Last of the Augusta Christian questions….
11. Is baptism important to have Jesus Christ in our hearts?
Baptism is not an act of receiving salvation, but it is THE obedient act that occurs to show we have received it. It is important to be obedient to Jesus and quickly so. According to the Scriptures, everyone who received Christ then followed by baptism (Acts 8:35-39 is a great example of this). I mean, Jesus was baptized. You should be too…the Bible says so. That is the bottom line – the Bible says to do it, so we DO IT!
12. Why did God create Adam and Eve if He knew they were going to sin?
Genesis 3:15. Ultimately, He did it for His glory. What we need to understand is that justice would have been served if Adam and Eve were destroyed upon their rebellion. BUT, Genesis 3:15 shows us the first prophecy of the cross – God’s plan, His LOVE. God is GLORIFIED in the Gospel (in His redemption of us through Jesus), because the character of God is personified best in Jesus and in His finished work on the cross/resurrection. We see who God is best in the Gospel. All of the characteristics of God are involved (His holiness, faithfulness, wrath, justice, love, kindness, grace, mercy, goodness, etc.). Because in the END, and throughout, God gets SO MUCH glory through saving us from sin. The Gospel is God’s glory and love on display for all the universe to see. What GREAT LOVE…! 1 John 3:1.
Remember, God has always wanted us to live in freedom and share in His love forever. We are secured in this freedom and fellowship with God for eternity because of GOD’s act of glory and grace in the work of Jesus. He gets the glory! 1 Corinthians 1. Galatians 5:1. John 3:16.
13. Does every sin equal the same punishment in God’s eyes?
Romans 3:21-26. Sin is missing the mark, and all sin is rooted in idolatry (by way of the Ten Commandments, you do not break any of them without breaking the first one). Everything done against God is sin and is the same, and it is all because of WHO you are offending, not what you have done. God is HOLY. Our sin, every sin, one sin, deserves full wrath from a holy and just God…praise God for Jesus!
14. How are we sure that we are fully saved, and how am I sure I am going to heaven?
John 10:27-30. You have the promises of God to assure you. You have the Holy Spirit (who convicts you of sin, etc.). You have a heart-change, where the bottom of your joy is no longer to make much of yourself, but to make much of Jesus. Your desires change. You want to please God and glorify HIM rather than yourself. Jesus Christ becomes more than just a name or a “ticket out of hell,” but the TREASURE of our lives! The Word of God becomes alive to you, and you love it. Your whole identity changes! 2 Corinthians 5:17. These are some signs. They are all evidences of salvation.
When you are saved, and God makes you His own; NOTHING can change that…and you know it inside. 1 John 5:12-13. Your life WILL be the evidence of your salvation. So, living like “hell” does not give evidence that you have “lost” your salvation, but maybe that you do not have it. 1 John 2:15-17. God does not lose those who are His. Hebrews 13:8. Salvation never depended on what YOU have done, so why could you ever lose it? You can’t! When you are His, you are His!
15. If we do the same sin over and over, does God still forgive us?
- If we are God’s children, an unlimited amount of grace is ours in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1-2. We are not under law (which kills), but grace in the Spirit (which gives life, 2 Corinthians 3:4-6). Our standing with God is sure (see above question and question 2). The answer here is to examine our hearts to see if there is an evidence of WAR against sin in our lives (like the answer to question 2). The Bible clearly says that we will struggle with sin in this body until we are with the Lord and perfected. Romans 6-7. Grace gives no one a license to sin. We are to be “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11) But His forgiveness is there and is ALWAYS there…if we confess and as we repent (remember the answer to question 2 again). 1 John 1:8-2:6.
