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1. Where does sin begin?

To understand that we must first understand what sin is. Simply put sin is disobedience or rebellion against God. It results in separation from God and has horrible consequences. The ability to sin comes from the fact that God made us free will individuals. We have to assume that angels were given this same free will, because a leading arch angel named Lucifer decided he would be like God and exalt his own throne. He evidently convinced 1/3 of the angels to also rebel. This is where sin began. After God created man, Satan (means adversary) who was formerly Lucifer came into the Garden of Eden, tempted Eve and she took the bait and then got Adam in on the deal.

Thus they disobeyed (rebelled against) God and His Spirit left them and they got the nature of the devil (Satan). What a mess. Now they became separated from God and the consequences of sin began to take effect of them and their off spring until today. But even then God had a plan to redeem mankind to himself, and you know the rest of the story.

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2. What is one of Satan's primary ways of seducing people to sin?

Instead of me answering that one directly; I'd like to direct you to some scriptures, and by studying them and meditating on them, God will begin to show you the answers. First consider how Adam and Eve got tempted in the Garden of Eden. What methods did Satan use. Then when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, what methods did Satan use, and equally important how did Jesus respond so as not to take the bait?

Here are a few more scriptures with keys to understanding. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, anything more than this comes from the evil one. You can have what you say. By our words we are justified and by our words we are condemned. Don't feel bad if you can't figure it all out, but ask God to reveal the answer as you ponder these scriptures.

P.S. - Satan will use the flesh, circumstances, temptations, deceit, etc. to get to your mind. If he can make you think the thoughts he puts there are your own, he is taking hold of your mind. Once he does that your actions will soon follow. Be careful what you let come in to you through the eye and ear gates.

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3. How does God respond to those who refuse to trust Him?

Now that is a very interesting question because the Bible tells us it is impossible to please him without faith. So obviously, we don't trust him we won't get an answer One great help in this area, is to look for God's promises in the Word, BUT also look for the conditions we must meet to gain those promises.

For example: The Bible tells us those with faith and patience inherit the promises. So it is not only going to take faith (trusting Him) but we must exercise patience and be willing to wait. The Bible also says faith works by love. So if we are not walking in love with our fellow man (unforgiveness, strife, arguing, etc.) guess what is going to happen to that prayer? That’s right! Nothing! There are of course, many conditions we must meet. Look for them in the Bible.

However, God is merciful and often bends over backwards to help us. He is going to give the baby Christian some benefit of the doubt, but as we grow more in the Lord he expects us to believe Him despite the circumstances. Our circumstances will often be used by the devil to get us off our faith. “Oh, it’s not working this time; I feel terrible.” God promised to heal us (if we meet the conditions) but he never said when he would do it. Patience!

But eventually we must get into the place where we believe God without wavering. As an example, I know of a preacher in this country who is a humble man willing to share his mistakes with others so we don’t make the same one. A cross eyed boy came to the front for prayer. The preacher laid his hands on him believing by faith the boy’s eyes had already been healed by what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Immediately the boy’s eyes moved to the normal position. The preacher was shocked, and hollered out: “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” After the 3rd time he saw the boy’s eyes move back again into the cross eyed position. Then the preacher realized what he had done and fell to the floor begging God to put the eyes back to normal. But the Lord would not do it. The lesson is: God demands we believe him or we won‘t get an answer.

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4. Where did Cain’s wife come from? We have very limited information on this from the Bible. However, we do know several things. There was only one man Adam, made at the beginning from the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). Thus all human beings came from him and there were not some other type of people on the earth. So Cain’s wife had to come out of the line of Adam.

We also know when Seth was born Adam was 130 years old (Gen. 5:3) and Eve viewed him as a replacement for Abel (Gen. 4:28). So there could have easily been 100 years or more from Cain’s birth to Abel’s death which would have allowed Eve to have many other children. The Bible doesn’t tell us about all the children that Eve bore or could have bore.

Also, note that Cain told God that his punishment was more than he could bare and someone would try to kill him. (Gen. 4:14). Obviously then, there were other children of Adam and Eve on the earth at that time. Cain’s wife had to come from these children.

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5. Who are the sons of God (Job 1:6).

If we look in the book of Luke ch. 3 we see where Luke traces the ancestry of Jesus all the way back to Adam. Notice verse 38, “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” We know Jesus as the Son of God, but from Luke 3:38 we learn Adam also was a son of God. I think the problem is in our understanding of what a son of God actually is, or can be. The difference between Adam’s sonship and that of Jesus was how each one came into being.

Adam came for the dust of the earth and God breathed a spirit of life into him. So Adam was God’s son, but Jesus was God’s only “begotten” Son. Jesus was born of a woman and conceived by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this is can help us to understand there might be different categories of sonship. Angels were created by God and thus it is reasonable he would call them sons, but certainly they would be of a different sonship than was Adam, and was Jesus.

To take this further just think about the born again experience. Now we are new creations in Christ. We used to be sons of God as Adam was, but now something remarkable has taken place. We are in Christ and one with Him and are predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son (Jesus).

6. 1 Sam 31:1-5) and 2Sam. 1:1-10. The first reference says Saul killed himself and the 2nd one say the Amalekite killed Saul. Is there contradiction?

Also, there is another verse on this: 1Chron. 10:4 which also says Saul fell on his own sword and killed himself. You might want to check that out.

When reading scripture it is very important that we recognize who is doing the speaking, and to whom they are speaking, and what is the context or situation in which the events occurs. In this case of 2Sam. We are being told a story here about the Amalekite coming to David telling David he killed Saul. We have to ask: Why would the Amalekite even do that? Obviously, he was looking for a reward thinking David would be pleased because now David could be king because Saul was dead. In short, the Amalekite was lying to David and David saw through it and had the man killed.

There are many places in the Bible where we must keep in mind who is speaking, and to whom are they speaking and the context or situation of the events. The book of Job is another example. Starting with Ch.3 all the way through Ch. 38 we have Job and his friends all telling each other about God and Job’s situation. Finally in Ch. 38 God appears to Job in a whirlwind.

Why do you think he appeared in a whirlwind and not a still small voice?” He was upset with Job and his friends, for God said in verses 2 and 3, “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”

In other words God is saying: You fellows have just been shooting off your mouth for days on end and know nothing. God then proceeds to question Job his knowledge of God and I can just see poor Job slipping deeper and deeper into his chair and covering his face with shame.

Some of the things Job and his friends said were actually true about God, but most of it was just opinions. Yet people who have not learned to keep in mind who is speaking, and to whom are they speaking and the context or situation of the events, will quote these scriptures as authority instead of understand what was really going on. A story was being told and in the end God proved it was mostly just idle talk.

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7. Actually what is the mission of the church Christ established?

I love this question because it is my calling. The words, “The Great Commission” are not actually in the Bible, but people have used this to describe what Jesus said in Mat. 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. A-men” This is the mission of the church and must always come before any other works.

This is further affirmed in Mark. 16:15-20.” And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents,; and if they drink any deadly things, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth , and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”

Simply put, the mission of the Church is to utilize the victory over sin that Christ won on the cross and took back from the devil what Adam lost, and to rescue mankind from going to hell. Our problem is that the devil’s time is not yet finished and we find ourselves in a spiritual war zone. We must fight the good fight of faith but Christ has made many weapons available to us to secure this victory with heaven’s ability to back us up. Praise the Lord!

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8. What did God promise Abraham?

Starting in Gen. 12 God’s makes some specific promises to Abraham. However, what is important to us is the covenant God made with Abraham, the promises of which are passed on to us today through Christ. Gal 3:29 “And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”

In Gen. 17:7 God is telling Abraham He is going to make a covenant with Abraham that will last forever. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” Because we are in Christ we also inherit the blessing of that covenant.

In Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28 are given the terms of the covenant - both the blessings and the cursings. Thus we can see the blessings were based upon obedience. There are some people today who think because we are now under grace the curses no longer apply. That’s just not true. There are still consequences for sin. If you will read these two chapters, you will see clearly the promises God made to Abraham that are ours as well. The curses are still out there and such things as generational curses can affect us. However, because we have a new covenant we are no longer under the curse of the law. That doesn't mean that automatically the curse won't come on us (a generational curse as an example), but it clearly indicates that if we know our rights, who we are in Christ, and are obedient, we have the power through the blood of Jesus and in his name to break the power of that curse. We don't have to be under it if we know and go by the rules.

Now we have a new and better covenant. Hebrews chapter 8 tells a lot about that - particularly verse 6, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”

Some of the better promises would include: the Spirit of God living in us, the authority and power Jesus gave us to have dominion over the devil (if we are obedient), the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit, etc. However, according to Gal 3:29 which we read above, we still can claim the promises of Abraham as well. Praise the Lord!

Despite the fact that we still live in a spiritual war zone and the appointed time for the devil’s incarceration is still ahead of us, Christ has triumphed at the cross over the forces of darkness and given us that same power (Luke 10:19). We can be assured that if we continue in obedience, grow in the Word of God, know the promises and then act on them in faith, we will have victory in this hostile war zone environment. It’s not always easy, but as Paul told Timothy the fight of faith is a good fight.

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9. When will Satanic deception stop?

The key to answering this question is in Rev. 20:1-3, “Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

This is the point where the 1,000 years of peace will come upon the earth and Christ will rule. In Ps. 2:8-9, Rev.12:5, 19:15 it refers to him ruling with an iron rod. We must remember the people who will repopulate the earth are those who will survive the Tribulations period. Although Satan will be in the pit during the 1000 years, these people will all still be born with the sin nature, just like we did, from Adam. They need to be born again, learn to walk in the spirit and not the flesh just like us. That’s why Christ is going to have to rule with an iron rod.

I might add that not everyone agrees with my position on this. Many think it is going to be a time of perfection; but I am wondering what Christ is going to do with that iron rod? After the 1000 years Satan will be loosed again and go out and deceive the nations. He will be defeated permanently and God will make all things new. (Starts with Rev. ch. 20) This will be the actual time when Satanic deception stops, because Satan and his cohorts will be imprisoned and cast into the Lake of Fire forever.

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10. Rev. 7:1-5, 14:1-5 states that 144,000 will have eternal life, is this really true?

Absolutely it is true. But how it is going to happen is difficult to explain because there is not really a lot of information about it.

They certainly will be saved and have eternal life because in Rev. 14:1 it states: “…and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Clearly they belong to God. However, how they are going to have eternal life is not clear. Will they live through the Tribulation and be waiting on the earth for Christ’s return, or will they be raptured (taken up) to heaven, or will they die like us and be resurrected like us?

Most people believe the church will be raptured before the Tribulation starts. Others hold to a “mid-Tribulation” rapture, and others to a “post tribulation” rapture. Assuming the church will be raptured before the Tribulation, Rev. 7:3 suggests the 144,000 will go through at least part of the tribulation because they won‘t be sealed until just before the Tribulation starts and the church will be gone. “saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Then in verse 4 it goes on to tell the number of those sealed, 144,000. We can be reasonably confident the 144,000 will be raptured sometime during the Tribulation because in Rev. 14:2 John sates he heard a voice from “heaven.” So what follows must be taking place in heaven and not on the earth. Then it goes on to say in verse 3 that no one could learn the songs except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. Being redeemed from the earth makes it pretty clear the 144,000 were no longer on the earth but in heaven.

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11. Which is the true Sabbath Day or the day does not matter?

In the Old Testament times the true Sabbath day was Saturday. However, early Christians changed it to Sunday because of Christ’s resurrection on Sunday. Now we are under grace on this side of the cross. Of course, this does not give us a license to sin, but it releases us from the routine requirements of the law. Our command now is to “love one another as I have loved you.”

In the book of Galatians Paul addresses the fact the Galatians were listening to wrong doctrine from those saying they must keep the law, when the command now was simply to love one another. In Gal. 3:10 he says, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Then in verse 13 he says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” So now we are not under the law and are free to worship any day of the week.

James explains even more in James 2:10 “For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” In other words, if we insist on worshiping on Saturday because it is in the Old Testament law, we must keep the whole law as well. No one can do that so we become guilty of all the law. As Christians we must remember we are not our own, but have been bought with a price. We belong to God now and should be celebrating that 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The “official” day of the week to worship God is no longer important.

It is the Seventh Day Adventists that hold to the doctrine of Saturday. I once went to their site and they have 16 doctrinal beliefs. I read through them and couldn’t find anything wrong with their doctrine except the thing about Saturday, which really didn’t seem to be that important. I don’t care what day someone chooses to worship.

But I decided to check further. I found out that despite the 16 doctrinal points, except the Saturday thing, to be on target, they were leaving out a lot of the story. They have a book written by Ellen White who claimed to be a prophetess who started this denomination, and this book is considered by them to be equal to the Bible. John made it clear in the book of Revelation the Bible should not be added to or anything taken away from it. Further more, she made a prophecy as to the day Christ would return when the Bible states no one knows the day or hour. If course, he didn’t come back on the day she said he would return. That clearly labels her as a false prophet and is not hearing from God. She also states in the book that those who don’t worship on Saturday are going to hell. That makes her religion one of works instead of saving by grace and believing in Jesus Christ. Also, like the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses she believes Jesus is an angel. Jesus was not an angel,is not an angel, and never will be an angel. Those reference in the Old Testament to God showing up and then the Bible speaking of him as an angel can easily be explained by the verse in Is. 63:9 where it talks about the “angel of the Lord’s presence.” Evidently there is an angel that can deliver the Lord’s presence where ever the Lord wants. The Seventh Day Adventists have made a modern para phrased translation of the New Testament altering it to fit their doctrine, much like the Jehovah Witnesses have rewritten the Bible to suit their own doctrine. See www.exadventist.com Can you imagine the judgment coming on people who would change God’s word?

Worship any day you want, but don’t make a doctrine out of it. I used to take church services into the jail on Thursday night for several years until my work schedule changed.

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12. Is a bound servant of the Lord allowed to be a polygamist? If not what about Abraham, Jacob and King David?

This is one of those questions where I have never been able to find in the Bible a specific answer to it. Certainly there are lots of opinions on the subject, but no definitive evidence. However, we do know the theme of “one flesh” runs throughout the Bible starting with Gen. 2:24. Despite that, God allowed polygamy in the Old Testament.

Note also, that even though he hated it, he also allowed divorce in the Old Testament as well. Finally in the New Testament Jesus told us the only reason divorce was acceptable was due to infidelity. (Adultery). However, God still hates it. So God has allowed some things that he doesn’t like, during certain periods of time, probably because he had to move slowly to fulfill his plan to get man back to him. (That is pure speculation on my part).

My personal opinion (and that’s all it is) is that since the fall of man, God’s desire has been not only to reconcile man to him, but to perfect the holiness in man that was there before the fall. In doing these things God had to go in stages (dispensations) to accomplish this. Since he had given man freedom of choice, God couldn’t just wave his hand and make it all right. Man’s willingness is involved. The law was eventually given to show man his deplorable sinful state, and the prophets were given to show man God’s plan for salvation.

As time moved into the New Testament period, God expects more out of us because he has given us more. Now each believer’s spirit man has the nature and likeness of God in it because of being born again of the Spirit. Also, the Holy Spirit in us (if we yield to him and the word of God) is there to help us overcome the sin that so easily besets us. Even this part of the plan isn’t finished. God is still moving us toward holiness. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t sinned at least once since being born again! Still, even though he doesn’t like it, he made a solution for it. See 1John 1:9.

The relationship pattern of one husband married to one wife is a very clear mandate in the New Testament. Obviously pagans who don’t know God will laugh at this, but as born again Christians God is expecting more out of us. All this being said, statistics also point to the one man one woman idea. Right now there is almost an equal percentage of females being born on the earth as there are males. The difference is in only about ½ a percent either way. Maybe God set it up like that because he wanted every one man to be able to have one wife. Selah! (means: think about that).

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13. In Rev. 21:1-8 it indicates that the New Jerusalem descends down to earth from heaven. Where actually will man have eternal life? In New Jerusalem or in heaven?

Even though man allowed sin to enter the world, God’s program has not changed and he has taken measures to deal with the sin problem so as to be able to return to his original intent, which was like things were when Adam and Even were placed in the Garden of Eden.

When we die we go to heaven for to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord. There are scriptures suggesting to the contrary i.e. "the dead in Christ shall rise first" etc. But it is a non productive argument since we don't have any control over it. I lean toward the "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" but it's too complicated to discuss here and also involves opinion.

So I believe it is there in heaven we stay until the thousand year reign takes place and we come back to earth, and then after that the devil is turned loose for a short while and finally cast into the Lake of Fire and a New Heaven and New Earth are created. Once that happens it is clear to me we will be with Christ and will reign forever. It’s interesting to speculate here about Christ. Since he is both God and man we could speculate that as man, Christ will rule on the earth, but as God he will still be in heaven. That’s just something to think about - not a doctrine!!

Also, we know that we eventually are to become like him. After his death, burial, and resurrection the Bible tells us he could appear and disappear quickly, and he could even enter rooms when the doors were locked. If we are going to be like him, then we would have the ability to go back and forth from the earth to heaven.

Before the fall of man, Adam was supposed to subdue the earth and make it like the model God gave: the Garden of Eden - a heavenly place. So it probably won’t matter if we will live on earth or in heaven. Here is another thing to consider - and this will stretch your imagination. When God created the heavens and the earth “…and all the hosts of them were finished” Gen:2:1. Then speaking of man, in Psalms 8:6 it says, “You have made him (man) to have dominion over the works of Your hands: You have put all things under his feet.” That’s awesome. Does that mean we not only will rule and reign with Christ here on the earth, but over all the works of God’s hands? That’s a big universe out there! Are you up to the challenge!? That's not doctrine - just a thought!

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14. Did God foresee that Adam and Eve would sin against him?

According to Is 46:10, yes. “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.” In other words, He knows the end to the beginning and the beginning to the end. After all, He was the one who invented time and placed us in it. The big question now is: Why did he let it go on and not stop it right then? My guess is that he is very serious about what he says because he cannot lie. When he gave man authority over the earth it was a promise and needed to be kept.

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15. In Exodus 7:8-23 and Numbers 21:4-10 God commanded Moses to erect a sign of a serpent among His people that whoever raises his/her eyes up to look at the symbol of snake was to be spared, but Genesis 3:13-15 God sowed a seed of enmity between man and the serpent. Actually does God contradict Himself?

No, he is not contradicting Himself. The Old Testament is full of what we call “types” and “shadows” pointing to what is to come. For example, Moses was a type of savior leading the people out of bondage. This points to Christ our Savior.

The serpent is a symbol (type) for sin. Christ on the cross was made sin for us that we might be freed from sin. (2 Corn. 5:2). The serpent being lifted up on the poll was pointing to Christ being lifted up on the cross and bearing our sin. The sick in Israel received their healing by looking on the brazen serpent, we receive or healing by looking to Christ who took our sins upon him and died on the cross to pay for our sins. Look for these types and shadows as you read the OT.

Note some other parallels: At that time repenting of their sin and the serpent on the pole was the only remedy God made available at that time. Today there is only one remedy for sin, repentance and receiving Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Israelites had to use faith to receive their healing. We have to come to Christ in faith to receive salvation (in Greek is Sozo which means: salvation, healing, deliverance, made whole, and preserved). In other words, Christ got back all Adam lost and gave us even more through the New Covenant.

God’s invisible force was in effect both times.

The serpent on the pole brought peace and reconciliation with God, just as Christ on the cross has done.

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16. What clearly distinguishes people who are a part of God’s church?

People within the body of Christ will act differently depending on how far they have made the journey in growing in Christ. We have Christians in this country who have been saved 30 and 40 years and have grown very little. They are still bound in some areas of the flesh. They simply have not grown up.

So to answer your question I would paraphrase it and say what SHOULD be the distinguishing mark of people who are a part of God’s church? What distinguishes them is that they continually (24/7) have their eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Heb. 12:2 (My favorite verse in the Bible). They are becoming Christ-like.

These are people who by getting massive amounts of word into themselves and applying it in their lives, are doing their part to put off the old man and put on the new, as God makes changes in how they think and act. They become avid soul winners.

A perfect example of this is a very dear friend of mine whom Eliâne and I ministered to in the jail. He had already been in the penitentiary 3 times serving several years each time. However, as he got saved and began devouring the Word of God daily, God has made remarkable changes in him. My friend has also done his part by being obedient and applying the word in his life. It has strengthen him to where despite some very difficult circumstances that came his way, he is still strong in the Lord and being blessed by the Lord. He is a new creature in Christ and it shows! His now Christ-like.

Your faithful servant, Brother John

Note: A high word level = victory, a low word level = defeat.