions, etc. In contrast, the Bible, which is really a collection of 66 books, written by about 40 different authors, over a period of about 1600 years, has has displayed incredible unity in its themes and overall message of salvation. That fact of the Bible’s unity, like the consistency of its theme, becomes even more amazing when we realize that most of the persons who wrote the books of the Bible were not scholars.  Indeed, the writers include some who had made their living as simple fishermen.
  4. The preservation of the Scriptures is important because it has helped to support the unity of the Bible by ensuring the integrity of each of the books that constitute the Bible.  The meticulous way in which scribes and copyists would transcribe passages of scripture were legendary, including the counting of letters, jots and tittles before and after each copy and destroying copies where there were discrepancies in the count.  The effectiveness of their method was confirmed by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They included manuscripts that predated previous oldest copies by about 1,000 years,  The scrolls, which included a copy of the book of Isaiah that is essentially the same as the book of Isaiah in modern Bibles, effectively discredited critics who had claimed that the original Bible had been lost.

While none of the points above, taken by itself, may not convince the skeptic, when they are taken together, they present a formidable argument to show that the Bible is NOT just another book. For Christians, the points above show, clearly, that the Bible, although written by Men, was ultimately authored by God.  For Christians, the Bible is NOT just a Book of books, BUT also The Book of books, authored by God to reveal His love and His plan for humanity and that, they would say, is why you CAN trust the Bible.


What does the Bible say about God?  The Bible tells us that there is only one God who, in terms of essence, is spirit. In terms of ability, God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipresent (present everywhere). Most importantly of all, the Bible tells us that God is Love.  Following is a list of some of the main attributes of God:

  • God is ONE … Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:6
  • God is SPIRIT … John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:15-16
  • God is INFINITE … 1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 145:3; Acts 17:24
  • God is ETERNAL … Genesis 21:33; Psalm 90: 2
  • God is IMMUTABLE … Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17
  • God is HOLY … Psalm 99:9; Isaiah 43:3,15; 1 Peter 1:16; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 15:4
  • God is SOVEREIGN … Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 1:15-21, 22-23
  • God is GOOD … Exodus 33:19; Psalm 145:9
  • God is OMNIPOTENT … Matthew 19:26; Revelation 19:6
  • God is OMNISCIENT … Psalm 139:1-4; Psalm 147:4-5;
  • God is OMNIPRESENT … Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24
  • God is LOVE … Psalm 103:17; Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 John 4:8,16

Although we’ve mentioned LOVE last, it is definitely not least … because it is because God is Love why He is good, faithful, merciful and gracious in so many areas.


What does the Bible say about Man? The Bible reveals that …

  • Man (as male and female) was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27),
  • Man was created to relate to God in a way than no other created being could/can (Genesis 2:7);
  • Man was created to have a personal, family-type relationship with God (Psalm 8:4-8);
  • Man was made to have dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:27-28), essentially representing God;
  • Man will one day be like God (1 John 3:2).
  • Man was made with the potential to become immortal (Genesis 3:22);
  • Man is not only physical, b/c he has a spirit (Job 32:8, 1 Corinthians 2:11);
  • Man, naturally, is a sinner (Romans 8:7).

What does the Bible say about Sin? Most people tend to think of sin as the transgression of the law (God’s Law). The Bible, however, reveals sin as so much more.

  • We sin by commission – doing something that is known to be wrong (1 John 3:4).
  • We sin by thinking the wrong thing (Matthew 5:27-28 ).
  • We sin by omission – not doing what we know should be done (James 4:17).
  • We sin when we do something we are not sure is right (Romans 14:23).

In short, sin is anything that causes one to miss the mark and/or fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)


What does the Bible say about Death? The Bible tells us that …

  • death is natural (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
  • death is to be expected (Hebrews 9:27)
  • Man was created subject to death (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17)
  • death was caused by sin (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 18:4; James 1:15; Romans 5:12)
  • death is the payment for sin (Romans 6:23) … death is what we earned/deserve.
    • It is important to note, at this point, that the “death” that is the payment for sin is NOT the first death – that it is appointed unto men to experience (Heb.9:27) — BUT the second death that the judgement is mentioned in verse 27 can lead to.
    • Revelation 2:11  Not every person will experience the second death.
    • Revelation 20:6  The second death will not affect those who come up in the first resurrection.
    • Revelation 20:14  The Lake of Fire is the second death.
    • Revelation 21:7-8  Consignment to the Lake of Fire is the second death.
  • death, as caused by death, separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2)
  • death is not final because there will be a resurrection (return to life) of all who die (John 5:28-29)
  • there is coming a time when death will be no more (1 Corinthians 15:26)

What does the Bible say about Jesus Christ? The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but the Bible also makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God the Son. (John 1:1-2,14) The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ, who walked on earth as Jesus of Nazareth, was fully God and fully Man … was born of a virgin … was indwelt by the Holy Spirit from birth … was tempted in all points as we are … lived a perfect life, committing no sin … died in our place, for our sins … was buried, but was raised from the dead … appeared to many after His resurrection … returned to His Father in Heaven, where He is making intercession for us … and He will return to rule, with the Church, on Earth, ushering in the New Heaven and the New Earth.


What is the real Gospel message of the Bible? The real Gospel is the one true Gospel.  It is the goods news of Man’s salvation by God (or, to put it another way, God’s rescue of sinful, helpless, hopeless Man). There are many ways of sharing the one Gospel, including telling of God’s Purpose, Man’s Problem and God’s Provision.

  • God’s Purpose was to make Man in the image of God, so that Man could have a special, unique relationship with God and ultimately receive everlasting life.
  • Man’s Problem, however, which prevented original Man from receiving everlasting life, was Sin and the Death that it caused.  Sin separated us from God … and Death rendered us incapable of doing anything to be reconciled to God.
  • God’s Provision was/is Jesus Christ, who came and did for Man (including us) what Man (including us) could not do for himself, by keeping the Law perfectly, not sinning in any way.  Most importantly, however, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin once for all (for all sins -past, present and future – for all time) so that Man (including us) would not have to pay the penalty of the second death … and by His resurrection, Jesus made it possible for Man to live victoriously by having Jesus living His life through him.

What is Baptism all about? Baptism, generally speaking, is a way of identifying with someone or something. Christian baptism, specifically, is the way someone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the whole world identifies with the life and work of Jesus as the Messiah. The word baptize is derived from a word that means “immerse” … and when believers are immersed in water, their are picturing, symbolically, their own deaths, burials and resurrections, as a way of identifying publicly with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.


Apart from being baptized, what should a new believer do? Perhaps the three most important things a new believer can/should do are pray, study and meet with other believers.

  • Pray … to make God more real and to make it easier for the message of the Bible to be understood.
  • Study the Bible … to feed the divine nature (so that spiritual growth can take place) and that the human nature can be weakened, making it easier to hear from God and understand the message of God.
  • Meet with other believers … to encourage other believers, to be encouraged by them and to share in the work of the Church (which is the Body of Christ on earth now) .

 

For more information on what a believer can/should do, please check out the Believers page.

 

 

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