Answers to Questions Listed by Topics Beginning with the Letter "B"
Unless otherwise noted, all answers were written by Jeff Hamilton.
Baptism
- A refusal to accept that salvation came to Cornelius at baptism
- Abraham wasn't baptized, so why should we need it?
- Am I doing the right thing by getting baptized again after being baptized as a child?
- Are Baptists Christians and where does the Bible speak against creeds?
- Are children being baptized just to claim growth?
- Are exceptions made for those who are unable to be baptized?
- Are the baptisms in the New Testament Spirit baptisms or water baptisms?
- Are the gospels and Acts for the Jews and Paul's writings only for the Gentiles?
- Are you born again?
- Aren't the references to baptism just symbolic?
- Aren't you misinterpreting the Scriptures unless you teach faith alone?
- Because I doubted, do I need to be baptized again?
- Can a baptism be annulled?
- Can a man be saved without baptism?
- Can a person be a believer and not be saved?
- Can a person be baptized correctly by someone who doesn't teach the whole truth?
- Can a person be baptized correctly while being in a denomination that teaches wrongly?
- Can a woman baptize if there is no man available?
- Can a woman baptize someone?
- Can fellowship be denied?
- Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism?
- Can two non-Christians, involved in adultery, be baptized?
- Can you explain all these similar phrases about dying with Christ and dying to sin?
- Can you help me answer some arguments that baptism isn't necessary?
- Could you explain this answer I got concerning Acts 2:38?
- Did Paul really receive the Holy Spirit before his baptism?
- Did those baptized by John have to be baptized again after Jesus was crucified?
- Do I have to divorce my husband in order to be baptized?
- Do we die to sin at the point of repentance?
- Do you believe that baptism could be linked to grace?
- Do you believe you can only be save by immersion in water? What about someone who can't be immersed?
- Do you have to know that baptism is for the remission of sins in order to be forgiven?
- Do you need to be baptized in order to go to heaven?
- Do you need to be thinking about remission of sin when being baptized for it to be valid?
- Does a person from a Baptist background need to be baptized again if he believes he has done everything God asks of him correctly?
- Does baptism add you to the Lord's church no matter who does the baptism?
- Does baptism make Jesus' sacrifice insufficient for our salvation?
- Does it matter how you are baptized?
- Does Mark 16:16 say that someone not baptized is lost?
- Does receiving the Holy Spirit mean baptism in water is unnecessary?
- Does regeneration and being born again mean the same thing?
- Does Romans 4:9-12 indicate that we are saved prior to baptism?
- Does the term "brother" indicate Saul was saved prior to baptism?
- Does true faith mean the command to be baptized does not save a person?
- Doesn't Colossians 2:12 clearly show that baptism is a work of God?
- Doesn't John 3:16 prove that you can be saved without baptism?
- Doesn't the Bible teach that you can be saved without baptism?
- How can baptism be necessary when everyone doesn't have access to water, someone to baptize them, or haven't practiced it for centuries?
- How can baptism save?
- How can faith be combined with works?
- How can I convince a friend that baptism is required for salvation?
- How can one justify being a Christian if he is not baptized?
- How can people say that baptism is unnecessary? Where did this idea come from?
- How do I convince someone to be baptized again when they think their past baptism is good enough?
- How do I teach a stubborn person the truth about baptism?
- How do you get added to Jesus Christ’s church?
- How does a person become a new creation?
- How far should a person's past be checked before baptizing them?
- How much repentance is needed before baptism?
- How was John's baptism different from Jesus' baptism?
- I decided to be baptized, but I'm not getting married for two years and we're having sex. Can I ask for forgiveness after we get married?
- I don't think I had that great of a need for baptism when I was 13. Should I get baptized again?
- I don't think I understood what I was confessing well enough before my baptism. So am I saved?
- I keep going back into my old sins. Do I need to be baptized again?
- I somehow lost my love.
- I want to attend a different church than my parents. What do I do?
- I want to be baptized, but my dad won't let me.
- I want to be baptized, but my parents don't think it is necessary.
- I want to be baptized. Does it matter if I do it in a church that I know doesn't teach the full truth?
- I was baptized as an infant. Do I need to be baptized again?
- If a person is in an unscriptural marriage, must the person divorce before becoming a Christian?
- If a person isn't baptized, does that mean they've never been forgiven of any sin?
- If I quote the early Christian writers on the necessity of baptism, does that make my argument better?
- If I realize that I had sins after baptism, does that mean I need to be baptized again?
- If man must be baptized to be saved, why do so many passages only mention faith?
- If there is no inherited sin, then wouldn't this leave a possibility for a person to live a sinless life?
- In whose name are we to be baptized?
- Is baptism required to go to heaven?
- Is baptism unnecessary for salvation because every conversion in Acts doesn't mention baptism?
- Is it true that the purpose of baptism is not for salvation?
- Is it wrong to clap after someone is baptized?
- Is water baptism a work?
- Isn't Acts 2:38 and Matthew 26:28 different in some Greek texts?
- Isn't saying you must be baptized limiting the power of God?
- I'm beginning to doubt my baptism, whether I really understood that I was to die to sin. Should I be rebaptized?
- I'm not sure I understood the purpose of baptism when I was baptized. Should I do it again?
- Jesus did not say he who is not baptized will be condemned, right?
- Matthew 28:19 cannot refer to a Christian's baptism because it was given in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
- Must a Baptist be re-baptized even though they say had be baptized for the right purpose?
- Must you be baptized even after saying the prayer of salvation?
- My father won't sign a form to let me be baptized. What should I do?
- Paul was filled with the Spirit before he was baptized, so wasn't he saved before baptism?
- Please explain the "baptism of fire."
- "Quit picking on the Nazarenes! We're not saved by baptism."
- Should a mentally impaired person be baptized?
- Should a person be baptized again if he was baptized for the wrong purpose?
- Should a person who was sprinkled be baptized again?
- Should baptism be done only in Jesus' name?
- Should baptisms be only done in streams and not in pools?
- Should I be baptized again because I didn't fully understand what baptism was about?
- Should I get baptized again?
- Should I wait to be baptized?
- Since I became a Christian, I've become an alcoholic. Should I be baptized again?
- Was baptism nailed to the cross?
- Was baptism only for the Jews?
- Was my friend wrong to be baptized even though it was after curfew?
- Was my husband saved at his first or second baptism?
- Was the Ethiopian eunuch baptized in a pool or a river?
- Were the apostles baptized?
- What about the argument that "for the remission of your sins" is plural and refers back to repentance in Acts 2:38?
- What about the thief on the cross?
- What are the citations for Luther's quotes on Baptism?
- What are your references on John Wesley's View of Baptism?
- What authority is there for re-baptism?
- What does water do when getting baptized?
- What if a person can't afford the fee for a baptismal service?
- What if a person dies after accepting God but before he can be baptized?
- What if you continued with your sin after baptism?
- What if you didn't know something was sinful before you were baptized?
- What is godly sorrow and how can a wheelchair bound person be baptized?
- What is the difference between being born again and being saved?
- What is the difference between water and the blood of Jesus?
- What should a person say prior to baptizing someone?
- What was the purpose of John's baptism?
- When did baptism for the remission of sins start?
- When was baptism authorized?
- Where does the Bible parallel the use of the laver to baptism?
- Which baptism is referred to as the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5?
- Why can't my sister get baptized?
- Why did God command circumcision?
- Why didn't you tell the girl with the Muslim father that she could be saved without baptism?
- Why do so many teach that baptism is unnecessary?
- Why do you patternists abandon your theology to claim that baptism is necessary for the salvation of Gentiles?
- Why is the command to baptize applied to us, but not those concerning miraculous gifts?
- Why should we argue about not getting baptized? We should want to shout it out to the whole world that we're in Christ!
- Will baptism cleanse me?
- Would I be saved if I died before I was baptized?
- You shouldn't condemn those who believe baptism is unnecessary for salvation.
Benevolence
- Can a bake sale be held at a church?
- Can a church receive funds from non-believers or an organization?
- Can a church support a saint who doesn't believe as you do?
- Can brethren choose to have a kitchen and clothing pantry to show love to the needy?
- Can money be used from the church treasury to do good for non-Christians?
- Can the church use its funds to send flowers?
- Can you explain why you talk about benevolence, but then say the church isn't always involved?
- Do you think it is right for a congregation to go door knocking while neglecting to help its needy members?
- Does Acts 2 justify churches helping the poor in the general population?
- How do you distinguish the needy from the wanters?
- How do you feel about giving non-monetary aid directly to a congregation?
- How do you handle a family in constant financial need?
- How should aid be sent to members of the church?
- I don't have much, so what do I do with my money?
- I know I should do more, but I don't have the money. What do you think?
- I want to donate to disaster relief, but not to an organization that has wrongful practices. Where do I start looking?
- I would like to help the starving kids in Africa, do you know of a trustworthy organization?
- If I give a gift, should I not say who it is from?
- If the church isn't a social organization, then how are the needy cared for?
- Is it wrong to ask for lent money back?
- Is there any spiritual work that an individual Christian may do that the church may not?
- Questions about King Joash's financial management
- Questions about the use of funds given to the church
- Should the church help a family that is constantly in financial difficulties?
- Since I Corinthians 16:1-2 was only about one need, then isn't this just an example of how a collection might be taken and not a command for us today?
- What can the church do for widows?
- What should be done when a foreign preacher asks for money?
- What should I do for an ex-Christian who is trying to care for grandchild?
- Where do you draw the line between helping and enabling?
- Where do you start in helping a young Christian?
- Why did Antioch send relief to Judea if the famine was worldwide?
- Why do friends take advantage of you?
- Why doesn't the church sell everything it owns to give to the poor?
- Would it be wrong to accept a donation from a non-member?
Bible
- Can the Bible be understood by the common man?
- Can you say more about Aramaic being used in the Bible?
- Do you know of any good books on how we got our Bible?
- Have you studied the Bible from an academic point of view as a historical document of several communities making sense of God in their time of crisis?
- How did the correct books get added to the Bible?
- How did your Bible come into existence?
- How do I receive revelations from God concerning the power of the Bible?
- How do we know how to pronounce Hebrew?
- How do we know that we have a accurate rendition of the oral teachings?
- How do we know the Bible is inspired?
- How do you define "church" and "scripture?"
- How do you explain that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth?
- How many major and minor prophets are there in the Bible?
- "I think you are insulting God to believe everything written down in the Bible."
- I want to read the Bible daily, but I have a hard time digesting what I have read.
- If Jude said the faith was once delivered, could Revelation be included if it was written after Jude?
- Is it dangerous to use the NIV Bible?
- Is Mark 16:9-20 genuine?
- Is reading the Bible the best place to start if you have never been religious?
- Is the Bible the only source of authority?
- Is the gospels more important than the rest of the New Testament?
- Is the New World Translation an accurate translation?
- Is there a great difference between the NASB and the KJV? Can the NASB be trusted?
- Justifying Divorce and Remarriage by Claiming Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are Old Testament Books
- Must a member of the church follow the truth?
- "Thanks for your answer, but I believe in a different God"
- The 100-Minute Bible? Wait a Minute!
- The Bible mentions other books, doesn't that prove the Bible to be incomplete?
- "The New Testament was written in Hebrew, not Greek!"
- There are so many parts of the Bible that don't seem right to me.
- Was Goliath six cubits and a span or four cubits and a span?
- Was the New Testamanet written in Greek or Aramaic?
- What are the first five books of the Bible called?
- What are your sources for connecting Philemon to the letter from Laodicea?
- What books would you recommend reading in the Old Testament?
- What do you think about someone claiming you can make an idol of God's Word?
- What do you think about the New Living Translation?
- What does the Bible have to do with God?
- What happened to the letter to Laodicea mentioned in Colossians 4:16?
- What is the best study Bible?
- What is the best way to study the Bible?
- What is the Book of Jashar?
- What is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament?
- What would be a good translation for children?
- When did Adam, Eve, and the Bible come into existence?
- Where do I find a list of God's laws in the Bible?
- Which Bible is the true Word of God?
- Which Bible translations are the best?
- Which version of the Bible is most accurate?
- Who wrote II Kings?
- Why are Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles divided into two books each?
- Why did it take 35-40 years to write the Gospels?
- Why do some consider the minor prophets one book?
- Why do you quote from the Old Law?
- Why does the Bible contain the words of Satan?
- Why does the Bible have so much repetition?
- Why don't you use the Book of Enoch?
- Why don't you use the King James Version?
- Why was the Song of Songs written?
Bible Classes, Bible Study
- Are Sunday morning Bible classes an unauthorized innovation?
- Can a woman teach a teenage boy?
- Could you clarify when women may speak in church?
- Do you know of a source for children studies on the Internet?
- Does the command to "forsake not the assembling of ourselves together" apply only to Sunday worship?
- Is it a sin not to attend Wednesday night Bible study?
- Is there authority for Bible classes segregated by ages?
- Should material by a denominational woman preacher be used in a Bible study?
- Thanks for the ideas for class material
- What books would you recommend reading in the Old Testament?
- What can be done about women who speak out of turn in Bible class?
- What is the best study Bible?
- You don't really teach children about the stoning of Achan do you?
Bible Code
Bishops
- See: Elders
Bitterness
Blasphemy
- Can a murderer be forgiven by God and still go to heaven?
- Can you be forgiven after blaspheming?
- Can you explain to me what willful sin is?
- Does God give an extra reward to the unfortunate?
- Does the fact that "blasphemed" is in the aorist tense make a difference?
- Doubts about possibly blaspheming the Holy Spirit
- How can I be assured God will forgive me?
- "I know God won't forgive me."
- I still worry about unforgiveable sin. What do I do?
- I'm coming off of drugs, but I had cursed the Holy Spirit, can I ever be forgiven of this?
- In Mark 3:29, why does the NKJV say "eternal condemation" while the NASB says "eternal sin?"
- Is it blasphemy to wonder if a prophet is truly from God?
- Is it possible for a person to blaspheme today?
- My girlfriend thinks she blasphemed the Holy Spirit and can't be forgiven.
- What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
- What is the point of the story of Elisha, the 42 youths, and the bears?
- What was Hymenaeus and Alexander's sin?
- Why warn a person against blaspheming the Holy Spirit if he won't seek forgiveness anyway?
Blessings
Blood
- Can you help me with some arguments from a Messianic Jew?
- Even if Jesus existed, why did he last eat herbs and fruit?
- Was the blood of Jesus limited only to the washing away of our sins?
Born Again, New Birth, Regeneration
- Are you born again?
- Did an Israelite have to be born again under the Old Law?
- What is the difference between being born again and being saved?
Boycotts
Branding
- See: Marks
Bribes
Buddhism, Buddhists
- Did I go about teaching my now Buddhist son correctly?
- Does Buddhism prove Jesus to be myth?
- How do I talk to my Buddhist grandmother about Christ?
- What do you think about reincarnation?
