Click on a topic to go to that section. These are very short and concise answers to many of the questions people ask about the Christian faith. The Articles tab has more indepth discussions of many of these topics.
Salvation
Forgiveness
Being Made Clean and Righeous
Union
Faith
The Law
The Person of Jesus Christ
Doctrine
Salvation
1. Why is Jesus Christ the only path to God?
Answer: God is infinitely righteous. You must righteous to stand in His presence and be accepted into His family. Jesus Christ is the only One who can make you righteous - this is why He is your only access to God. Jesus makes you fully righteous here and now in your redeemed spirit by giving you a new heart indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
2. How am I saved?
Answer: Salvation is an act of God that consists of three elements: [1] all of your sins were forgiven on the Cross of Jesus Christ, except the sin of unbelief, [2] upon faith (belief or trust) in Christ as Savior, God removes your old sinful spirit (nature) and replaces it with a new, clean heart and [3] the Holy Spirit comes to live in your “born again” spirit to make you literally righteous by His indwelling presence. For a more detailed explanation, Click Here.
3. As a Christian, can I ever lose my salvation?
Answer: No, your born again spirit is redeemed fully and forever, joined now as one to the Holy Spirit. You cannot sin in your new spirit because the Holy Spirit in you cannot sin. Therefore, there can never be a reason why you could lose your salvation. Only your born again spirit has been saved thus far; that is why your body will go to the grave, not heaven, when you die. Your spirit is what goes to be with the Lord.
4. Am I just a “sinner saved by grace”?
Answer: No. You were a sinner and you were saved by grace but, because of the Cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you are a now righteous saint, a child of God. There can be confusion about this if you do not recognize that only your inner spirit that has been redeemed so far, not your outer mortal body and human soul - that will come later. You can still sin in your mortal flesh but you cannot sin in your born again spirit.
5. What is the difference between being “forgiven” and being “born again”?
Answer: Forgiveness and being “born again” are both elements of salvation. All personal sins of all people for all time were forgiven on the Cross, except the sin of unbelief that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. Unbelievers and believers are forgiven, but not all are saved. Being “born again” is realized upon faith in Christ when God removes your old sinful spirit and replaces it with a new, clean heart. Then, the Holy Spirit comes to live in your new, clean spirit making you literally righteous by His indwelling presence.
6. Is forgiveness the same thing as “salvation”?
Answer: No. The forgiveness of all personal sins was accomplished 2,000 years ago on the Cross of Jesus Christ. “Salvation” is being “born again.” Only one sin, unbelief, was not forgiven on the Cross; but that one sin is the barrier that people place before God and His offer of salvation. Only when you trust in Christ as Savior does God "save" you by removing your internal nature to sin. Therefore, the two issues in salvation are: [1] the single sin of unbelief and [2] the indwelling nature to sin that all people inherited from birth.
7. Is baptism necessary for salvation?
Answer: Yes and no. You are baptized with the Holy Spirit into Christ when you are saved - this happens to all believers. Physical baptism is a symbol of the believer dying with Christ, being buried with Christ and rising with Christ to a new life in the spirit. Physical baptism is not what saves you and, therefore, is not required for salvation; it is the spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit that saves you.
Forgiveness
8. Do I have to forgive others in order for God to forgive me?
Answer: No*. The belief and frequent teaching that your forgiveness is conditioned on forgiving others comes from adding Old Covenant “Law” teaching to New Covenant “grace” teaching. Jesus taught under the Law; Law was conditional whereas grace is unconditional.
*Note: This answer does not condone a lack of forgiveness. The systems of law and grace are separate and do not mix because they are total opposites. There is risk associated with grace - it can be abused. Law is not the answer because law causes sin to increase, not decrease. 1 Corinthians 15:56b says … “and the power of sin is the Law.” For a detailed look at the issue of the Law, Click Here.
9. Do I have to “receive the gift” of God’s forgiveness by faith before I am forgiven?
Answer: No. The forgiveness of personal sins was given by God to all people; only the sin of unbelief in Christ as Savior was not forgiven on the Cross. It is the “gift of righteousness,” not the gift of forgiveness, that you must receive through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. For more information about the reason that your sins are already forgiven, Click Here.
10. Is God mad at me when I sin?
Answer: No. Christ already received the wrath of God for each and every sin; thus, your sins are paid for and “remembered no more.” The coming judgment and wrath of God is related to the rejection of Christ as Savior.
11. Do I need to confess my sins to get back into fellowship with God?
Answer: No. This is one of the most heavily ingrained myths in all of Christianity and is based on the misinterpretation of 1 John 1:9 which says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” You were forgiven and your new clean heart is cleansed of all unrighteousness and cannot sin. Confessing yours sins to God is essentially saying that you do not believe He forgave your sins. Although you have been fully reconciled to God and do not need to confess your sins, you have not been reconciled other people and should confess your sins when you sin against them.
12. Does God withdraw from me when I sin?
Answer: No. You are in perfect union with Jesus Christ all the time in your spirit. Your mortal flesh is still dead because of sin. That is why you live by faith. For more information about your union with Christ, Click Here.
13. What happens if I have ongoing sin in my life?
Answer: As a Christian, you are perfectly righteous in your redeemed inner spirit, joined as one to the Holy Spirit; you cannot sin in your spirit. Equally true, you are not righteous in your yet-to-be-redeemed mortal body, including your human thoughts and emotions. You can still sin in your mortal flesh. To avoid sinning, which is always rooted in self-effort, believers live from their perfect union with Christ in their spirit and follow Him by faith in their mortal flesh.
Being Made Clean and Righteous
14. How can I be “clean” when I have sin in my life?
Answer: It is the inner spirit of a Christian that has been redeemed thus far and made clean. Your outer mortal flesh is still dead because of sin, waiting to be redeemed in the future. This is normal. Your defense against sinning in your mortal flesh is following Christ in faith.
15. What is Christian holiness?
Answer: All true Christians are holy in their redeemed spirit and still dead because of sin in their mortal flesh. Christian holiness refers to your redeemed spirit; it is fully righteous all the time. For more information, Click Here.
16. What does the Bible mean when it says that I am a “new creation”?
Answer: It means that you are a brand new creature in your spirit. As a believer in Christ as Savior, you have already been redeemed in your spirit. You will be redeemed in your mortal body and soul one day in the future. The second part will come automatically because of your initial faith in Christ.
17. Am I merely “credited” with Christ’s righteousness, or is it something more?
Answer: It is something much more, you are given Christ’s righteousness as a gift by His indwelling presence. It was on the Cross that you were forgiven and it is upon belief in Christ as Savior that you are made clean. God removes your old sinful nature and replaces it with a new, clean spirit. Then, Jesus, as the Holy Spirit, comes to live in you and joins as one to your spirit. You become a “partaker” in the divine nature because God Himself is now one with you in your spirit.
18. Why did Jesus say that the least in the Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist?
Answer: John, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, was the greatest, most righteous man who had ever lived. Yet, He lived under the Old Covenant of Law. Believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit joined as one with them because the Cross and resurrection defeated sin and death. All Christians are greater than the most righteous under the Law.
19. Are Christians righteous?
Answer: Yes. As a Christian you are righteous because the Holy Spirit lives in you and is one with you in spirit. You are literally righteous; you do not merely have Christ’s righteousness imputed to you. Christ gave you the gift of righteousness by virtue of His indwelling presence.
Union
20. As a Christian, who lives in me; is it the Holy Spirit or is it Christ.
Answer: Saying that Christ lives in you and saying that the Holy Spirit lives in you is saying the same thing. Read Romans 8:9-11 to see how the Bible uses these terms interchangeably.
Answer: The term “flesh” is the source of much confusion and should be carefully understood in its proper context. In the New Testament, the word “flesh” is used in three different ways: [1] referring to the physical body, [2] referring to your humanness (your mortal body and mortal thoughts and emotions) and [3] referring to your old sinful spirit or nature. In the book of Romans, “flesh” is used in all three ways but in the critical verses Paul is always referring to your former state as an unbeliever, that is, your old “sinful spirit.”
Faith
22. How can I get more faith?
Answer: In one sense, you cannot because God gives to each person faith. But, as the Holy Spirit teaches you, you grow in your faith.
Answer: Almost every issue regarding submission will fade away when you understand two critical truths: [1] as a believer, your life is not your own. Jesus lives in you and it is His life to live; you are always in a position of submission and, if not, your life is in disharmony; and [2] every Christian marriage is a “picture” of Christ and the Church - the husband pictures Christ as he gives himself up for his wife, and the wife pictures the Church as she submits to her Lord and king. Unless you can love these concepts on a spiritual level, you will have conflict at the human level.
The Law
24. Are we under the Ten Commandments?
Answer: No. In the New Covenant, God moved His Laws inside your heart so that Christ’s spiritual power can fulfill the Law instead of you attempting, and failing, to fulfill the Law with your mortal weakness.
25. Are we under any Law of God?
Answer: No. The spirit of the Law, its representation of God’s holiness, is eternal. But the doing of the Law was replaced 2,000 years ago by Jesus Christ. The Law under the Old Covenant was external, powered and accomplished by human self-effort. The “Law” under the New Covenant is internal, powered and accomplished by the spiritual power of Jesus Christ Himself. The Old was imperfect because of human weakness. The New is perfect because of Jesus Christ.
26. Are unbelievers under the Law?
Answer: No. A very common misunderstanding is that unbelievers are under the Law while believers have been freed from the Law. This thinking is based on the interpretation of Galatians from a Gentile perspective instead of its proper Jewish perspective.
27. What about tithing?
Answer: No matter how hard people try to make tithing a New Covenant practice, it will never be part of the believer’s new life in the Spirit. The reason for this is that tithing is a human effort - it is external works, performed by the energy of the mortal flesh. The practice of giving, along with every other “gold, silver, precious stone” activity, comes from within your spirit where Christ lives His life in you. As the Apostle Paul said, "... it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me ..."
Answer: One of the victories of the Cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ was to bring freedom to all who believe. Christians are free, but not obligated, to fast or do anything else. However, when it is self-effort instead of following Christ in faith, then it becomes dead works.
The Person of Jesus Christ
29. How did Jesus “empty” Himself?
Answer: Jesus, the eternal and “unoriginated” God, emptied Himself of His equality with God to live fully as a human on earth during His time on the earth. By becoming fully man, Jesus was able to understand the difficulties and temptations that you go through and to be sympathetic to your weaknesses. For a more detailed discussion, Click Here.
30. In what way was Jesus in union with the Father?
Answer: Jesus was in union with His Father through the Holy Spirit that He received at His baptism. You are in union with Jesus Christ in the very same way through the Holy Spirit you received when you trusted Christ as Savior.
Doctrine
31. Is the “canon” of Scripture closed? Is it the complete revelation of God?
Answer: The canonization of Scripture was a human designation, but an excellent one. If there are other books written by the Apostles or early disciples that should be in the Bible, it really does not matter. There is plenty of revelation in the books that make up the 66 books of the Bible to give Christians everything that need to know now about God and their relationship with Him. Today, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible to indicate that anyone has the authority to teach new revelation. It is the Holy Spirit alone who opens your eyes to His truth in the Scriptures and in life.
32. What does the Bible say about all of the denominations that exist today?
Answer: The Apostle Paul condemned divisions. He issued clear instructions that any division based on differing points of view should never exist. Division equals error. All people living today inherited, and have grown up in, a system where “Christianity” has been characterized by hundreds of denominations, divisions and cults. All are based on different interpretations of Scripture. If the Church had received instruction by the illuminating revelation of the Holy Spirit, there would only be one “denomination,” that being “the Body of Christ” … it is the only true church of Jesus Christ.
33. Which is correct … water baptism or sprinkling?
Answer: Physical baptism is not necessary to be saved. The churches that teach the necessity of physical baptism are teaching a false doctrine. It is spiritual baptism that saves us; believers are born again into a new life in the spirit and joined as one to God Himself. Baptism by water submersion does picture the believer’s spiritual death, burial and resurrection with Jesus Christ much better than any other baptism ritual.
34. Is the debate between creation and evolution important?
Answer: No. Debates with unbelievers push them away from God. The role of any Christian is the ministry of reconciliation. See 2 Corinthians 5.
35. Is the debate between “predestination” and “free will” important?
Answer: No, in fact it is very destructive. The fatal flaw on both sides of the argument is concluding that God is “unfair.” This is impossible. This debate, and most others, only cause division.
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