263 results for tag: Q & R

Q&R – When were the Gospels written? Brad Jersak

Question: When were the four Gospels written? And by whom? Some claim they were a late invention of the church, generations even after the apostles, discounting their reliability as trustworthy witnesses to the life and teachings of Christ. When I read them, is it just the religious fiction of people trying to make Jesus into a religion? Response: What I notice about those who set late dates for the Gospels and discount the authorship of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John is an underlying bias toward skepticism that wants or even needs to discredit the Gospels. But far from bringing an objective analysis to their discipline, they betray ...

FAITH – God’s Goodness and Mercy – Greg Albrecht

QUESTION: Do I understand correctly that faith comes as a gift from God and we can't develop true faith on our own? If so then it seems to me that God hasn't yet given true faith to most of the people that have ever lived, from Adam on down to today. And if God shows no favoritism and loves everyone equally then at some point He will give everyone faith. Everyone will believe in Him. Whosoever believeth in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. And if we stand in front of God when we die surely we'll believe him then. Just seems to me like most people won't believe till after they die. Didn't Jesus lead spirits out of hell when ...

Q&R: Romans 6:23 – What ‘death’ is this?

Question: I have often heard people quote this verse only partially and then to imply that death is a metaphor for a place of eternal conscious torment and their justification for hell. I know death represents an end of physical life, but what are the other aspects that Paul is trying to convey metaphorically, especially in light of the rest of the verse? Response: Thank you for that all-important question. First of all, I'm thrilled that noted how half the verse (Romans 6:23) is so often excised in order to create a misreading that actually distorts the gospel. Let's do the due diligence of at least recalling the whole verse and ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – A More Christlike Way

Question: I am finally getting around to reading A More Christlike Way. I’m curious about what you wrote on page 64, “We might go further to describe love as God’s heart and ours working as one because in Christ, God and humanity are united forever.” When you say, “in Christ, God and humanity are united forever,” can we assume that includes everyone who lived before Jesus? And if so, was it true for them during their lifetime or is it only true retroactively? Maybe the root of this question is this: theologically speaking, do you think there has ever been any separation or “un-united-ness” between God and humanity—in light of the ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Should we fear God?

Rather, from Genesis (26:24) to Revelation (1:17), God consistently answers with a word of comfort, “Fear not!” His people “walked (i.e., lived daily) in the fear of the Lord AND the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31). Note the both/and in that verse.   

Q & R with Greg Albrecht – “Straight and Narrow” – Will only a few be saved?

Question: I have a friend that is obsessed with this idea that few will be saved because of the scripture that says, "Straight and narrow is the road that leads to life and few there be that find it." How would you respond? Response: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" – Matthew 7:13 Several thoughts in response to your question and to your friend’s “obsession.” Salvation is a gift of God. Salvation, throughout the Bible, both in Old and New Testaments, invaria...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Did Paul silence women? Four Views.

Question I am reading 1 Corinthians 14:34-36, where Paul says that women should not speak in church but just ask their husbands questions afterward at home. (What if their husband is not so bright?)   Does this still apply today? And why? Response Glad you asked. Let's start by reading the passage: 34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36 Or did the ...

Q & R: After Easter: Is Death Now Our Friend? Brad Jersak

Question: I read that because of Easter, death can now be our friend. What do you think? Here is the actual statement: "Easter is God’s 'victory over death.'  Death is no longer the curse that it was.  It is no longer the power that rules.  It is no longer the enemy to be feared.  But here’s the twist.  In doing so, Jesus also reclaims death and befriends it – not death in its perverted form, but death in its state of grace. Jesus reclaims death as a natural blessing to the rhythm of life and shows us that it is possible to befriend ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak: Sweating our Sorrows

Question: My question is about what Jesus went through in the garden of Gethsemane, before his arrest. The texts say that his anguish was so intense that he was sweating blood, which apparently is a real medical phenomenon that happens in extreme stress. The most common explanation I’ve heard in the church for the stress Jesus was experiencing is that he was going to bear the sins of the entire world and because of that, God was going punish him in our place, which means that the full wrath of God was going to fell on Him. Also God was going to turn his back on him while doing it, because Jesus was basically going to become sin, and God ...

Have I Truly Accepted Christ? – Greg Albrecht

Question: When I asked for salvation at a younger age, a part of me wondered if I was truly accepted by Christ. I held to some bad theology and thought I’d committed the unpardonable sin in the past. I literally cried for forgiveness (wondering, “Is it even possible for me!”). But I was still not 100% completely convinced Jesus’ sacrifice would apply to my particular sin. I believed in him entirely as the King and Source of salvation. I believe he died for our sins. I also looked to him in faith and begged for his help. So was asking that enough to be saved? Was it turning to him? Or because I didn’t trust completely that ...

Q & R: What do you make of Luke 13:23-28? – Brad Jersak

Question: I am wondering, in light of A More Christlike God, what your take is on Luke 13:23-28. It seems like an instance of a not very Christlike Christ! Response: In the future, I plan to write something in greater detail about these type of difficult texts, which are similar to some of Jesus parables in their dire rhetoric. In the case of Luke 13:23-28, a number of interpretive factors come into play and I'm still sorting through how to weight each of them for relevance. The passage goes this way: 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter ...

Q&R – Which Religion is Right? – by Greg Albrecht

Question: How can we know which religion is right, and further—if Christianity is the only right “religion”—will only Christians go to heaven? Response: In our postmodern society, it seems that every belief system is afforded equal weight. Well-meaning wishful thinkers like to point out that world religions share many things in common—and if everyone would just focus on these commonalities, perhaps we could “all just get along.” Yet even a brief survey of world religions reveals huge contrasts and contradictions. How can so many contradicting ideas, philosophies and doctrines all be right? Of course, logically, they ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak: What does atonement mean?

Question: I’m still a little confused about atonement as I’m learning a new way to understand it. Isatonement even the right word for it? Were we ever really separated from God? If so,what is the supernatural significance of our salvation? Response: Is 'atonement' even the right word? Good question, precisely because the English term has morphed. Originally, it was a great word that meant exactly the same thing as reconciliation. But over time, the idea of appeasement crept in, which many of us would regard as paganizing the gospel (e.g., Greg Albrecht,, NT Wright, Miroslav Volf, Cherith Fee, Wm. Paul Young, C. Baxter Kruger, and ...

Q & R with Greg Albrecht – Do people go to heaven when they die? Where is it?

Question: There has been some discussion among friends about do people go to heaven as soon as they die? Also, where is heaven? Response: A response to your questions could fill a book, or it can be brief – which, given the nature of blog, this answer will be.  That said, this is a HUGE topic.  As soon as people die they go to God – most scholars and theologians call this “place” the intermediate state. Many people say that people who die go to heaven – and while that description is not wrong, it can be misleading depending on what people visualize as heaven.   People who die go to an intermediate ...

Q&R: Chains, Stains & Jesus’ Judgment – Brad Jersak

Question: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." - 2 Corinthians 5:10 I wanted to ask how is it that we will be judged as believers if we have already been forgiven for our sins? If we are forgiven, why are our sins brought up again at the judgment seat? Response: Great question. That could almost sound like a contradiction! There is a very real and important sense that we were all forgiven for all our sins at the Cross. Jesus said, "It is finished," after all. Yet I wonder...&...

Q&R with Brad – “Why pray for forgiveness if we’re already forgiven?”

Question: The sin issue is cropping up again. I lose my temper.  I get stressed out.  I am short with my family... but I have gotten to the point where I feel as though Christ once and forever dealt with sin (alienation, darkness) at the Cross and my constantly asking Christ directly for forgiveness (again and again) for the same sins seems hopelessly pointless. Response: The reason why I regularly pray, "forgive us our trespasses," is first of all, because Jesus taught us to do so. He quite literally says, "When you pray, pray this: Our Father,..." And while some folks dismiss this prayer as "pre-cross" and "old covenant" ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Sin

Question: I have just finished reading "Out of the Embers," and you know, I never once thought about sin (at least "sin" as understood in my evangelical context). Does sin (moral or ethical infraction) mean anything to you anymore?  To God? Response: Great question! In our modern and post-modern context, the word "sin" often carries a lot of baggage and not nearly enough depth. For example, in the tradition I was formed in, "sin" generally referred to: 1. The "sin condition" I was born with, inherited from Adam's guilt... we called this "the sin nature" and were taught that when we came to Christ, we would receive a "new nature" or "new ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak: Is Isaiah’s “suffering servant” Jesus or the Jewish people?

Isaiah 49:7 Question: I was researching Isaiah 49:7 due to the Rabbinical claim that the Suffering Servant is not Jesus, but is actually the Jewish people throughout their history of persecutions. This has always been a nagging doubt to me. It doesn't help that Isaiah 49:7 in some translations says "abhorred by the nations" which sounds like the nation of Israel is the servant, but other translations say "abhorred by the nation" which sounds like Jesus inside of Israel. I was wondering if you could point me towards more info on this topic, because it has re-assured my faith a bit. Response: I sure wouldn't make my faith at all ...

Q&R “Is the Spiritual Realm more Real than the Natural Realm?” with Brad Jersak

Question: How would you respond to the statement, "The spiritual realm is more real than the natural realm"? My home church has been influenced a lot by that theme through certain charismatic ministries. They emphasize spirit over nature and parse out spirit, soul and body in a hierarchy of functioning. It all feels a little too much like Hogwarts. Response: I know exactly what you mean. Similarly, the Catholic priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, once said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Both these statements affirm something important but invariably over-steer into a ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “How does ‘All Jesus, All the Time’ relate to the Trinity?”

Question: Full disclosure: PTM's Question & Response feature addresses actual questions from real readers. But (Brad Jersak) created this question for myself because I think the answers might be interesting and relevant to others who overhear my self-talk. The question relates to a tagline we frequently use at Plain Truth Ministries: "All Jesus, All the Time." Does that seem an odd claim for a ministry that believes in the Triune God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit? I believe it's worth pondering together from a few angles. Response: 1. First, let's clarify what we don't mean. We don't align or identify with "Oneness" movements ...