Answers to Questions Listed by Topics Beginning with the Letter "O"
Unless otherwise noted, all answers were written by Jeff Hamilton.
Oaths, Vows, Swearing
- See also: Profanity, Promises
- Can a broken vow to God be forgiven?
- Can a Christian swear an oath on a Bible?
- I vowed to give up my sins, but I keep falling. Will God hold this against me?
- Should I use steroids to give me an edge in making the team?
- What happens if you swear to tell the truth, but you don't?
- What happens when you swear not to do something, but you do it anyway?
Obedience
- Am I a real Christian?
- Do you believe that the only way to heaven is by accepting Jesus as your Savior and not by good deeds or grace?
- Does God only accept willing service?
- Does "honoring your mother and father" mean following their religious beliefs?
- Does true faith mean the command to be baptized does not save a person?
- I was saved once, but I've sinned so much. How can I serve the Lord?
- How can faith be combined with works?
- How can I know that I'm serving God?
- How can I make my parents' faith my own?
- How can it be possible for God to call me, and thousands of other God-following women to speak in church, yet the Bible seems to say they can't?
- How can we be children of God and slaves of God at the same time?
- How can you beautifully write about the law being nailed to the cross and insist that salvation comes through obedience?
- How does obedience relate to saving faith?
- I know I sin so how can I obey God?
- "I learned some life lessons from the lesson 'Why did Uzzah have to Die?' Thank you."
- If God doesn't show favoritism, then why was Abel's sacrifice accepted and Cain's was rejected?
- Is repentance necessary to be saved?
- Is it too simple to say we are to believe and we will be saved by God's grace?
- Is taking God's Word out of context a way of taking His name in vain?
- Is the Spirit only given to the obedient?
- Is the use of instrumental music in worship a salvation issue?
- I'm afraid I'm going to fail.
- Must a member of the church follow the truth?
- We may disagree, but doesn't matter, so long as we get to heaven
- What does it mean to honor your father and mother?
- What happens if you disobey the Bible?
- What saved Joshua and Caleb?
- Why did God command circumcision?
- Why did Moses strike the rock twice and what was Aaron's participation?
- Why do I feel so disconnected after making the sign of the cross?
- Why is apeitheo in John 3:36 translated "not obey" in some versions and "not believe" in others?
- You don't really teach children about the stoning of Achan do you?
Obsessions
- See Compulsiveness
Offenses
Old Age, Elderly
- How could people live to be so old?
- How do we handle sexual intimacy when my husband has diabetes?
- How should sexual immorality be addressed to the elderly?
- Where is the Scripture that states Abraham strength did not diminish?
Old Testament, Old Law
- Abraham wasn't baptized, so why should we need it?
- Are Christians required to observe the Passover?
- Are Gentiles also descendants of Abraham?
- Are we all descendants of Adam and Eve and all related?
- Can you explain what it means that the sins of the fathers are put on the children?
- Can you help me with some questions on Numbers 13 and 14?
- Could Israel crossed the Red Sea on the eastern side of the Sinai peninsula?
- Could masters under the Old Testament law beat or kill their slaves?
- Could you tell me more about the day of Pentecost?
- Did Abraham visit prostitutes?
- Did people really do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth to people?
- Did the church in Jerusalem tell the Gentiles to keep certain laws and learn from Moses on the Sabbath?
- Did the Levitical priesthood replace the priesthood of Melchizedek?
- Did those who were killed by the angel know there was a God?
- Do Christians celebrate Yom Kippur?
- Do Methodists understand we are not under the Old Law?
- Do we know if Namaan continued to live righteously?
- Do we still need to redeem our first born?
- Did David do some of the preparatory work for the Temple?
- Did Gentiles who converted to Judaism worship in the same way as a native Jew?
- Did God command the use of instrumental music under the Old Law?
- Did Isaac come off of the mountain with Abraham after the sacrifice of the ram?
- Did Jonah learn the lessons God taught him?
- Did King Asa go to Heaven?
- Did Lot's wife go to heaven or hell?
- Did Moses go to heaven?
- Did Nehemiah rebuild the whole wall of Jerusalem or only parts of it?
- Did Noah go to heaven or hell?
- Did Pharaoh die in the Red Sea or just his army?
- Did the apostle Paul keep the laws found in the Torah?
- Do Jews and Christians both follow the teachings of the Old Testament?
- Do the Ten Commandments apply to Christians?
- Does a change in the Law mean God changes His mind a lot?
- Does John 14:15 mean we are under the Ten Commandments?
- Doesn't God want us to follow parts of the Old Testament?
- Explain the book of Proverbs
- God gave what of Balaam the ability to speak?
- Has anyone compiled a list of how much the Israelites were to give?
- How can one become a Jew?
- How can Sheshan have no sons, when a son named Ahlai is mentioned?
- How can the Law of Moses no longer be in effect when God doesn't change?
- How can the Old Covenant be everlasting and yet come to an end?
- How could people live to be so old?
- How could Samuel offer a burnt offering when he was not a Levite?
- How could the Israelites have left Egypt if they crossed into the Sinai peninsula?
- How did Saul actually die?
- How did Simeon and Levi manage to wipe out Shechem?
- How did the children of Israel get their name?
- How did you locate Pi Hahiroth, Migdol, and Baal Zephron?
- How important is the Sabbath day?
- How long did Jephthah rule Israel?
- How many children did Abraham have?
- How many fighting men did Joab count in Israel and Judah?
- How many monuments were raised in Joshua 4?
- How many people crossed the Red Sea?
- How many priests carried the ark of God across river Jordan?
- How many years of famine did God threaten David with?
- How was worship conducted in Israel when the temple was destroyed?
- How were the nations scattered and was the world one continent, divided in the days of Peleg?
- If all Scripture is profitable, why don't we use the Old Law?
- If Christian aren't to tithe, then what about the curse mentioned in Malachi 3:9?
- If God condemned something in the past does that mean the law remains?
- If God doesn't change, then why not follow both testaments?
- If it was taught that the Old Covenant was abolished, why was the conference in Jerusalem necessary?
- Is "be fruitful and multiply" a part of the Old Covenant and thus no longer applicable?
- Is Enoch included in Hebrews 11:13 when it said all these died in faith?
- Is one permitted to interpret God's commandments to bolster one's point of view?
- If Paul taught against the Sabbath then why couldn't the Jews convict Paul of blasphemy?
- Is Semiramis a myth or a fact?
- Is Talmudism different from Zionism?
- Is the covenant different from the Law?
- Is the Song of Solomon only about Solomon and the woman he marries?
- Is there something indicating that Bathsheba was an Israelite?
- Justifying Divorce and Remarriage by Claiming Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are Old Testament Books
- "Neither Jesus nor Peter ate unclean animals, so if you teach otherwise you are departing from Christianity."
- Proof that Israel wasn't afflicted for 400 years?
- Questions about the Battle of Jericho
- Several questions from I Samuel
- Since Jesus said to keep the commandments, shouldn't we keep the Sabbath?
- Should Christians avoid unclean foods?
- Shouldn't we follow the Old Testament and the New Testament?
- Someone upset that the Old Testament is no longer in effect.
- The Ten Commandments and the Old and New Testaments shall stand forever!
- Was David a young man when he killed Goliath and not a boy?
- Was Moses a prophet?
- Was Naomi related to Obed in any way?
- Was the death penalty for homosexuals only referring to hell?
- Was the tree of life different from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
- Wasn't Abraham's offering of Isaac because of pagan beliefs?
- Were most of the Psalms written during the time of II Samuel?
- Were only priests allowed to offer sacrifices?
- Were only the sacrificial ordinance abolished from the Law?
- Were sins rolled forward under the Old Law?
- Were the offerings in Numbers 28 and 29 individual or national offerings?
- What books would you recommend reading in the Old Testament?
- What constitutes a witness in the Bible?
- What did Leah's son find that Rachel wanted?
- What did the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments look like?
- What happened to Ishmael's descendants?
- What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?
- What is meant by not being enslaved to a non-Christian?
- What is Nehushtan?
- What is the difference between a Priest and a Levite?
- What is the Law of Christ?
- What is the name of David and Bathsheba's first born who died?
- What is the point of the story of Elisha, the 42 youths, and the bears?
- What is the significance of Aaron's rod that budded?
- What new law was given concerning the Passover in Numbers 9?
- What saved Joshua and Caleb?
- What sins under the Old Testament remain as sins today?
- What was special about a man named Enoch?
- What was the flaw in the Old Covenant?
- What was the Sea of Bronze?
- What was the significance of anointing Aaron as high priest?
- What was the significance of Samson killing the lion and eating honey from its carcass?
- What were the evils of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel?
- What were the priest and the Levite's duties?
- When did Jehoiachin begin reigning and how long did he reign?
- When did Saul reign in Israel?
- When did the concept of eternal life, heaven and hell first get mentioned in the Bible?
- Where did Cain get his wife?
- Where did the second set of Ten Commandments come from?
- Where do the Arabs come from?
- Where does it say that a man can't be with his wife during her monthly periods?
- Where does it say the commandments were nailed to the cross? If we are not to keep the commandments, then we would be free to sin.
- Where does the Bible say facial hair is wrong?
- Where does the Bible state that Moses stoned a woman who committed adultery?
- Where in the Bible did a Jewish woman become queen?
- Which Old Testament prophet did Jesus quote the most?
- Who are the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom and the 2 tribes of the Southern Kingdom?
- Who did Adam and Eve's children marry?
- Who dug numerous wells that were taken from him?
- Who is the fourth individual in Daniel 3:25?
- Who is the uncle of Moses?
- Who promised to sacrifice the first thing he saw if he won a battle?
- Who was High Priest when David ate the showbread, Abiathar or Ahimelech?
- Who was the giant with six fingers and toes?
- Who was the only man in the Bible forbidden to marry?
- Who was the person who ask God to roll back time?
- Who were Lot's descendants?
- Who were the judges and kings of Israel?
- Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6:4?
- Who were the wives who gave birth to David's sons and in which order were they born?
- Whose idea what it to send spies into Canaan?
- Why are there two differing stories of creation in Genesis?
- Why did Aaron make the golden calf?
- Why did God allow polygamy and concubines?
- Why did God allow polygamy under the Old Testament?
- Why did God allow slavery or commit genocide?
- Why did God command circumcision?
- Why did God extend Hezekiah's life?
- Why did God kill many people in the Old Testament?
- Why did God let David play music?
- Why did God tell Peter that the unclean animals were clean?
- Why did Jael give Sisera milk and not water as he requested?
- Why did Jesus allow divorce when the Law had a death penalty for adultery?
- Why did Moses strike the rock twice and what was Aaron's participation?
- Why did Ruth uncover Boaz's feet?
- Why do Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday?
- Why do we not follow the Old Law but continue to teach the prophecies found in the Old Testament?
- Why do you quote from the Old Law?
- Why does Peter say the Law was hard to bear when Moses said the Law was not hard?
- Why does your map show Israel in Egyptian territory when the Bible says they left Egypt?
- Why don't you keep Pentecost?
- Why is it OK to take some parts of Leviticus seriously but not all of it?
- Why should Christians learn the Old Testament?
- Why ten commandments and not another number?
- Why was a woman unclean less time after the birth of a boy than after the birth of a girl?
- Why was Moses called?
- Why was proof required of virginity in the Old Testament?
- Why was Saul hiding among the baggage?
- Why was the kingdom divided in the Old Testament?
- Why wasn't Jesus named Immanuel?
- Why wasn't Naomi concerned that her daughters-in-law might marry ungodly men?
- Would confession and repentance remove a death penalty under the Old Testament?
- Would you explain Hebrews 13:10-13?
Once Saved, Always Saved?
- After a person becomes a Christian, can they live as they please?
- Are Christians predestined to go to heaven?
- Are we judged based on justification or based on sanctification?
- Can I lose my way to heaven?
- Could you explain I Peter 1:1-5?
- Did Lot's wife go to heaven or hell?
- Do you have a list of verses opposing the idea of once saved, always saved?
- Does losing your faith mean losing your salvation?
- Does sinning or being tempted to sin mean you aren't really saved?
- How can faith be combined with works?
- How can we be guilty of sin if Christ's sacrifice is eternal?
- How is it possible to fall from grace if you can't lose your salvation?
- I believe that once we are saved, nothing can cause us to lose our salvation
- I do not believe you can lose your salvation
- If a Christian sins, is he no longer part of the family of God?
- If Jesus' work is completed, does that mean our salvation is assured?
- If we are forgiven of our sins as Christians, what is the Judgment for?
- Is a saved person still saved after stumbling?
- Is marriage an option for Christians because they are saved anyway?
- Is my ex-husband, who became a homosexual, lost?
- Is repentance necessary to be saved?
- Isn't eternal life guaranteed? So how can we talk of hope?
- What do you think about this group who says believers cannot lose their salvation?
- Once you are saved, can you live a sin free life?
- What is the bema judgment?
- Why does Paul say, "take heed lest you fall" and Peter says "you shall never fall?"
- Will God allow sin to get us back?
Organization of the Church
- Are elders responsible for the employment of preachers?
- Are lectureships scriptural?
- Are small group meetings in place of the Sunday evening assembly or midweek study scriptural?
- Can a church be scriptural without elders?
- Can a church choose men to lead when there are no elders?
- Can a church consist of just one person?
- Can a church organize tasks without elders?
- Can a man be both a preacher and an elder?
- Does "the whole church" refer only to the men?
- How do we decide what offices in Ephesians 4:11 remain?
- How should business meetings be conducted?
- If the whole church makes decisions, how is it organized?
- Isn't the reason denominations want married preachers is because they confuse the office of an elder with that of the preacher?
- May a church without elders appoint deacons?
- Must preachers be ordained?
- Must the duties of preaching be evenly distributed among able and qualified men?
- Should the current eldership select additional elders?
- Should those assigned tasks in the church have titles?
- What is my responsibility when I know that a person is sinning within the church?
- What should be done if a visiting speaker starts teaching falsely?
- When a church splits, who is right?
- Who appoints elders?
- Who can give communion?
- Who removes an elder from office?
- Why can't all the elders in a city get together to direct all the churches in the city?
