Posts Tagged ‘faith’
How do you handle questions you can’t understand? Does it cause you to doubt that God exists?
Question: Have you ever doubted if God really exists? Have you ever been bothered about Eve coming from Adam’s rib or the apes theory? Or just anything science comes up with? Because I have. I don’t know how to get rid of it because I honestly don’t want to be an atheist. I think my Bible…
Read MoreWhy Believe in God?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/WhyBelieveInGod.mp3 by Bruce Irwin
Read MoreDoes faith mean you never doubt?
Question: Does faith mean that you’ll never ever doubt something? I’ve been sad lately because there are things in the Bible that I don’t understand and these things have caused me to doubt Jesus. But when I doubted, I get sad because I think, “I’m not saved because I’m not believing in Jesus.” But then…
Read MoreThe Author of Our Faith
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/AuthorOfOurFaith.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 12:1-3 I. In translating from one language to another, some words just don’t fit easily. Some words have multiple possible meanings in another language and figuring out which one of the various possible translations is hard. A. Harder are the words which have multiple meanings in another language, and…
Read MoreWho must we believe in to go to heaven, God or Jesus?
Question: Who must we believe in to go to heaven, God or Jesus? Answer: The answer is both. You cannot believe in one without believing in the other. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You,…
Read MoreWhat is Faith?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/WhatIsFaith.mp3 Text: Hebrews 11:1-6 I. Imagine a tight rope stretched across Niagara Falls. A crowd gathers around a man who pulls a unicycle out of a box. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the man announces, “may I have your attention! In my hands is a unicycle. How many of you believe that I can ride this unicycle…
Read MoreIs Paul saying that only if we don’t work, then God will make us righteous?
Question: Is Paul saying in Romans 4:4-5 that only if we don’t work then God will make us righteous? Answer: “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for…
Read MoreIs masturbation a sin and can God give me a sign to increase my faith?
Question: Hi. I am 12 and I just wanted to know if masturbation is a sin. I’ve researched it on Google and it said it was, so I stopped for a while, then I did it again and I still am. I also have another problem. I believe in God and heaven but I just…
Read MoreRelying on God
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/RelyingOnGod.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. The afternoon news and talk show featured a short debate over a recent story. The parents of eleven children had two of their children die. One died from untreated diabetes. The other died from complications of an untreated ear infection. The parents believed firmly in the power of prayer and…
Read MoreWas faith an absolute requirement for Jesus’ healing people?
Question: Was faith the absolute requirement for Jesus’ healing people? Answer: “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to…
Read MoreHow are faith and prayer related?
Question: How are faith and prayer related? Answer: Prayer is a form of worship to God where we bring our requests to Him along with our praise and our thanksgivings. But what use would it be to ask God for a favor while at the same time having no confidence that He will give you…
Read MoreHow do you answer someone who doesn’t believe the Bible?
Question: Greetings Brother. I pray the Lord continues to bless you and the works you have undertaken. A month or two ago I posed a biblical question on a forum that quickly turned into a small argument over the Bible’s validity with another individual. I have known him to be an extreme liberal and unbeliever.…
Read MoreIs it a sin to change what I believe?
Question: Is it a sin to change what I believe? Or what if I am just neutral? Answer: Growth means you are going to change your mind about things. “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may…
Read MoreHow can I know the God of the Bible isn’t a myth?
Question: How do I know that believing in God is the right thing to do? How do I know that the Bible isn’t something that is made for mankind to get by through life without worrying as much as non-believers do? I don’t know what to think about God and life and death. Just the…
Read MoreWill faith and hope still exist in heaven?
Question: I have a question from I Corinthians 13 about faith, hope, and love with the greatest of these being love. I have led public prayers in which I prayed something like this “to bless us with faith, hope, and love. For one day we will close our eyes in this world and sleep, but…
Read MoreGod Is Able
by David Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 12, March 20, 2009. Times are hard right now. The economy is in a major recession, with no end in sight as I write this. Many people are facing factory layoffs. Many are looking at foreclosures and still others are thinking of bankruptcy. Maybe you are not…
Read MoreHow can I believe the Bible when science has proven it wrong?
Question: That was an interesting article about the possible age of the earth. I am a Christian, but I still need some answers so I can feel comfortable about where I stand. So, if I understand it correctly, there is scientifically proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, undeniable truth that the earth is much, much…
Read MoreEmpty Faith
by Carey Scott “My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you?” (James 2:14, CEV). There are a lot of people going around and calling themselves a Christians. Yet their actions do not…
Read MoreExceedingly Abundantly
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ExceedingAbundantly2.mp3 by Simon Harris God, please use Kelsey to bring glory to your Name. We know the odds are against us, but we trust in You. Please use our daughter as a living example of Your power to heal, that all may glorify You as the Great God of Heaven. That was my prayer when…
Read MoreI’m still confused as to what love is. Is it a feeling, an action, or both?
Question: I was reading over the email you sent me a while back and I understand what love is but at the same time, I don’t. I know what is but I feel it’s hard to explain. Love is like faith, it isn’t an action but without action, it is basically dead. I can show someone…
Read MoreJohn 6:26-59
by Dale Smelser There are several keys to understanding this passage. One is John 6:48 where Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” Then John 6:50, “This is the bread of life which comes down out of heaven that a man might eat and live.” As we will note, the consideration of actual baked…
Read MoreI’ve fallen back into pornography, how can I be confident that when I repent I’ll still go to heaven?
Question: Hi. I was once a member of the Lord’s church. I say “was” because since getting baptized last year, I was so dedicated and love the Lord, but it was so soon after that I got trapped and went back to my wallowing in sin! i.e. pornography and masturbation. Even after I was married,…
Read MoreTrusting God When Afraid
by Wayne S. Walker “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3). Jesus told us, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). The fact is that “God has…
Read MoreHow do you answer a teacher who claims religion is not based on evidence?
Question: How would you answer a professor who claims that religion and faith are not based on evidence, but rather they are based on what people “want” in life, contrary to scientific evidence and that what is considered scientific has to be “peer-reviewed”? To me it seems that my professor is operating on the assumption…
Read MoreThe Armor of God
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ArmorOfGod.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 6:10-18 Rome was the mighty governing power in the days the New Testament was written. Its strength was in its military, which constantly was on guard Josephus, a Jewish historian, observed that Roman soldiers always carried their weapons with them, even in times of peace. “Every soldier is…
Read MoreHow do you not doubt that God exists?
Question: I do not mean this in any sort of sacrilegious way, but – here it is – how do you know God exists? Maybe this life is all there is. How do you know otherwise? Now, let me say I am not a stranger to Christianity. When I was in college, I used to hang out…
Read MoreHow can faith be combined with works?
Question: I have been reading articles on this web site, especially the one about how salvation comes both from believing and works. My question is this: Did Paul lie to the prison guard when he said: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”? I am having difficulty with the combination of…
Read MoreThere’s More to It Than That
by Dee Bowman via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 13, Mar. 30, 2008. It’s interesting to me how an illustration can sometimes become so powerful that it supplants the thing it is illustrating. For instance, the illustration for salvation is many times cited by the use of a man’s five fingers. Here, believe, repent, confess,…
Read MoreHow to Avoid Having Your Faith Shipwrecked
by Steven Braman Let me tell you about my evening. I was eating dinner in Shanghai. I picked a little restaurant near the hotel called Johnny Moo. It is a knockoff of Johnny Rockets. Basically a ’50s-style burger joint. I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a banana milkshake. I had just settled in with my…
Read MoreWhere do you start to gain faith?
Question: Good day, I was really impressed by your web site. I am not quite a believer. I tried a few times to read the Bible but seem to have lots of difficulties in reading in “between lines”. The purpose of my email is only to see where I could get good information. You might…
Read MoreCan a person with schizoaffective disorder truly have faith?
Question: I suffer from mental illness of bipolar and schizoaffective disorder. I believe in the notion that doctors’ advice of medicine helps us keep sane. But there are mental blocks. One is the ability to see God as Maker and Creator of heaven and earth. I have to really mentally think about it before it is natural before I…
Read MoreThe First “Ancient Mariner”
by Dillard Thurman in Gospel Minutes, May 8, 1964 The original story of “The Ancient Mariner” was written several centuries before “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” was added to our literature. The story of Noah and the Ark is loved and appreciated by multitudes who have never gone to sea, or taken an ocean…
Read MoreWhat Saves Us from Sin?
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 28, July 11, 2008 We are not saved by one thing to the exclusion of all others, for there are many factors that work out our salvation. Rather than focus on just one passage that speaks of our being saved, we must learn the truth of…
Read MoreHow can I increase my faith?
Question: Just a warning this may get a little long, but it will be honest. I fear what comes after death. I call myself a Christian, I am sincere when I claim that and have no problem saying that to anybody. As a matter of fact when I am confronted by atheists is when my…
Read MoreI’m scared that God has made me believe a lie. How can I know His way?
Question: A sister in Christ shared this note with me and decided to try and address this young man’s concerns. You showed us that Scripture in II Thessalonians 2:11, “And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.” That’s made me scared of God ever since. How, if…
Read MoreI keep questioning my beliefs. Does that mean I’m no longer saved?
Question: I need help in reconciling what I have always been taught and what I am being taught now. I was baptized a few years ago in the church and at the time I did truly believe that it was necessary, since then I begin to question whether it was necessary and I question many…
Read MoreDid the thief on the cross work when he rebuked the other thief?
Question: I noticed your ‘Is water baptism is a work?’ and I found it very insightful. I was curious about the thief on the cross. Did this thief do a ‘work’ before he died by rebuking his neighbor? Answer: Obviously the thief demonstrates faith in Jesus. “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying,…
Read MoreGet Your Faith Out Of The Church Building
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/2008Spring5GetYourFaithOutOfTheChurchBuilding.mp3 by Whit Sasser Lessons in Christianity
Read MoreDoes losing your faith means losing your salvation?
Question: Hello, I was reading I Timothy and came across mention of Hymenaeus and Alexander. Not knowing anything about them, I did a google search and found your site with your explanation of them. In it, you say that it is possible to lose one’s faith as seen in Hymenaeus, Alexander, and Philetus. Does that also…
Read MoreA Perversion of Biblical Faith
by Wayne Jackson One of the great tragedies of ecclesiastical history is the fact that so many have failed to find a balanced view of human redemption as this concept is set forth in the biblical record. On the one hand, there is Roman Catholicism, arrogantly contending that salvation is conferred upon the basis of…
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