2005-09-23 - True or False?

Originally Published 1999-09-17

Any of you who are students like myself, will know that sometimes true-false tests, while on the surface simple, can in actuality be deceptive. One can miss a question or even fail a test, because of not reading carefully. Sometimes we Christians -- particularly those of us who are Americans -- don't read the Bible carefully, and we have some erroneous ideas.

True or False? God loves everyone, so all people will be saved. A loving God would never send anyone to Hell.

Answer: God does love everyone, so much that He provided a means of salvation for us (John 3:16) But the word of God is clear: If we do not accept Christ as our Savior, we will spend our eternity apart from God, and by our choice, we send ourselves to Hell. There is no other way to the Father, as Christ Himself said. And make no mistake, the consequences of rejecting Christ, is an eternity spent in Hell.

Mat 13:41-42 (NNAS) The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

True or False? God is a god of love, and he will never condemn us or judge us.

Answer: God is a god of love. In fact God is Love.

1 John 4:8 (NNAS) The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

However, God is also Holy, and He cannot let sin go unaccounted for. In fact, the same Son who died for our sins, will judge us of those sins, if we do not accept the salvation He offers us through His blood.

2 Tim 4:1 (NNAS) I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom.

True or False? Christian belief is a private matter, to be kept between us and God. We should "live and let live."

Answer: We should not be judgmental (Luke 6:36-37), but we are to gently confront fellow Christians when it is needed. To not do so, is to be remiss.

Mat 18:15 (NNAS) If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

And we are to share what God has done for us:

Luke 8:38 (NNAS) But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

True or False? Doctrine does not matter.

Answer: True there are (as a Christian seminary professor has said), "nickel issues" and "hundred-dollar issues." Some are not worth risking the peace of the body of Christ; we should pick our battles carefully. However, doctrine is in fact, vital.

Gal 1:8 (NNAS) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

I hope this has helped to clear up some fallacies about our faith and God. But don't take my word for it. Read the Bible yourself, every day!

Acts 17:11 (NNAS) "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."

Jan

jan@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org