While having a discussion, someone said that if you ask for forgiveness for your sins and transgressions, God will only forgive you one time.  My belief is that even if you live your whole life sinning – and at the end, if you ask and believe, God will forgive you, and you will go to heaven.  Who's right?

Sincerely,
Limitless Forgiveness

Dear Limitless Forgiveness,

God will forgive you more than one time.  John says that as we walk in the light, we have fellowship with Jesus, and He cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7).  The apostle John also said that if we confess our sins, we will be forgiven (1 Jn 1:9).  The number of times a christian will do that in their lifetime is without number.  Of course, these verses apply to those who already have become christians.  If you have not yet become a christian, there is more to it than simply confessing your sins.

In the book of Acts, we see what it takes to become a christian.  When Peter was asked by the Jews what they needed to do to be saved (Acts 2:37), Peter told them they needed to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38).  Everyone who wants to become a christian must be baptized to be saved (Mk 16:16, 1 Pet 3:21).  After repenting of your sins (‘repent’ means ‘change your mind’), the lost person is fully immersed in water and buried with Christ through baptism (Rom 6:4).  Once someone is baptized for forgiveness of their sins, they are a christian.  Then the continual cleansing described in First John would apply.

Please explain how there are different races in the world when we are all supposed to be born from Adam and Eve?

Sincerely,
Ethnic Diversity

Dear Ethnic Diversity,

We all came from Adam and Eve (Gen 3:20).  Eventually, mankind was scattered across the whole earth after the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:9).  Different races were created as these scattered groups became more isolated.  This is very similar to how you see parents and children looking alike – they share noticeable physical traits because they are closely related.  The groups that were scattered from the Tower of Babel were isolated by their language differences, and therefore only married amongst their specific language group.  This isolated intermarrying created distinct physical characteristics that differentiated one group from another (i.e. skin color, eye shape, face shape, hair color).  The different races of the world are nothing more than large family groups created after the Tower of Babel.

Is it wrong to celebrate Halloween?  By celebrating, I mean taking our children trick-or-treating or handing out candy, not worshipping the holiday.

Sincerely,
Sweet Tooth

Dear Sweet Tooth,

Good and faithful people debate this issue all the time, but, yes, you can celebrate Halloween without sinning.  Halloween does have its roots in pagan rituals.  All Hallow’s Eve is often associated with evil spirits, demon worship, voodoo, and witchcraft.  It is, however, also associated with happy scampering children whose most wicked intent is the desire to glut themselves on candy. New Year’s Eve could be viewed the same way.  New Year’s Eve is often associated with inappropriate male and female interaction and drunkenness.  It is also associated with fresh starts, reflective new beginnings, and an evening of friendship and brotherly kindness.  These holidays can be a good thing or a bad thing.  How you participate and your reasons for participating will make the difference.

1. God soundly condemns witchcraft and any magical arts (1 Sam 15:23, Acts 19:19).  Anyone participating in Halloween in an occult way is sinning.
2. Christians are supposed to focus on pure and holy things (Php 4:8).  Many of the costumes that are worn during Halloween are macabre, violent, or ghoulish.  Christians should think very carefully before placing too much emphasis upon dark things.
3. Christians should dress modestly (1 Tim 2:9).  Many costumes, especially those worn by adults, are immodest.  A holiday is not an excuse for dressing in an ungodly way.
4. Don’t participate if it will bother your conscience.  God tells us that we should always keep a pure conscience (1 Tim 1:5).  If you can’t do something in faith, it is sin (Rom 14:23).

After considering these principles – go get some candy corn!

I am reading about John the Baptist in Luke 1:15.  In this verse, it explains that the angel of the Lord tells Zacharias that his son, John, will be "filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb."

This made me wonder if during this time in history, both Jesus (God's Son) and the Holy Spirit were present upon the earth at the same time, leaving the Lord Father in Heaven alone, or does the idea of "omnipresent" fit in here?

Pardon me if this seems silly to ask, but when reading the Bible, I was lead to believe that in the beginning, God the Father walked upon the earth with Adam and Eve and spoke directly to them, but then, after mankind became so corrupt, He stepped away, and His Son, Jesus, came and walked among men.  Finally, now that we are under the New Testament, the perfect has come, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, which is our comfort in today's world.  So would it be correct to assume that the Scriptures show exceptions, such as in this case?  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Looking For God

Dear Looking For God,

Yes, the idea of omnipresent is probably the answer in this case.  There is no doubt that The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct entities.  A great example of Their distinctness is seen at Jesus’ baptism.  The Father spoke from heaven, the Son came out of the water, and the Holy Spirit descended as a dove (Lk 3:21-22).  However, it is only the Son who took on permanent, finite, human form (Php 2:5-8).  The Father and the Holy Spirit are still completely omnipresent and omnipotent.

In fact, the Holy Spirit’s omnipresent ability is how He could fill John the Baptist with the Holy Spirit while also filling Jesus simultaneously.  He eventually also filled the apostles and many of the first century christians.  The Scriptures do say that the Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus’ ascension (Jhn 16:7).  However, we also know that even though the Holy Spirit is here, He is also in heaven making intercession for us as we pray (Rom 8:26-27).

Everything you said about the Father walking with Adam and Eve, Jesus walking among mankind, and the Holy Spirit being our Comforter is true, but that doesn’t mean that the other two Deity were excluded during those times.  The details of what God can do and where He goes are simply beyond us.  How God can be in all places at all times is a concept that is too much for us to comprehend.

In Revelations 20:6 it talks about a first resurrection.  My question is: who is going to take part in the first resurrection, and has this taken place yet?  Also, is there a time period between the two?

Sincerely,
Reveling in Revelation

Dear Reveling in Revelation,

It is very difficult to give a comprehensive answer to your question in such a brief forum as AskYourPreacher.  To truly understand the depths of what is being discussed in Revelation chapter 20, you would need to have a full study of the book.

With that said, the first resurrection is not a bodily resurrection; it is a resurrection of victory over persecution.  The first resurrection happened at the same time as the thousand years of peace began (Rev 20:5).  The thousand-year-reign (which is not a literal thousand years) began when Christianity defeated Rome and was saved from Roman oppression.  During that reign of peace, the devil no longer has the authority to persecute christians to death like he did in the days of Rome (Rev 20:2).  After the time period of peace, the devil will once again be loosed for a short time to do much harm and severely persecute christians by deceiving the nations (Rev 20:7-8).  Most theologians do not believe that time of severe persecution has begun yet.