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This question refers to the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. One way to explain why God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s is to note that Abel brought the ‘firstborn of his flock’ (Genesis 4:4), while Cain brought just ‘an offering of the fruit of the ground’ (Genesis 4:3), implying that Abel’s offering was more costly and expressed truer and deeper devotion (Hebrews 11:4). In a sense, it is not the offering per se that is in question. Read Full Answer.

While it seems that we would be a lot better off if God could have stepped in and prevented Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it sets up a relationship dynamic He did not intend to have with us. We are made in God’s image, capable of responsibility and choice, to reflect Him. We were not made to be robots or sustained in an infant state where we do not understand the consequence of our decisions. Read Full Answer.

We learn from Scripture that God is holy, just and loving. The characteristic of holiness is hard to condense into a few words but ultimately it means that God is set apart from us, He is pure and perfect; He is the creator and He has set a standard of behavior we call the moral law. To break the moral law is an affront to God and is in effect saying that we know better. Because God is holy and just He will not stand by as his commands are disobeyed, there has to be a response. We are grateful when we think acts such as murder, torture and cruetly will be met with God’s justice but are less excited when we think of acts a little closer to home such as lying, envy and greed. All sin, however, calls for justice. Read Full Answer.

In John 3, Nicodemus asked Jesus a similar question, “How can a man be born when he is old? (v.4)” Jesus replied, “You must be born again. The Wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (v.7-8). The word for “wind” is the same Greek word for “Spirit”. Read Full Answer.

It would be impossible to call someone who believes in God, and not Jesus Christ, a Christian believer. The Bible says that God has been revealed to us through His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 18), hence any ‘god’ that one believes in that does not urge repentance and faith in Jesus, that does not make Jesus prominent is not the God of the Bible. The first thing to do, is hence to establish that, whoever this ‘god’ the person is believing in, it is not the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, we would want to try and show that it is only possible for us to know God, if He reveals Himself to us. And, the Bible teaches us that He has done so through Jesus Christ alone (John 1:14,18, 14:6).

It is important for us to take into account the purpose, genre and context of the scripture. Ecclesiastes is known to be a part of the ‘wisdom literature’ genre in the Bible, along with Proverbs. A method commonly used in these books is to state apparently contradictory principles (e.g., Prov 26:4-5) and leave it to the listener to work out which principle applies in a given situation. In Ecclesiastes, the writer also shows the complexities of life in a fallen world, which may result in individual exceptions to the conventions of biblical wisdom. Read Full Answer.

The Bible scholar Graeme Goldsworthy has helpfully summarized the kingdom of God as “God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule”; in short, it is the sphere of God’s reign. While the term does not occur in the Old Testament, the idea definitely does. Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God being here (Mark 1:15), and still to come (Matthew 6:10). Jesus’ coming to earth inaugurates the Kingdom of God on earth, but it will be complete at His second coming. Read Full Answer.

The Bible is clear that those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord will be in heaven, regardless of race, language, social upbringing etc. The Jews received the promise of the coming Messiah through their laws, rituals, prophets, judges etc. even before He became a man and walked on earth as Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 11). All of these things pointed to Jesus Read Full Answer.

This is a good question because there are number of scriptures that speak of salvation in different tenses. For example Paul can say “For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8.24) but also “But to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1.18) as well as “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 15.11). The fact that the bible does speak in these three tenses actually gives us a clue as to the very nature of salvation. Salvation is something that has begun and has had a very definite inauguration, but is not something that is finished yet. Read Full Answer.

Baptism is one of the ordinances of the church and a symbol of salvation. The act of baptism, however, does not make one a true believer in Jesus Christ (and therefore it does not make one a Christian).

Baptism is also not a requirement for salvation. For example, Luke 23:43 records that Jesus told the thief on the cross, “today you shall be with me in paradise”. That thief had not been baptised and had only moments earlier confessed that Jesus was the Son of God. From this example we can see that baptism is not a required component of salvation. Read Full Answer.

“I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary

Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried. 

He descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again. Read Full Answer.

Whether you believe that Christ is the only way to heaven or whether you believe that there are many ways, you need to have at least 2 things:
1) an absolute truth
2) faith in that truth Read Full Answer.

The total depravity of man refers to the inability of an unbeliever to please God or come to faith in Christ unless he is first given a new heart. Regeneration is the process where God shows his love for sinners by changing our sinful heart and drawing us to Himself (John 6:44). Read Full Answer.

The bible does not teach that man has complete free will. It does say that man makes choices, and that man is responsible for the choices he makes. It does not however, teach or imply that man’s choice is totally independent of what God has already predestined for him to choose. In this sense, Read Full Answer.

John 3:16-18  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not Read Full Answer.