Hi.  I recently renewed my faith in God, but I have a question about something I am struggling with.  I don't quite understand why Jesus was necessary… or rather, why God deemed it necessary to have Jesus die to save everyone.  Couldn't God have saved lost souls without sacrificing Jesus?  I understand that Jesus came to save souls and that as a christian, you have to believe in Him to be saved.  I guess I just don't understand why it isn't enough to love God.

Sincerely,
Perplexed

Dear Perplexed,

God sent Jesus to die on the cross, so He could be both a just God and a loving God.  If God had simply forgiven us of our sins without paying for them, He would be a liar because God says that sin is deserving of eternal death (Rom 6:23).  It wouldn’t be right for Him to simply remove our guilt without paying for it.  It would be akin to a judge letting people go free simply because he liked them – a judge like that would be corrupt.

Instead, we see that God is both just and our justifier.  Jesus’ blood pays the price of our sin (1 Jn 1:7).  There are two ways to pay for sin.  We can pay for the sin ourselves by spending eternity in hell, or God’s blood can cover the cost of sin.  The Son of God came down and gave Himself to purchase us (Acts 20:28).  Rom 3:25-26 says that God sent Jesus, so He could show that He was loving and still righteous.

      In the Old Testament, it talks about unintentional sin.  Is there also unintentional (accidental) sin in the New Testament, like Paul before his conversion?  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Sinful By Mistake

Dear Sinful By Mistake,

Unintentional sins are committed every single day.  Paul said that all of his sins had been committed out of ignorance and in a clear conscience (1 Tim 1:13, Acts 23:1).  Paul also pointed out that he still needed mercy for his unintentional sins.  Ignorance is an explanation for our sins, but it doesn’t excuse our guilt.  God is patient with us, but eventually, we are responsible for seeking to remove our ignorance by finding the truth of God’s Word (Acts 17:30).  It is understandable when people sin because they don’t know any better, and that understanding engenders God’s compassion (as it should ours), and that is exactly why God’s love sent His Son, so we might have a way of escape from our unintentional rebellion (Jhn 3:16).

     What is the gift of the Holy Spirit that christians are promised by Peter in Acts 2?  I don't think it's God's Word since faith comes by hearing, and you must hear the Word of God before you can believe and become a christian.  Also, not all christians at that time or today had/have access to the inspired Scriptures.  I followed Peter's instructions, but I don't have any "spiritual" gift.  I get very confused when it comes to the Holy Spirit's role after the perfect has come.

Sincerely,
Gifted

Dear Gifted,

The gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation. In Acts 2:38, Peter offers the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who are baptized. The problem is that in this verse, Peter doesn’t specify whether the gift is from the Holy Spirit or the gift is the Holy Spirit. We need to compare Peter’s sermon in Acts to other verses. What do other verses say you receive when you are baptized?

1. Mk 16:16 says you will receive salvation.
2. Acts 8:16 shows that several people had been baptized but hadn’t received the Holy Spirit – which means that the Holy Spirit can’t be what the gift is.
3. Acts 10:47 shows several people receiving the Holy Spirit before baptism, also proving that the gift of baptism isn’t the actual Holy Spirit.
4. Rom 6:4 says you are given a new life through baptism.
5. 1 Cor 12:13 says that you become part of the church when you are baptized.
6. Col 2:12 says you are raised with Christ in baptism.
7. Gal 3:27 says you put on Christ when you are baptized.
8. 1 Pet 3:21 says baptism saves you.

The truth can always be found in the sum of God’s Word (Ps 119:160). Baptism washes away your sins, and you receive the gift of salvation. The gift of salvation is a heavenly gift offered to us by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God (Heb 6:4, 1 Cor 2:11-13).

     I understand that all spiritual gifts are no longer needed and have ceased; I understand why.  But a question came up with a Pentecostal friend that I need a little help with.  What is the scripture that explains to us that God chooses to no longer speak to people directly?  And what would be a good way to explain why He does not speak to people outside the Bible?

Sincerely,
Trying To Help

Dear Trying To Help,

There are several places that you can go to explain this concept to your Pentecostal friend.  Here are a few verses to show them:

1. We are told that the Bible contains everything we need to know concerning life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3).  If the Bible tells us everything we need to know, we don’t need anything else.
2. The Bible tells us that we shouldn’t add or subtract from God’s Word (Rev 22:18-19).  A vision or prophecy given to an individual would do exactly that.  If a “vision” says more than the Bible, we don’t need it, and if it says the same thing as the Bible, we don’t need it.
3. Heb 1:1-2 says that God used to speak to mankind through many diverse methods, but today He has spoken to us through His Son.  Jesus’ Word is now our only guide.
4. Jude 1:3 says that we have the Word of God handed down “once and for all”.  God has finished providing revelation to us.
5. The silver bullet verses are 1 Cor 13:8-9, but it is a little lengthier discussion to handle all of the arguments in that verse.  We recommend you read “Incomplete Understanding” for a complete breakdown of the 1 Cor 13:8-9 argument.

The long and the short of it is that prophecy was needed until the Bible was complete, but now that we have everything God wanted us to know, prophecy has ceased.

     Hello, I have a question about sacrifice.  I have read where the Israelites had to make sacrifices on certain days to atone for their sins.  I am also aware that the sacrifice of Jesus has made this unnecessary.  But I do not understand how taking the best portion of your livelihood and burning it would atone for your sins.  I also do not understand how Jesus' sacrifice atoned for all the sins of the world.

How does destroying the most precious things equal forgiveness from God?  How does Jesus’ perfect sacrifice save us?  What do these acts actually DO?

Sincerely,
Sacrificially Stymied

Dear Sacrificially Stymied,

The Jewish sacrifices of bulls and goats never did atone for sins (Heb 10:4); all they did was teach that forgiveness from sin came with a cost.  God teaches us that when we sin, the wages of that sin are death (Rom 6:23).  The Jews learned that lesson by making sin offerings.  When the sinner laid their hand upon the head of the innocent animal, they symbolically transferred their sin to that beast (Lev 4:27-29).  However, animal blood never was enough to truly pay for sin.  It took the God’s Son’s blood to pay the price for our sin; only Deity’s blood was enough to cover the tremendous cost of sin (Heb 10:10).

Jesus had to sacrifice Himself to pay for our sins because God is both a merciful and a just God.  By personally paying the price for our sins, God showed Himself to be both just and the justifier of the faithful (Rom 3:25-26).  Like a father paying the price for his son’s mistakes, Jesus paid the price for our mistakes.