All right, so I have always considered myself a Christian, but lately, something has bothered me.  In the Old Testament, in order to make up for the things humans did, they would sacrifice things.  Jesus dying on the cross was supposed to be the ultimate sacrifice, right?  So, why would a loving and caring God want/need death or Jesus to die in order to make everything right?  Couldn't He have just forgiven us on His own out of the goodness of His heart?

Sincerely,
Live And Let Live

Dear Live And Let Live,

God sent Jesus to die on the cross, so He could be both a just God and a loving God.  If God had simply forgiven us of our sins without paying for them, He would be a liar because God says that sin is deserving of eternal death (Rom 6:23).  It wouldn’t be right for Him to simply remove our guilt without paying for it.  It would be akin to a judge letting people go free simply because he liked them – a judge like that would be corrupt.

Instead, we see that God is both just and our justifier.  Jesus’ blood pays the price of our sin (1 Jn 1:7).  There are two ways to pay for sin.  We can pay for the sin ourselves by spending eternity in hell, or God’s blood can cover the cost of sin.  The Son of God came down and gave Himself to purchase us (Acts 20:28).  Rom 3:25-26 says that God sent Jesus, so He could show that He was loving and still righteous.

     I have a question.  Are sport bars sinful?  Some people say that they are because there is nothing good in those places.  The lust of the women who work there and that go there, beer, drunkenness, and fights – all of those are wrong.

Sincerely,
A Sporting Chance?

Dear A Sporting Chance,

You’ve answered your own question.  Bars and taverns are not the kind of place a Christian should be.  Our responsibility as Christians is to try and flee immorality (1 Tim 6:11) and flee temptation (2 Tim 2:22).  Alcohol is part of a culture that emphasizes worldliness.  Christians should use wisdom in every situation to discern between habits that are generally beneficial and habits that are generally destructive.  God never specifically condemns all alcohol, but He does condemn ‘strong drink’ (Pr 20:1), drinking parties (1 Pet 4:3), and drunkenness (Rom 13:13).  A sports bar is an establishment designed as one big drinking party.  Avoid bars at all costs.

     Will a Christian man ever get back on the path of life after sleeping with an adulteress woman?

Sincerely,
I Really Messed Up

Dear I Really Messed Up,

Yes, you can be forgiven, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for your actions.  Paul said that he was chief amongst sinners, and yet, Christ forgave him (1 Tim 1:15-16).  Forgiveness is available when we confess our sins to Christ (1 Jn 1:9) and repent of them (Acts 3:19).  ‘Repentance’ means to ‘change your mind’… literally to make a change in how you think and act.  If you haven’t already stopped the adulterous relationship, you need to – now.  You also need to come clean about it; honesty and truth are a foundational concept in Christianity (Jhn 8:32).  Deception destroys; open truth illuminates (Jhn 3:19-20).  You have dug a big hole for yourself… it is time to get to work filling that hole back in.

Of course, all of this is moot if you aren’t a christian yet.  To see what the Bible says it takes to become a christian, read “What Must I Do To Be Saved?”.  It is obvious you want God’s forgiveness, and the Bible is the only book that can tell you how to get it.

     If someone said something bad about the Holy Ghost and did not know about the Holy Ghost and then later came to Jesus and found out about the Holy Ghost, would they be held accountable for an unpardonable sin?

Sincerely,
Wondering About The Ignorant

Dear Wondering About The Ignorant,

Saying something bad about the Holy Spirit isn’t the “sin against the Holy Spirit”.  Jesus says that any sin will be forgiven except for someone blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:28-30).  Jesus said this to the crowd that accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan (Mk 3:23).  That crowd could have been forgiven of any sin, but instead they rejected the miracles that testified that Jesus was from God.  Contrast that crowd’s attitude with Nicodemus’ attitude.  Nicodemus understood that the only way that someone could perform a miracle was if God was with him (Jhn 3:2).  When that crowd rejected the evidence that the Holy Spirit provided (in this case, the miracles), they rejected any chance to receive the forgiveness found in Jesus’ teachings.  When we reject the truth of God (the Bible), we reject the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s primary job is to bring the truth of the gospel to mankind (see the post “What the Holy Spirit Does” for more details).  Someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit by rejecting the truth that the Holy Spirit sent us in the Bible.  Any sin can be forgiven if we will turn to God’s Word and obey it (Rom 10:17, Heb 5:9), but there is absolutely no hope for someone if he or she will not accept the Holy Spirit’s Bible.

Therefore, since it seems that you are actively seeking the truth and trying to study and learn what God’s Word is – you have not committed the unforgivable sin.

     I have been having a never-ending debate with many of my friends about Christians and alcohol.  I personally abstain from all such things, but several of my friends think that is it okay to be drunk on Saturday, in church on Sunday, and believe they are going to heaven.  I also have a friend who believes as long as he is drinking in the privacy of his own home, not bothering anyone and not committing any other sins during this time, that it is okay to get drunk, and it is not a sin.  Please give me Scripture to finally put this to rest.  It's as simple as this.  If it's in the Bible, I believe it, and if it's not, I don't.  To me, there are no gray areas.  You're a Christian, or you're not.  You follow God's will, or you don't.  What do you think?

Sincerely,
Black And White

Dear Black And White,

God never specifically condemns all alcohol, but He does condemn ‘strong drink’ (Pr 20:1), drinking parties (1 Pet 4:3), and drunkenness (Rom 13:13).  Almost all alcohol that is consumed today would fall into the category of ‘strong drink’ because our alcoholic beverages are artificially fermented to increase their alcoholic content (unlike the wine of Jesus’ day – read “That’s Just Grape” for further details on the wine Jesus drank).  We would all do well to heed the words of Pr 23:31-32 and avoid alcohol as much as is possible.  Your friends are skipping some key verses regarding alcohol and they are sinning because of it.  It is NEVER okay to get drunk.