Questions and Answers
A reader sent us the following message: “[Someone] told me that God loves everyone, no matter what, but I can’t believe that. Now, if God loves everyone, why did He kill everyone in the Flood except for Noah and his family? If God loves everyone, why did He destroy all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven? If God loves everyone, why does He send people to the Lake of Fire (Eternal Death)? If God loves everyone, then all people would have to be written in the book of life, including Satanists [and] witches. That God loves everyone seems to me to be a widespread myth in Christianity. Romans 9:13 says God hated Esau. And Psalm 5:5 says God hates all workers of iniquity.” These are important questions. In this new series, we will discuss those and other questions regarding God’s love, and answer whether God loves every human being and whether the Bible speaks of God’s “unconditional” love. We want to begin with God’s statement that He loved Jacob and hated Esau. We read Paul’s words in Romans 9:9-13: “For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not… With the destruction of the Temple of God in 70 A.D., organized Jewish worship was dramatically altered. Jerusalem had served as the focal point of Jewish life. Along with the obliteration of the Temple and the City of Jerusalem, Jews, themselves, were driven into other regions and nations. Eventually, rabbinical leadership emerged among many religious Jews, and that influence continues even now—both in the State of Israel and among scattered Jewish populations. A rabbi is a teacher of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and rabbis also teach Jewish tradition. Rabbis are not priests unless they come from the Tribe of Levi and only from descendants of Aaron—according to God’s instructions to Moses: “‘Behold, I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; they are a gift to you, given by the LORD, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death’” (Numbers 18:6-7). Not all Levites were priests,… Some can indeed be engaging in the process of “majoring in the minors.” Before we address the practical application of some areas, we need to stress that in God’s eyes, a sin is a sin, whether we consider it as “major” or “minor.” In our Q&A, “Are there sins which are more serious than others? Are all of God’s Laws equal in importance?”, we state the following: “We need to understand that Christ died for our sins, and sin is defined as the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). In that sense, all of God’s spiritual commandments are of equal importance, as Christ died for each and every one of our sins… The wages for each and every sin is the second death (Romans 6:23). At the same time, each sin, which is truly repented of, will be forgiven (1 John 1:7, 9)… “This does not mean that in God’s eyes, some sins are not more serious than others… Certain sins could more easily than others lead to an attitude of defiance of God and perhaps even to a complete rejection of God and His way of life… There are sins–although they will be forgiven upon true repentance–which are… The book of 2 Peter is addressed to Christians who are called out of the world and who understand the promise made to them to become glorified members of God’s Family (compare 2 Peter 1:1-4). Even though this letter was written to the early members of the Church of God, it also directly applies to Christians throughout the ages. Peter writes to encourage the readers to develop their conversion by producing spiritual fruits. He then makes a summary statement, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11). This raises a question that all Christians need to answer for themselves, “How can I make my calling and election sure?” It is a privilege to be called in this age. Even though the plan of God involves bringing many to salvation, there are only a few who are called now. In our booklet, “Are You Predestined to be Saved?” we highlight the fact that only a relatively few number of… The question refers to Proverbs 23:23 which reads: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.” Before we review and answer the question, it is important to clarify our teaching and understanding about faith and works. Over the years, the true Church of God has been falsely accused of teaching that works are necessary for salvation; not, that it is a free gift from God. This is a case of either misunderstanding or deliberately avoiding that which we have made clear over many decades. Let us make this again abundantly clear NOW! The Word of God dogmatically states that salvation cannot be earned through works. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” We read in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The footnote of the New King James Bible states, “free gift.” In Acts 2:38-40, we read: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift… Where did this phrase come from as it cannot be found in the Bible in those words? The catholic.com website gives this answer: “It’s from St. Augustine. His Letter 211 (c. 424) contains the phrase Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum, which translates roughly to ‘With love for mankind and hatred of sins.’ The phrase has become more famous as ‘love the sinner but hate the sin’ or ‘hate the sin and not the sinner’ (the latter form appearing in Mohandas Gandhi’s 1929 autobiography).” There are those who see themselves as Christians but can’t accept the phrase, “Love the sinner but hate the sin.” One such newspaper writer wrote: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus. To look at my gay Christian brother and say ‘God loves the sinner’ is to set myself against Jesus and bring condemnation again to those he’s already redeemed. So I’m done. I’m done with ‘Love the sinner but hate the sin.’ I’m done with speaking as if I’m different, better than you. We are children of the Creator, redeemed by Jesus. We are brothers and sisters. And today, that’s enough.” This is a complete misunderstanding of the phrase. True Christians are not to take… In our Update #756, dated October 7, 2016, the Q&A was entitled, “What Does the Bible Say About the Transgender Debate?” In over 6 years since that Q&A was first published, there has been, inevitably, more “progress” on this distressing situation. We have recently published a 3-part series, entitled “Discrimination is a big issue today. How do you view this?” https://www.eternalgod.org/discrimination-is-a-big-issue-today-how-do-you-view-this-part-1/; https://www.eternalgod.org/discrimination-is-a-big-issue-today-how-do-you-view-this-part-2/ ; and https://www.eternalgod.org/discrimination-is-a-big-issue-today-how-do-you-view-this-part-3/ . We will now review this situation on transgenderism, as it is a constituent part of the overall racial discrimination discussion and package. The Daily Mail published on 23rd January 2023 an article by psychologist Dr Max Blumberg, entitled, “13 reasons why people DON’T want to get married anymore – and why staying single makes you happier.” In this long article, he stated that “2021 was the first year that more children were born out of wedlock than in it: that marriage rates have also been steadily declining since the 1970s and claimed that marriage has little value anymore and often comes with costs.” It is against this relentless backdrop of negativity about that which God ordained (marriage between a man and a woman only) that other forms of relationship seem to blossom. Today, in 2023, it seems that any relationship is acceptable as long as it appears to make people… The reference to the extra mile can be found in Matthew 5:41, which quoted the words of Jesus as follows: “‘And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two…’” In Wikipedia, there are interesting comments about the practice that was extant in the Roman Empire: “The idiom to go the extra mile means to do more than is required. The expression probably comes from the Bible, when Jesus declares, “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two’ (Matthew 5:41 (NASB). The verse is reference to the practice of ‘impressment’ which, among other things, allowed a Roman soldier to conscript a Jewish native to carry his equipment for the Roman mile (million = 1,000 paces, about 1,611 yards or 1,473 meters)—no easy task considering a Roman soldier’s backpack could weigh upwards to 100 pounds (45.4 kg).” We can see from these observations that the instruction at that time could be seen to be extremely onerous, not only regarding the seemingly “unfairness” of such a task, but also what went with it—a very heavy burden to carry for two miles and not just one. With this background and understanding of what Jesus said, we realize that it was… Actually, as we will see, Christ did not use those exact words three times. Why was Christ telling Peter to “feed My sheep”? Each time Jesus said, “Feed My sheep,” or a similar, but not identical expression, it was in response to Peter’s threefold declaration of love for Jesus. Christ used this opportunity to encourage and exhort Peter about his upcoming responsibilities. By asking Peter, “Do you love me?” three times (while using different words for “love”), Christ was showing just how important and necessary Peter’s love and obedience to God was for his future ministry. Jesus begins by questioning Peter about His love for Him, and each time Peter answers in the affirmative. Jesus follows up with the command for Peter to feed or tend His lambs or His sheep. His meaning is that, if Peter truly loves his Master, he is to shepherd and care for those who belong to Christ. When Peter first told Christ that he would follow Him even to death, Christ pronounced that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. It is quite interesting that three times he denies Christ, three times he is asked if he loves Christ, three times he professes… There is an ongoing debate, especially in parts of Europe, regarding the consumption of insects or food which contains ingredients of unclean insects. An article in Report 24 of January 16, 2023, points out: “Looking at the ingredient list should be part of grocery shopping. EU citizens who do not want to ingest insects unknowingly should be particularly careful: the EU Commission has already approved four types of insects in different processing forms as ‘edible insects’. The most recent approval was on January 5: From now on, after mealworms, grasshoppers and crickets, the grain mold beetle (“Getreideschimmelkaefer”) can also be used as an ingredient in foods such as bread, soups, pasta, snacks, peanut butter and chocolate products…” The website of the European Commission, Representation in Germany, provides the following information on the issue of insects in food: https://germany.representation.ec.europa.eu/news/insekten-lebensmittel-die-fakten-2023-01-19_de “Four insects are approved as food in the European Union. The dried yellow mealworm was the first insect to receive approval in May 2021. Most recently, the Commission authorized ‘partially defatted powder from Acheta domesticus (domestic cricket)’ for the EU market by implementing regulation 2023/5. Foods that contain insects must state this clearly and understandably in their list of ingredients. The indication that allergic reactions…Does God Love Everyone? Does the Bible Teach Unconditional Love? (Part 1)
Is it possible to have a High Priest in the State of Israel, today?
Are you concentrating too much on minor and less important areas in your life?
How do I make my calling and election sure?
What does it mean to buy the Truth and not sell it?
Could you please explain the phrase, “Love the sinner, hate the sin”?
What is your position on the continuing debate about gender dysphoria or transgenderism?
Jesus talked about going the extra mile. How does a Christian do this today?
In John 21:15-17, Christ tells Peter three times to “feed My sheep.” Why is this significant and what does it mean for us today?
Can we consume food that contains unclean insects?
