What is the significance of Hosea's children?
In the providence of the Lord, Hosea was called upon to minister to the northern kingdom of Israel. God commissioned Hosea to assist in calling Israel to repentance and restoration by laying bare…
What commandment(s) did Adam violate in the Fall?
This is a good question, because the fall of Adam isn't merely about the definite sin of eating a piece of forbidden fruit. It's about all the sins behind this sin of sins as well. It concerns the…
Who Wrote the Second Set of the Ten Commandments? Exodus 34:27-28 and Deuteronomy 10:1-4
Exodus 34:27-28 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." Moses was there with the Lord forty days and…
Calivinism vs. Roman Catholicism
There are quite a number of significant differences between Calvinism and Roman Catholicism. I'll try just to hit the highlights of some big ones: Faith, Works and Justification : Calvinism teaches…
Have I Blasphemed the Holy Spirit?
It is true that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. Although the Old Testament Law does not state this explicitly as such, this subject falls under the broader prohibition against…
Trichotomy or Dichotomy?
Louis Berkhof states: It is customary, especially in Christian circles, to conceive of man as consisting of two, and only two, distinct parts, namely, body and soul. This view is technically called…
Did David only sin once?
1 Kings 15:5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life - except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. David…
Jesus is still human after all these years ..., or is he?
After his resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples and others clothed in perfect humanity (1 Cor. 15:1-4). As is evidenced in John 20:24-29 Jesus, after his resurrection, was/is still fully human…
Falling Short of God's Glory
The phrase "fall short" means all sorts of things, depending on the context; it does not have one consistent meaning throughout the Bible. When you find phrases like "fall short" and "miss the mark"…
How Can an Innocent Child be Wicked from the Womb? Psalm 58:3
Psalm 58:3 Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. Deuteronomy 1:39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet…
Was Job without Sin? Job 1:1 and Romans 3:23
Job 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Who has Immortality, God or Man? - 1 Timothy 6:16
1 Timothy 6:16 [God] who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen 1 Corinthians 15:53 For the perishable must…
Is Murder ever Justified?
Thanks for your question. Murder is never Justified: The sixth commandment states, "You shall not murder" (Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17). What is murder? As a former homicide detective, I'm aware that…
Sin had not reached its full measure?
Thanks for your question. God sovereignly times the arrival of his divine judgment with the fullness of the sin(s) to be judged. God is not quick tempered; he is patient, even with the wicked (Rom…
Why Does He Still Find Fault?
These are all very good points. If it is true that God creates men with sin, and then punishes them for being sinful, then God seems like a wicked tyrant who punishes mankind with sinister glee and…
What is the Purpose of Man?
The Bible tells the purpose of man, and Christian theologians have agreed for a very long time on what that purpose is. God created man (and everything else), but he did not do so out of need. God is…
Extraterrestrials and the Bible?
Hollywood has made a fortune on extraterrestrial type shows (The Lowe Files; Alien; ET; Star Trek; Stargate; Prometheus, Space Odyssey, X-Files, etc.). Then there is great speculation about Area 51…
Adam's at Bat, Satan Pitched, Adam's Out, Satan's Up, but how?
Excellent question. We may basically say there were three orders of beings that ruled in the beginning, or had power to rule the earth: (1) God, eternal, unchangeable, uncreated, the highest of all…
Naming the Animals - Genesis 2:18-20
Genesis 2:18-20 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all…
What is the Fourfold State of Man?
Augustine (Correction and Grace XXXIII) wrote: The four states of man in relation to sin enumerated by Augustine of Hippo: (a) able to sin, able not to sin ( posse peccare, posse non peccare ); (b)…
Why did God Punish David's Innocent Child?
Thanks for your question. David and Bathsheba committed the act of adultery (2 Sam. 11:1-5) and David added to this the crime of murder (2 Sam. 11:15-17). David was confronted by God's prophet Nathan…
Why didn't Jesus inherit Mary's sin nature?
We should first acknowledge that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was indeed a sinner (cf. Rom. 3:23). Mary's own personal testimony was that she was a sinner, when she declared "My soul magnifies the…
How does the soul of a man originate?
Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed or [how life (or the spirit) / enters the body being formed] in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work…
What does Ephesians 2:8-9 mean?
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Some brief definitions may…