Do you know why the medium freaked out after seeing the ghostly Samuel (1 Sam 28:12)?

Sincerely,
Surprise Me

Dear Surprise Me,

One reason she was so scared was because once she realized that the man who had hired her to conjure up a ghost was King Saul, she feared for her life.  Saul had previously cast out all the mediums from the land (1 Sam 28:3).  The other likely reason was that she had never actually seen a ghost!  Mediums and sorcerors were charlatans back then just as much as they are today.

Is it a sin to marry or have a relationship with your first cousin?

Sincerely,
Taboo?

Dear Taboo,

The Bible never condemns marrying your first cousin.  Even in the Old Testament, the prohibition only extended as far as aunts and uncles (Lev 18:12-14).  It isn’t a sin to marry your first cousin.  In fact, it hasn’t even been culturally taboo for very long.  Even two or three generations ago, it was much more common to marry a first cousin.  Today, it is an odd thing to see a first cousin marriage, but it isn’t wrong.  Cultures change all the time, and this is a cultural issue, not a Biblical one.

     I was told by someone from the church of Christ that I was not saved because I was not baptized in the church of Christ.  When I was baptized, I was doing it for Jesus and then for the body to show my faith.  Am I not saved?

Sincerely,
Steamed

Dear Steamed,

The word ‘baptism’ simply means ‘immersion’ – it is the reason for your immersion that makes baptism a soul-saving act.  When we understand that baptism saves us from our sins (1 Pet. 3:21) and are baptized by the authority of Christ (Acts 2:38) and believe in His Name (Mk. 16:16), then that baptism saves us.  Many people are baptized without understanding these things… in which case, they just get wet.  Baptism isn’t merely an “outward showing of an inward faith” or “for membership”.  Baptism is what saves us (1 Pet 3:21).  Baptism is the point when someone goes from being lost to being saved because they are buried and resurrected with Christ (Rom 6:4-5).  Baptism is the final requirement to become a christian (Acts 2:37-38, Mk 16:16, Acts 2:41).  There is not a single example of someone becoming a christian without baptism.  You will have to evaluate for yourself whether or not you understood what you were doing when you were baptized (Php 2:12).  Ask yourself the question, “When I was baptized, did I believe baptism was when I became saved, or did I think I was saved before I was baptized?”  If you believed you were saved before you were baptized, then you didn’t do it for the right reasons.

Help me try to harmonize these Scriptures (Matt 27: 3-8 and Acts 1: 18-19) about Judas when one says that he purchased a field, and the other says he left the money.

Sincerely,
Questioning Accounts

Dear Questioning Accounts,

Matt 27:3-8 and Acts 1:18-19 are two sides to the same story.  Matt 27:3-8 says that Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver back at the chief priests and elders.  The chief priests said that they couldn’t put the money back into the temple treasury because it was “blood money” (Matt 27:6), so they instead used the money to purchase the potter’s field (Matt 27:7).  In the Acts account, we see that they purchased the field using Judas’ silver, and they purchased it in Judas’ name (Acts 1:18).  That particular field was purchased because it was the one that Judas had hung himself in.  The field became synonymous with blood money and death because of the grisly details surrounding its purchase and Judas’ demise (Acts 1:19).

     Why do christians celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December, and the Bible does not mention that day?  Why do we have to follow the Catholic church?  It was a day they used to celebrate the sun.

Sincerely,
Un-Sunny Disposition

Dear Un-Sunny Disposition,

Many people believe Christmas to be a spiritual holiday, but the Bible never commands us to celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25^th (the truth is, no one knows when Jesus was born, but it was most likely in the spring or summer because the shepherds were out – Lk 2:15).  Christians are commanded to remember Jesus’ death every first day of the week (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 11:24-25)… we are never commanded to remember His birth on an annual basis.  Christmas is not a biblical holiday.  There is nothing wrong with celebrating it as a family holiday, but it is wrong to teach that there is a biblical foundation to it.

Christmas can be traced back to the Roman pagan holiday of Winter Solstice (also known as ‘Saturnalia’ because it was in worship of the god, Saturn).  As Catholicism tried to integrate itself into a pagan Roman world, Christmas was instituted by Pope Julius I on December 25^th as a way to assimilate the pagans into a Catholic worldview.  In short, Christmas has never been a truly biblical holiday; it is a manmade tradition with no bearings upon your salvation.