Answers about faith

What does the bible say about being fearful of confrontation?

The Bible describes various confrontations faced by God’s people. When the people of Israel were to invade and take possession of the promised land – when they were to confront their enemies – Moses encouraged them with the following words recorded in Deuteronomy 31:3-6: The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He [...]

Topics: , ,

Why won’t God heal my children when he blesses me financially?

Here is the full question: I am 50 years old being a Christian for 22 years. God has blessed me financially beyond what I expect,. I have 4 children, my second (girl 16+) and third (boy 10+) suffered from “autism”. I am concerned about their future. I believe in miracles. Technically I lost 26+ years [...]

Topics: , , , , , ,

Why was it impossible for Gehazi to heal the Shunammite woman’s son?

This can be answered simply; Gehazi did not have the faith required.  An insight into the character of the man, can be seen in 2 Kings 5:20-27.  Looking deeper there is further meaning. Relevant verses — 2 Kings 4:29-36: He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If [...]

Topics: , , , ,

What happens if Jesus returns before I am baptised but I am on the path to getting baptised?

The simple answer is we don’t know. Consider this verse from Mark 16:16: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” It is clear what will happen to those who believe and are baptised. It is also clear what will happen to those who don’t believe, whether [...]

Topics: , , , ,

How do we know that the prophecies in the Bible are true?

We know some prophecies in the Bible (e.g., the prophecy in Daniel 8 about the Greeks defeating and replacing the Medo-Persian empire) are true because they have been fulfilled (the Greeks did defeat and replace the Medo-Persian empire1) — i.e., what they said would happen has happened. Because these prophecies have been fulfilled, it gives [...]

Topics: ,

Why do people backslide from Christianity?

The reasons will be different for different people, but the sad fact is that some people do make a commitment to God and his son and later renege on it. Jesus spoke of it as “putting their hand to the plow and looking back” (Luke 9:63) and warned that such people were unfit for the [...]

Topics: , ,

What does Rom 4:8 mean when it says blessed is the man whom God will not impute sin?

The word “impute” means “count” or “take account of”. So, “blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (ESV). Paul here is using Old Testament examples to explanation how we can appear before righteous before God. He cites the example of Abraham, who “believed God and it was counted to [...]

Topics: , , , , , , ,

Can a person lose favour with God?

…without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 God is pleased when we trust him and believe what he has said. If we want to be close to God we have to acknowledge [...]

Topics: , ,

Are there examples in the Bible of people who believed but had no faith and people who believed and had faith?

In the Bible, ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ are the same thing (see the answer to ‘What is the difference between faith and belief?‘), so we can’t really say that someone believes but doesn’t have faith because belief is faith. Having said that, the Bible does make a distinction between a living faith and a dead faith: a living [...]

Topics: , ,

How are we sure God exists?

The first thing to say is that the existence of God is different from the existence of, say, trees or chairs. The existence of a tree is usually so obvious that you don’t need to present arguments — almost nobody would dispute the existence of tree that was right in front of them. God is [...]

Topics: , , , , , ,