263 results for tag: Q & R

Q & R: Is Christ IN all people or only IN Christians? Brad Jersak

Brad Jersak Question:  Is Christ in all people or is Christ only in Christians or only in some Christians? Response:   Full disclosure: my response comes with a two-fold agenda. To say that we can find a good number of verses that make "in-ness" exclusive (e.g. believers are in Christ), but those passages do not negate the truth of the inclusion texts (i.e. humanity is in Christ). Both Scripture sets are true. They are simply referring to different truths. To say that neither inclusion-focused believers ("Trinitarians" for example) nor exclusion-focused believers (Evangelicals for example) need to force all the ...

Q & R: Friendly Pushback on Baptism – Brad Jersak

Question: Emily Jersak (Brad's grandmother) baptized in Czechoslovakia (17 years old). I just read "Baptism and the fate of the unprepared." Overall a great message. I did want to push back slightly on your point of "why not?" Here's my push back: I once knew someone who waited decades (plural) to get baptized. His hangup for so long was that he would be alienating his very religious but non-Christian family - to the point of being disowned - if he were to be baptized. I wonder if the point ("a point") of baptism was that it was meant to be a "low barrier" into the community of faith - i.e. Judaism required circumcision to join the communi...

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary? – Greg Albrecht

Question: A friend of mine who is a Catholic Christian differs with me on many topics about our common faith.  In a recent conversation he told me the Virgin Mary was not only a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus but she remained a virgin until her death.   I mentioned Matthew 13:55 which seems to say that Jesus had brothers (half-brothers at least) but he says that the verse does not prove Jesus had brothers and that brothers in his verse means what we call cousins. Can you explain further? Response: It seems the difference in opinion you and your friend have about the meaning of “brothers” in Matthew ...

Q&R with Greg Albrecht – “Should Christians Boycott & Protest?”

Question: Should Christians boycott? Should they actively use their “dollar power” to support or protest moral issues? Response: This is a difficult question and I don’t know that there is one right or wrong answer for it. I do know that there are many boycotts Christians have organized in the past that have not worked.  In fact, some of these protests have boomeranged and allowed or caused Christians to be seen as silly and perhaps even as hateful and mean-spirited people. Some churches and ministries seem to do little more than “take a stand.” Among such groups, it seems that virtually every month there is some new position that needs to ...

Q&R with Greg Albrecht – “Does God Bless Financial Vows?”

Question: I watched a television ministry that claims if you make a financial vow unto the Lord it will change your circumstances. When you’re seeking answers, you just want to believe that something will work, almost like looking for a sign. I want to have faith in God, but at times I’m tempted to transfer my faith to human promises. Response: The program you watched may base its “theology” in the Word-Faith movement, which, among other unbiblical teachings, teaches the health-wealth or Prosperity Gospel. The teaching is based upon human effort and performance. Obey, and you will be blessed—disobey and you will be cursed. But the gospel of ...

Q: Has Jesus’ Resurrection made Death our friend (pt 2/4) Brad Jersak

In this post, we will explore how Christ and the NT as a whole describe a fundamental shift in the nature of death in two essential ways as a result of Jesus' resurrection.  (CONT'D from Part 1, which is posted HERE). How have the death and resurrection of Christ fundamentally changed the nature of death itself? a. One approach is to say that death itself has changed. Death used to mean “consigned to the grave” (whatever that meant) but then with Paul, death came to mean “present with the Lord.” Death as our destiny shifts radically with Christ’s conquest of hades and the emptying of ...

Q: Has the Resurrection made Death our friend? (pt 1/4) Brad Jersak

QUESTION: Has Christ’s resurrection made death our “friend”? RESPONSE: I have reservations about calling death a friend. But I think it's worth doing an autopsy on death to explore the way Christ’s work changed not only our relationship to death, but changed the nature of death itself. I want to ask first, how is death not our friend, then how it might now be our friend and finally, how might we talk about death. So first, and easiest, why is the statement “death is our friend” not true? Most obviously, in 1 Cor. 15—dubbed “the resurrection chapter”—Paul calls death an enemy, and in fact, the last enemy to be destroyed, ...

Q & R: How is Christ a “sacrificial lamb”? Brad Jersak

What does the Passover Lamb of Exodus reveal and foretell of Christ's death? How does the Day of Atonement interpret Christ's sacrifice?

Q&R: “Should we be afraid of the devil?” Brad Jersak

"I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Q&R: What if my partner & I disagree about God?

“Your partner must become completely convinced that you are completely convinced that the path she is on is holy, and that is not for you to dissuade her from it.”

Q&R with Greg Albrecht – “Rethinking Church”

Question: I’ve been re-thinking my whole church scene.  I enjoy church for what it provides. I like to see friends, I like to hear a good message, and I enjoy Christian music and hymns. But for me church has not been a God-encounter.  In fact, outside of church and any of its activities and programs I am finding people in my life who inspire me and encourage me to dig deeper, and I like to think that I am doing some of that same kind of thing for others. The whole concept of not being concerned about where exactly I attend church and how often I physically show up inside of a building is new to me, but I am coming to believe that each one of us ...

Q&R: “And can it be?” & the blood of Jesus – Brad Jersak

Question: So many hymns speak of salvation coming from the shed blood of Jesus. But many deconstructed Christians find this view disturbing and disgusting that God required His Son to die ‘for us.’ I’m really struggling with this also. For example, how should we now regard a hymn like "And Can It Be?" which says, And can it be that I should gain An int'rest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, should die for me? It does seem in Scripture that our sins needed atonement, and that we receive that through the ...

Q & R with Greg Albrecht – “Does the Bible condemn cremation? “

QUESTION: Please explain cremation from a biblical, Christian viewpoint. Is there anything wrong with being cremated? RESPONSE: Burial became the Christian practice following its Old Testament roots. Of course, Jesus was buried, but in a tomb, above ground, and in a very different way than our Western custom of burial in a casket. The Bible gives no specific burial practice, customs or traditions that we must follow. For many years, Christian sailors have been buried at sea, for example. God does not need for us to be buried in a particular way so that he might resurrect us. Some bodies are so destroyed in accidents or in warfare that ...

Q&A: “Does John 3:16 teach penal substitution?” – Brad Jersak

"God loved the world in this way: he gave us his only begotten Son." We read that God gave his Son to us to save us from perishing. Jesus Christ is the saving gift God the Father gave us."

Q&R: Living Peacefully in “Real Life” – Brad Jersak

Real life is precisely the situation Jesus is speaking to. Real life for so many is violent and oppressive. They despair of living in peace and pray for some way to rise above the malice in our hearts and in our world. Everyone I've ever met would love to see their children grow up without the threat of terror, war, bullies, or chaos. In that sense, the real world desperately needs a Savior. That Savior is the Way and showed us the Way… and he beckoned us, "Follow me!" on what we call the Jesus Way.

Q & R with Greg Albrecht – “How can I show love and compassion without condoning specific behavior?”

Question: My cousin had a child out of wedlock. Some time after the birth, my family had a baby shower for her. My father, who is Christian, did not feel it was right for him to attend due to the fact that the baby was born out of wedlock, and believed his attendance would only show that he tolerated this behavior. However, at the same time my father attended a funeral for a close friend of the family who committed suicide. I feel that he should have given the same support that he gave to a friend of the family to my cousin. I hate to compare and contrast sins, but isn’t it rather hypocritical of him? Response: Your question seems ...

Q&R: Should we use Love as a name for God? Brad Jersak

Question: Should we use the word Love as a name for God? I started thinking about this after I recently read that "God is change." God certainly is IN change, and God is fluid. But is He change? Then, I was reading a suggestion to substitute the word 'love' for God. I haven't yet found where God describes Himself as love (although He uses many wonderful descriptions.) I know that the Apostle John says God is love. And, given our unceasing ability to make things up, do we go maybe a bit too far when we substitute the word 'love' for God?  Response: Thanks for this great question. I don't know that God ever uses "Love" as a proper ...

Q&R: Should followers of Jesus use the threat of deadly force in self-defense? Brad Jersak

Question: Thank you for your inspiring article, "The Day of Vengeance." What came to mind while reading it was the question of self-defense and the use of deadly force to protect others. My neighbor follows Jesus, is as wise as serpents, and intends no harm to others, yet ended up in a life-threatening situation. He would have used deadly force to stop harm intended for him and another. Thankfully, the violent man stopped threatening and was later arrested. Any comments? Response: My own intention (from personal experiences of violence) is to align with Jesus’ wisdom from the Sermon on the Mount. Some think Jesus’ call not to ...

Q & R with Greg Albrecht – “Those mean, nasty, hateful Christians . . .”

QUESTION: It seems that our society is becoming tolerant of most everything except Christianity. Why is this? Could it be that the love Christians are to show is offset by fire-and-brimstone preaching condemning to hell those who do not comply? RESPONSE: Has Christianity been so marred by inaccurate representations of God that many have determined that Christians at large are bigots, fear-mongers, hateful and nasty people?  I heard of one survey that determined that the least desired potential next-door neighbor in the United States is a fundamentalist Christian. Some might say that's because many people don't want Christians next door making ...

Q&R: “What is the Second Death?” – Brad Jersak

Question: How do you understand the second death mentioned in John's Apocalypse? Response: Whatever it is, it sounds like serious business and something to avoid! The phrase only appears in the symbols of the Book of Revelation. Here are the relevant texts: Revelation 2:11: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy are those who have a part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand ...