Why do churches/denominations teach that Earth will be destroyed and that all good people go to heaven when the Bible is clear that the earth will be here forever and will be inhabited by people forever, this being His purpose for the earth?  Eccl 1:4, Ps 104:5, Ps 119:90, Ps 93:1, Isa 45:18, Ps 37:29, Matt 5:5, Ps 115:16 all seem to point to the idea of a permanent heaven and earth.  Many teach that the earth will be burned with fire or somehow destroyed, but in Rev. 11:18, it says that He will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth."  Why would He bring to ruin those ruining the earth and then destroy it Himself?  I do ask this with sincerity.  I hope that is related in this.

Sincerely,
Paradise On Earth

Dear Paradise On Earth,

You gave a great list of verses that tell us that God establishes and protects the earth, but those verses don’t teach that He will always protect the earth.  They only teach that God establishes the earth as long as He sees fit.  1 Pet 3:10-12 tells us that eventually God will destroy the earth by fire.  After that, He will establish a spiritual universe (heaven) where those who love Him will exist forever.  Here is a list of verses that teach on that subject:

1) 1 Cor. 15:42-50
-    vs. 47 says our bodies will not consist of earthly components
-       vs 50 says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
2) Lk 20:34-38
-       vs 36 says we will have bodies like angels
3) Jhn 14:2-4
-       vs 2 says we will dwell where God dwells (heaven)
-       vs 3 says Jesus is preparing a place for us now
4) 2 Pet 3:10-13
-       vs 10 says that when God uses fire to destroy the earth, He will both destroy the works of the earth and the earth itself.
5) Heb 1:10-12
-       vs 11 says the earth and heavens will perish like an old garment
-       vs 12 says that the earth and heavens will be changed like one would change and put on new clothes – the new heaven and earth will not be a redo of this earth, but an entirely new garment.
6) Matt 24:35
-       Heaven and earth are temporary, unlike God’s Word
7) Heb 11:13
-       faithful people are considered strangers and wanderers on this earth
8) Php 3:20
-       our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth
9) Jhn 18:36
-       Jesus refers to His kingdom as not being “of this world”.

[This question is a follow-up to “Crucifying The Old Man”]

I wanted to follow up on the post about Romans 6 and "died to sin":

I have read several commentaries, and all have a little different opinion.  Zerr seems to take "died to sin" is at repentance, but others agree with you and I and put it at baptism.  My preacher likes Zerr, and this topic has been a bane of contention in our studies on salvation.  I really believe it is important to understand the importance of baptism is a death with Christ that occurs when we are crucified with Him and baptized into His death.  Is this disagreement important enough for me to lose sleep over?  Thanks!

P.S. Love the coffee cup daily videos!

Sincerely,
To The Water!

Dear To The Water,

The most well-documented and clearest doctrine in the New Testament is baptism… yet, it is also the most commonly ignored topic in the religious world.  It is impossible to be saved without being baptized.  Peter said it best when he said, “Baptism saves you” (1 Pet 3:21).  Every person that became a christian in the New Testament was baptized – immediately.  You won’t find a single person in the book of Acts that wasn’t baptized.  When the first sermon was preached after Christ ascended into heaven, the apostles told the people that they needed to “repent and be baptized… for the remission of their sins” (Acts 2:38).  Paul tells us that baptism is a burial with Christ, and only after that burial do we receive a new life (Rom 6:3-4).  Baptism was so important to Paul that he was baptized even before eating or drinking (Acts 9:18-19), which shows how important it is because Paul hadn’t had food or water in three days (Acts 9:9)!  Belief is not enough; even the demons believe in God (Jas 2:19).  It is only when our belief is combined with obedience that we have living faith (Jas 2:17-18), and the very first command to obey that God gives us is to be baptized in the name of His Son (Matt 28:19, Mk 16:16).
The reason that your preacher is standing so firmly against the necessity of baptism is because once he says baptism is necessary to salvation, he is agreeing that there are works we must do to be saved.  The religious world as a whole argues against baptism because it opens the door to accountability.  If we are accountable for our behavior, then we can be lost if we fail to live faithfully.  It all traces back to a religious movement called Calvinism (read “Calvin and Sobs” for more details).  John Calvin taught that since we are saved by faith, what we do doesn’t matter – but the Bible says the exact opposite (Jas 2:20-26)!
This is an issue worth losing sleep over because your preacher isn’t teaching people what it takes to be saved!  If he isn’t baptizing for salvation, then he isn’t teaching people how to be saved!  If the foundation of a religion is wrong, everything else crumbles.

Someone brought this to my attention, and I must admit, I was ashamed of not knowing how to reply.  One of the Ten Commandments says, "Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me”, but isn't Jesus Christ a god... and wouldn't that be having a god before God?  To get to God, you have to go through Jesus Christ.  I need help on this one please.

Sincerely,
Chain Of Command

Dear Chain Of Command,

Jesus is not another god – Jesus is part of the true Godhead.  Jesus was in the beginning and is just as immortal as the Father (Jhn 1:1-3).  Jesus and the Father are one (Jhn 10:30).  It is very similar to how a husband and wife are two people… but they are also one family unit (Gen 2:24).  Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are separate beings (Lk 3:21-22), but one Godhead unit.  When God commands us to not worship any other gods but Him, He is dealing with false gods that are man-made.  He isn’t trying to tell us not to worship Jesus.  God makes this very clear in 1 Cor 8:4-6.  There are idols, and then there is the true God… and His Son.

How do we know that the kingdom has been fulfilled?  I have found many verses talking about the kingdom being set up, but where does it say it has been fulfilled?

Sincerely,
Royal Subject?

Dear Royal Subject,

There are several verses that tell us that the kingdom is already here.  The first verses to look at are Matt 16:28, Mk 9:1, and Lk 9:27.  In those verses Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom would come within the lifetime of those He was preaching to.  Considering it has been 2,000 years since Jesus preached… the kingdom is here.

Another verse to look at is Col 1:13 where Paul says that christians are already in the kingdom.  Since Paul said that we are already in the kingdom, the kingdom must already be here and complete.

The reason for this is because the kingdom is the church.  Jesus said that His kingdom wouldn’t be a physical kingdom (Jhn 18:36), but it would be a kingdom that reigned within the hearts of people (Lk 17:20-21).  As we already mentioned, this kingdom is made up of christians.  What group of people was created within one generation of Jesus’ preaching and contains christians?  That would be the church!  The church is the spiritual kingdom for which Jesus gave His blood.  We become citizens of this kingdom when we are born again through baptism (Acts 8:12, Jhn 3:5).

     At what point do we die to sin as Romans 6 says?  At what point are we said to have died with Christ?

Sincerely,
Killing Sin

Dear Killing Sin,

Romans 6 tells us when – baptism.  When we are baptized, we die with Christ (Rom 6:3). When we come out of the water, we have a new life with Christ (Rom 6:4).  There are plenty of other verses that also teach that baptism is the point where our sin goes away.  Acts 22:16 says that baptism washes away our sins.  1 Pet 3:21 says that baptism saves us, and Acts 2:38 says that baptism is so that your sins may be forgiven.  Baptism is the moment we crucify the old man of sin and the new man is born to live for Christ (Rom 6:5-7).