If God knows everything that will happen in one’s life, then why does He put people on earth if He knows they are doomed to go to hell?  Like, if He knows that one will go to heaven but the other will go to hell, why put sinners who are damned to hell here?  Why is that?  Isn’t that a little unfair?

Sincerely,
Feeling Toyed With

Dear Feeling Toyed With,

God knows our days upon this earth, but He also gives us the freewill to shape various aspects of the world that we live in.  Just because God has knowledge of how you and I will behave does not mean that He causes our behavior to happen in a certain way.  Foreknowledge is not the same as causation.  A doctor may know that a patient is going to die of cancer, but that doesn’t mean the doctor caused the patient to die of that ailment.  God gives mankind the freedom to make decisions, but He also has the wisdom to know how those choices will affect the future (Job 12:13).

     Does God hear or answer an unsaved person’s prayer?   I am saved but have been wanting some Scripture to answer my question.

Sincerely,
Is He Listening?

Dear Is He Listening,

God recognizes the prayers of the faithful only. There is no doubt that God hears the prayers of christians (Jas 5:16). God hears the prayers of the righteous, but He is far from the wicked (Pr 15:29). God is constantly listening to hear the prayers of christians, but He sets His face against those who do evil. God says that even a christian who isn’t treating others well (specifically their spouse) will have their prayers hindered (1 Pet 3:7).

God does not answer the prayers of those who are ungodly. When Israel turned away from God, He stopped answering their prayers (Micah 3:4). When Judah became wicked and followed false teachings, He stopped hearing their prayers and accepting their worship (Isa 1:13-15). The same would hold true for those who fall away today. God will stop listening to and answering their prayers. It isn’t that He doesn’t hear them – He simply ignores their requests. Those outside of Christ are promised that if they seek God, they will find Him (Lk 11:9). All of mankind has the ability to ask for truth and find it, but only christians can ask God as a child asks a father (Mat 7:11). The ability to seek God’s help through prayer is a blessing given only to those who serve God (Jhn 9:31).

     The Bible says we all must give an account before God.  But it also says the blood of Jesus covers our sins, and God remembers them no more.  If we are in Christ and do our best to be faithful and obedient, what is the account christians will give before God?  What if the account we give is displeasing to God?

Sincerely,
Don’t Judge Me

Dear Don’t Judge Me,

The verse that says we all must give account for ourselves before God is Rom 14:12, and it is in the context of explaining that brethren shouldn’t judge one another but leave the judgment up to God (Rom 14:10).  The point of that verse isn’t that we all need to be able to eloquently speak to God on the Judgment Day; it is that we each are responsible for our own behavior and choices in life.  You can’t get to heaven riding anyone else’s coattails.

If you are in Christ, then on the Judgment Day, your meeting with God will be a pleasant one – He has forgiven your sins and will tell you to enter into His joy (Matt 25:21).

     Was Jesus actually God in the flesh?  Is the trinity a true, factual idea? Or was Jesus created by God, and is He indeed His Son, like I am my dad's son?  Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
Family Facts

Dear Family Facts,

Jesus is God.  Jhn 1:1-3 and Jhn 1:14 say that Jesus is God.  Col 1:15-17 says that all things were created by Jesus… which means Jesus wasn’t created.  We often say that there is only one God… but technically, that is not the complete story.  There are three Gods in the Godhead, and They all work together in perfect unity.  Jesus is God (Matt 28:9), the Father is God (2 Thess 1:2), and the Holy Spirit is God (Gen 1:2).  The word ‘God’ just means ‘deity’.  Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all deity.  They function with complete unity (Jhn 10:30), but They are separate Beings.  Jesus emptied Himself and became a human (Php 2:4-8).  Jesus is God’s son because He was miraculously born (Matt 1:18), because the Father raised Him from the dead (Acts 13:33), and because Jesus obeyed Him as a Son (Jhn 8:28).  It is that unique honor and connection that creates the Father-and-Son relationship between these two members of the Godhead.

     Does God understand our own personal faults even if we don’t?

Sincerely,
Misunderstood

Dear Misunderstood,

Ps 1:8 says that God knows even our secret sins.  God is aware of all that we have done in this life; He is even aware of the number of hairs on our heads (Matt 10:30).  God weighs our hearts (Pr 21:2) because everyone feels that we are living good lives, but that doesn’t mean we actually are.  That is why it is so important that we let the Bible be the lamp for our feet (Ps 119:105).  Many people will plead ignorance on the Day of Judgment, but God will render to each of us according to a higher knowledge of our lives and hearts (Pr 24:12).  All you can ever do is let the Bible be your faithful guide (Rom 10:17), and don’t lean on your own understanding (Pr 3:5).