christian bethren, i need help with some issues?

Question

dear all, i'm a relatively new Christian, im asking not to poke fun or disprove christianity, but i really have questions to clarify.

therefore, to atheists/agnostics/evolutionists, if you do not know the Bible well, spare me your witty-cheesy answers like "God doesnt exist so your problems are solved" , "dont waste your time on God" , if you do not have anything constructive to say, then dont.

I've been struck with a few christian questions that i do not really understand, would like to know your views.

1) with God all things are possible, why then did God not just remove all sins and let things go on as per normal in the beginning?
2) do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. what would you do if you fell for an unbeliever? bring her to church first then make her your gf? would it be wrong to "yoke" with her first then attempt to convert her?
3) to be persistent with prayers, like the widow, or to pray once and believe its received, how do u draw the line?
thanks!

Answer 1

Congratulations, you have achieved the delusional state. You are still thinking too much though. Empty your mind and don't look back. Questioning anything now that you have found the Lord makes no sense. The Lord knows all answers and if the Lord wants you to know , he will tell you. Just find a bible believing church and do everything they tell you do do and you will be a right proper Christian. Never talk to an unbeliever again or you will be sent to the eternal lake of fire by the loving God and his son, Jesus.

Answer 2

1. I believe God could just wipe sin out. However he gave us free will to chose sin. We chose sin over God. God sent his son that whoever believes in Him can escape the sin that has been woven into the fabric of earth. That's how we can all be sinners but some can still be saved.
2. That is a warning. A warning because to be unequally yoked is to live in pain. Think about it. It can be a burden and hardship to truly believe something and to have the one you are married to or with not agree on it. It really depends on how important your belief is to you. Because in an unequally yoked relationship, some or both involved will have to make compromises about what they believe. IF you are with someone who is not Christian, it is wrong to try and convert them as a trick, without their knowledge that's what you're trying to do. Tell them, you are not happy with their religion and you want them to change and see how it pans out. That is the fair and caring way to do it.
3. I do not think prayer is what people tend to think it is and so I don't know how to answer your question. Ask God. I pray about the same thing if it is heavy on my heart.

Answer 3

Okay, here is what my studies tell me.

1) God created this world with choices. God *could* remove all sin from Earth, but for some reason God has not chosen to do it. Perhaps it's because God already has sinless angels and wanted to create beings that chose God rather than were forced into choosing. If you're specifically curious about the Genesis story of the fall of humanity, remember that the book of Genesis is considered "poetry" and not "history" by most Christian scholars.

2) This is a tough problem. If you love someone who doesn't follow your religion - applies to *any* religion - then the relationship will be more difficult. You can't force someone to believe, but you should certainly discuss your faith. Personally, I would say that you do not have to convert someone to have a romantic relationship with them. I've seen it work. It is more difficult, though, and you should consider that heavily.

3) Pray once for forgiveness (or once for each sin you name). Forgiveness is guaranteed by Christ. You can let go of your fears about forgiveness. Pray many times for *justice* like the widow. You see, God may not choose to grant you justice in this life. God only promises peace and joy, but not necessarily justice. It's part of the choices I talked about in number 1. People have the choice to treat you badly. The widow prayed over and over for justice and eventually got it. God has changed God's mind several times in the bible.


I hope that is a sufficient amount of detail for you today. Talk to your church if you want more details.

Answer 4

Free Will is the most important spiritual concept, and least understood.
Creation is multi-dimensional. And what we call evil is a recycling aspect
of Creation. It can't be solved that simply.
The Word says that a believing wife, will carry an unbelieving husband
into the Kingdom. Again, this cannot be simplified. It depends on whether
the unbelieving partner loves the believer enough to respect his or her
beliefs, and doesn't attempt to get their partner to give up his or her beliefs.
The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. But what are we
praying for? For a sign to win others over to God? Someones health?
Or to get someone to believe everything we want them to believe? There
are NO simple answers.

Answer 5

You have some very good questions. i think that it is a gift from God to have so many questions. Questions lead to enlightenment.

Following are my answers:

1. In order to remove all sins, God would have to take away our free will to commit sin. if He were to remove our free will, we would not be able to love Him. It is important that we CHOOSE to follow Christ.

2. If you fell fro an "unbeliever", i would bring her to church and tell her why your faith is an important part of your life. Explain to her the basis for your belief in God and Jesus Christ. It would definitely be wrong to "yoke" yourself to a person and then attempt to convert her. If a person converts it should be of her own free will, not because of any pressure.

3. You should be persistent in your prayer. I believe that Paul taught us to pray constantly.

Please e-mail me if you have any further questions.

Answer 6

Well for #1 God has allowed sin to try us and see what we will do when faced with temptation. Sin is allowed so we can grow spiritually and become perfect one day like God. Also read this: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research03.html

#2) It's perfectly fine to be with or even marry an unbeliever but Paul in the Bible suggested that you don't. Hopefully you could convert her one day as you pray for her.

Answer 7

Aisha, please tell me how you think you have already recieved salvation - are you dead ? I think you are being misled.
In the beginning, everything was perfect, but man failed, so here we are. Now we have t oprove ourselves worthy to reattain that status.
MANY do this very thing, they settle. People, generally DON'T convert that way, you'll find this out, the older you get. All of the people I know who are unequally yoked either got divorced eventually or lived with doing all of the religious/ spiritual work for the whole faimly- that is a major undertaking !
Pray once- through Jesus'/ Jesus' name (at the end say, in Jesus' name, Amen., for example, since our only salvation is through God's Son, Jesus), but daily, make a relationship with Him, ask Him for help, He wants to be with you. study often- know the bible. Wear the armor of God. Live for God, do His will, not your own. IT is VERY involved.

Answer 8

You want God to cheat. Your son or daughter is caught cheating on the SAT test and they rip it up, invalidate it and refuse to let them take it again in the future. You want them simply to give them a fresh test and let them continue, knowing they cheated once.

You find your wife in bed having sex, at home with another man without a condom. You gonna forgive her and feel no cringe having sex even 10 years down the line.

We have to face reality and it may expalin why God isn't around like God used to be. God may have gone off and did it all over again fresh. A new universe, a new race of people. Maybe this time the news ones listened and didn't eat so God is spending his time there doing whatever it is he wanted to do and we're the mistake in the Laboratory that should have been dumped down the sink, aborted, but instead God let us live to see what we'd make of ourselves on our own.

What, we're a computer disk and God should have just bulk erased us.

Once the mark of the beast is on you, you have the mark. So say Revelations. Jesus erased the FIRST mark, but God says we're libel to get another before the End of Times comes and it will, once again, be through our own free will to follow the wrong people. We get the mark the second time, we lose.

So God did do what you said. That's what Jesus was about. So why is fornication still rampant. Why are humans coming down with Herpes, even married people can get Herpes. Why, because your wife sleeps with another man without protection and then gives it to you!

You're innocent, but you get the mark of the beast as well.

You can have an unbeleiver, just understand if things work as it says in the Bible they may not get the same advantages or opporutnities you get. Then again may you'll rub off on them or maybe they'll lead a good life, better than the one you lead.

The Bible says YOU as a Christian are held to a higher standard and are expected to do more all the time and if you fail God or Jesus YOUR punishment will be greater than someone who has NOT made that commitement.

Thus, if you marry a non-beleiver and you fail to do your best as a Chrisitian they might get into heaven and you might not.

It's all about what you do in this world. Jesus gave you that clean slate and if you dirty it up you have no one to blame but you. The unbelievers slate was dirty to begin with, if they don't make it more dirty or if they clean it up a bit, they might be held in higher esteem by God.

Pray when necessary and for what's important. Thanking God is not necessarily praying, but paying homage, respect. Praying is calling God on a cell phone and he buys his minutes without a contract, so it costs him money to listen to you babble, so you better be babbling about something very important.

Answer 9

1. Original Sin is a term used to describe the effect of Adam's sin on his descendants (Rom. 5:12-23). Specifically, it is our inheritance of a sinful nature from Adam. The sinful nature originated with Adam and is passed down from parent to child. We are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3).

Man is the creation of God. It is man alone who reflects God. The first man, Adam, was made in God's image (Gen. 1:2627), and placed in the Garden of Eden for the purpose of enjoying the fellowship of the Lord and fulfilling the purpose of God's creation. He was told to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:28). When Adam and Eve sinned, all of humanity fell with them (Rom. 5:12-21). Adam represented all humanity: "In Adam all die..." (1 Cor. 15:22). As a result of Adam's disobedience, condemnation resulted to all men (Rom. 5:18). Therefore we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). We do not seek God (Rom. 3:11) nor can we understand the spiritual things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). Since this is the condition of man in his natural state, salvation is then impossible for us to achieve (Matt. 19:26). That is why we need the free gift of salvation (Rom. 6:23) given by God to Christians through faith in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

2. Many have this problem. However, you can sit down and talk with you friend. Look up some of the history and evidence, have proof for your converstations.

3. Prayer is continuous. Prayer is a privilege and an obligation of the Christian where we communicate with God. It is how we convey our confession (1 John 1:9), requests (1 Tim. 2:1-3), intercessions (James 5:15), thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6), etc., to our holy God. We are commanded to pray (1 Thess. 5:17). Some personal requirements of prayer are a pure heart (Psalm 66:18), belief in Christ (John 14:13), and that the prayer be according to God's will (1 John 5:13). We can pray standing (Neh. 9:5), kneeling (Ezra 9:5), sitting (1 Chron. 17:16-27), bowing (Exodus 34:8), and with lifted hands (1 Tim. 2:8).

Did not mean to write a book, hope this helps you.
God Bless

Answer 10

1) God doesn't want to force us to love and serve Him. He wants it to be voluntary, otherwise it would be meaningless. He gave us freedom to serve Him, or to rebel and do our own thing.
2) If you marry a nonbeliever, you will regret it. (I speak from experience.) Just because you have fallen for a girl, that doesn't mean she's right for you. God has someone just for you. Be patient and seek Him first.
3) I think the Bible teaches us to be persistant in our prayers. It may be that you are praying for the wrong thing. We pray not so much to get stuff from God, but to draw closer to Him.