I have heard about people making money by God's methods for finances.  My question is: how does the Bible tell you to make money?

Sincerely,
Entrepreneur

Dear Entrepreneur,

If we read the Bible for the purpose of financial gain, we will have missed the point.  The first key to biblical finances is to be content with what you have (1 Tim. 6:5-8).  God says a lot about money, but the majority of it deals with how to faithfully use what you have.  God doesn’t want us to get wrapped up in money worries (Php 4:6) or in money passions (Heb 13:5).  To cover every verse on finances is far too large a topic for the scope of this forum, but all of them point to the fact that all our money is a gift from God and that we should be good stewards of whatever amount we have.

Last week in Sunday school, we were discussing how it seemed like the nature of God in the Old Testament seemed different than the nature of God in the New Testament.  (The New Testament nature of God seemed more forgiving and less wrathful).  My pastor mentioned there was a second century heretical movement called “Marcionism” that actually taught there was a difference.  Supposedly, this man named Marcion actually broke away from the church and began his own movement.  My pastor said the early church fought against this early heresy, and it eventually died out.  I’m not good with history, so I didn’t want to ask my pastor to explain this further in front of the Sunday school class.  Could you explain this a bit further?  How were these early christians able to keep the true biblical teachings on track and avoid these early heresies?

Sincerely,
Mad At Marcion

Dear Mad At Marcion,

Marcionism was a real movement, and it was combated by the early christians the same way all false teaching is – by comparing the teaching to the Bible.  The Bible teaches that God is the same today, forever, and always (Heb 13:8).  It teaches that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who were all Old Testament people) is the same God of the New Testament (Acts 3:13).  New Testament christians compared the Scriptures to what Marcion was teaching… and found Marcion to be wrong.

We are told to do the same thing today.  There are lots of people who say they believe in Christ but teach a different gospel (Matt 7:21-23).  Paul said that such false teachers distort the Scriptures and are bound for hell (Gal 1:8).  Our job is to test all preaching against the Bible (1 Jn 4:1).  There are lots of churches, but only one Bible.  God never intended for all the religious confusion we see today (Eph 4:4-6).  If we want to be confident of our salvation, it is important that we never accept what people say unless it matches the Bible.  The Bible is the ultimate standard of faith (Rom 10:17); accept no substitute.

In a previous post, you stated that we should interpret the Bible literally.   Even though it goes against modern science, you stated that God created the world in six literal days.  There was no reason to think the author of Genesis was not being literal when referring to the amount of time it took God to create the world.  My question is simple.  As a christian, how do I obey Christ in His command found in John 6:54?  John 6:54 says, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  How do I know when the Scriptures are being literal and when they are not being literal?

Sincerely,
Flummoxed

Dear Flummoxed,

Actually, in that post we said, “The Bible does say that the world was created in six literal days, and the internal context of the Book (emphasis added) doesn’t give us any reason to read those days as figurative.”  Not everything in the Bible is literal, but just like in normal life and conversation – we assume it is literal unless the context tells us otherwise.  The verse you mentioned, Jhn 6:54, is a perfect example of this because in the context, Jesus makes it clear that it is His words that they must ingest… not His physical body (Jhn 6:63).  Jesus obviously isn’t condoning cannibalism.  As in all literature and human interaction, context defines whether something is literal, metaphorical, etc.  When Jesus says He is the door (Jhn 10:9), context makes it clear that He is a figurative door to salvation… not a literal door with hinges.  When David said he “makes his bed to swim” with tears (Ps 6:6), we all understand him to be speaking figuratively about his sorrow… he isn’t addressing a supernatural event that allowed him to fill a room with tears while avoiding dehydration!  Context always rules the day.  Assume literal unless the context tells you otherwise.

I was talking to a Jehovah’s Witness about the eating blood policy.  I told him about the Old Testament laws being replaced by the New Testament laws, but he said that since Acts 15:29, the passage that say to abstain from blood is in the New Testament, we as christians should avoid eating anything that has blood because eating blood is a sin and, therefore, make sure the meat has no blood.  He tripped me up with that, so I didn't know what to say.  Is this true what he said about modern day christians should obey Acts 15:29 regarding blood?

Sincerely,
Bad Blood

Dear Bad Blood,

Although there is some controversy over the subject, drinking blood is a sin.  The Jews knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that drinking blood was a sin (Gen 9:4).  A Jewish law is not the same as a christian law though, so we must find a New Testament teaching on the subject.  In Acts 15:19-20, a letter is sent by the apostles to all the Gentile christians telling them to abstain from drinking blood or eating meat that had been strangled (thus leaving the blood in the meat).  Drinking blood is put side by side with fornication as something to be avoided at all cost.  The life is in the blood, and, therefore, it should be treated with respect (Lev 17:11).

I would like to know if once you are saved, are you always saved?  Can you never lose your salvation no matter what you do?  This is what I was told about this basic teaching in Jhn 10:27-29.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
For Keeps

Dear For Keeps,

The idea that you can’t ever lose your salvation is a warping of Christ’s message in Jhn 10:27-29.  “Once saved, always saved” is a basic doctrine of Calvinism (read “Calvin And Sobs” for more details on the errors of Calvinism).  The Bible clearly says that you can lose your salvation.  Heb 3:12 says that we must be wary and protect our hearts because an evil, unbelieving heart can fall away.  2 Pet 3:17 says that we can lose our salvation if we get caught up in false teaching (1 Tim 4:1 also states this).  If we return to a life of ungodliness, then we crucify Christ again (Heb 6:4-6).