Heaven

31
Mar
2026
Heb 11:5 – No One Has Ascended to Heaven?

Heb 11:5 – No One Has Ascended to Heaven?

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus regarding the need to be “born again” (John 3:1-8), He also sought to impress upon the mind of this ruler of the Jews that His words were from above. Jesus spoke of spiritual things that no man knew (Matthew 13:35; cf. 7:28-29; Luke 2:47). One of the reasons Jesus gave for being able to expound on such spiritual truths is found in John 3:13. Here, the apostle John recorded Jesus as having said to Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). According to the skeptic, this statement by Jesus is severely flawed. Since the Old Testament reveals that Elijah escaped physical death and “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11; cf. Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5), allegedly Jesus could not truthfully tell Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven.” Is the skeptic right?

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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching
05
Feb
2026
2 Thess 1:9 – How Can a Loving God Send Souls to Hell?

2 Thess 1:9 – How Can a Loving God Send Souls to Hell?

Problem: The Bible’s teaching on the reality of eternal punishment for unbelievers has perhaps “made” more atheists than any other teaching of Scripture. After expressing that he did not “believe one can grant either superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels,” popular early-20th-century agnostic Bertrand Russell indicated that he was not concerned about what other people said about Christ, but “with Christ as He appears in the Gospels.”1 How so? In his widely distributed pamphlet “Why I Am Not a Christian,” Russell argued, “There is one very serious defect in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. Christ certainly as depicted in the Gospel did believe in everlasting punishment.”2

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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching
26
Jan
2026
Will Most People Go to Hell?

Will Most People Go to Hell?

You will sometimes hear even quite conservative Christians saying they believe that only a minority of people will end up in hell.

Many seem to assume that the great love of God will find a way for most to gain eternal salvation. They think that the vast majority of people who say they are Christians will be saved. And they think too that large numbers who don’t even profess Christian faith will also finally be saved.

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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching
31
Dec
2025
2 Cor 12:2 – What is the third heaven?

2 Cor 12:2 – What is the third heaven?

Problem: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak” (2 Corinthians 12:2–4).
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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching
20
Dec
2025
1 Cor 15:50 – If flesh and blood cannot enter heaven, then how can there be a physical resurrection?

1 Cor 15:50 – If flesh and blood cannot enter heaven, then how can there be a physical resurrection?

Problem: The Bible speaks of the resurrection of the physical body from the grave (John 5:28–29), which is composed of “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39) and which leaves an empty tomb behind (Matt. 28:6). However, according to this verse, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”

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Posted by petra1000 in Bible Difficulty, Bible Study, Bible Teaching

Spurgeon Devotional: