Did you ever wonder why you don’t rust? Before you laugh, remember—iron is not only a major part of your blood, it is used to attract the oxygen that is carried by your blood to the rest of your body. And you know what happens when oxygen meets the iron in your car or a tool that is left outside overnight—rust! So, why don’t we rust?
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Problem: Three times in the book of Acts,the Bible student is informed that after Saul’s conversion to Christ in Damascus, he departed for Jerusalem. According to Acts chapter 9, Saul (also called Paul) “increased all the more in strength” following his baptism into Christ, and “confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus” (vs. 22). Then, when “many days were past…the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket” for fear of the Jews (vss. 23,25). Immediately following these verses, the text reads: “And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple” (vs. 26, emp. added). Add to these verses Paul’s respective statements to the Jerusalem mob (Acts 22:17) and to King Agrippa (Acts 26:20) regarding his journey from Damascus to Jerusalem, and Bible students get the impression that shortly after Paul‘s conversion in Damascus, he journeyed to Jerusalem. The problem with this reasoning is that Paul later wrote to the churches of Galatia, and indicated that he “did not immediately…go up to Jerusalem” following his calling to Christ (Galatians 1:16). Rather, he went to Arabia, back to Damascus, and then after three years he went up to Jerusalem (1:17-18). [NOTE: “Arabia” generally is taken as a reference to the vast peninsula which bears that name. Its northwestern boundaries reached almost to Damascus—Pfeiffer, 1979, p. 203.] Concerned Bible students want to know how these passages are harmonized? Did Paul go straight to Jerusalem shortly after his conversion, or three years later?
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1. We must not trust self. “That we should not trust in ourselves but in God” (2 Cor 1:9)
“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” (Jer 17:5-7). Self will always disappoints you and lets you down. We are not sufficient of ourselves (2 Cor 3:).
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Problem: God told Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and ordained you a prophet to the nations.” But if God knew Jeremiah before he was formed in the womb, then He must have preexisted as a soul before he was incarnated into a body, which is what reincarnation teaches.
There are some wonderful designs that help make the giraffe possible. The giraffe has a strong heart to pump blood all the way up to its head and strong arteries to withstand the high blood pressure needed to carry the blood to its head. We have also talked about the giraffe’s so-called “wonder net,” which is a network of blood vessels that helps to stabilize the blood pressure in the giraffe’s head even when it raises and lowers its head.
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Problem: Paul commands Christians to greet each other with a holy kiss? Is this morally binding for today?
Paul is very clear concerning this question. He breaks humanity into only Two Groups and demonstrates that only one of these two groups will be in the beginning Tribulation part of the final or 12th Day of the Lord. (The beginning ?Wrath or Tribulation Part? of the 12th Day of the Lord, the Tribulation Period and Daniel?s 70th Week are three different names for the same event.)
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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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Love is a boundless word woven into the tapestry of humanity, a subjective word that can transcend beyond borders, so unique that it can create intense emotion that’s both humane and spiritual.
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Problem: Genesis 3 states that Eve ate the fruit first, but Romans 5 states that Adam caused sin to enter the world.
The Genesis account of the Fall indicates that Eve ate the fruit first. This has led many people throughout history and even in our modern times to believe that she was the person responsible for original sin. You have likely heard the old canard, “We wouldn’t be in this mess [meaning the general sinfulness of our fallen world] if it weren’t for a woman.” But is that an accurate statement? Is Eve to blame for original sin?
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Many people mistakenly believe that dinosaurs prove evolution. After all, dinosaurs are strange creatures and seem to represent a very different world from the one we know today. But a discovery of one of the most ancient dinosaurs challenges this.
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Problem: Evangelical scholarship is divided as to whether there was a lost letter (often called the “sorrowful letter”) in between 1 and 2 Corinthians. Paul writes, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears” (2 Cor. 2:4), and later he writes, “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow” (2 Cor. 7:8). When Paul refers to an earlier letter, is he referring to a lost letter, or is he referring to 1 Corinthians?
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1 John 4:8 & 16 KJV, “… God is love …”. To be like God we must study God.
To study God we must learn how to love by reading and reflecting on 1 John
and 1 Corinthians 13.
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Problem: As ambassadors of Christ we are to go to all men with the word of reconciliation. How can we tell lost men and women to be reconciled to God if no such reconciliation has been provided? But if God has indeed reconciled the world unto Himself, then we can go to the world with a message of reconciliation. Christ’s act of suffering provides a righteous basis for God to welcome the rebel’s return. For those who are enemies of God and for all those who are enemies of God, we have a message of good news! We have a word of reconciliation! We have a message of hope because “He died for all” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). God is the Reconciler of all men (verse 19, “the world”), especially of them that believe (verse 20 where reconciliation is limited to those who respond in faith). Compare 1 Timothy 4:10.
Life is not balanced, can’t be balanced, and would not be balanced, just like our human fingers are not of equal length. Life is going to deal with all of us one way or the other; we are going to experience the different shades of it—the joy, the sorrow, the happiness, the sadness, the betrayal, the solidarity, the sobriety, the ups, the downs, the lefts, the rights, and so on. Now, the question is, can your faith sing out loud in the days of sorrow? When life throws every bad thing it can at you, can you stand firm and say your hope is built on Christ, the solid foundation?
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