We have no men in our small congregation qualified to be elders.  Yet, one of the men appears to have taken on that role to the point of reprimanding other men and women for choosing to not attend every Bible class offered.  It's causing problems because some are feeling pressured into coming to the classes rather than being there because they want to be (I am one of them).  I don't like attending any class because I feel like I have to.  But to avoid causing this man (who has a lot of influence on other members) to think I'm getting weak, I'm now going to all of the classes and church-related events with a really bad attitude.  I've had to stop being in charge of the bulletin each week – which I loved doing and grew so much from the experience – for lack of time.  What should I do?

Sincerely,
Got A Beef

Dear Got A Beef,

If this man is not an elder, he only has as much authority as the congregation of believers allows him to have.  In other words, if you listen to him, he has power, but if you don’t, he doesn’t.  As you said, your purpose in attending all the classes is out of fear of what this man and others think.  1 Cor 4:3-4 says that we need to learn to not care so much what others think of us – it is the Lord who judges, not man.

It was Jesus’ enemies who feared what others thought of them (Lk 20:19), but our Lord spoke without fear of others’ judgment (Matt 22:16).  Php 2:12 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling – that is the fear of God, not man.  You need to decide what is the right thing to do, and then let people’s opinions fall where they may.

     I am doing a paper on the sixth commandment for school.  I have heard there is a verse that says, “God hates sin, but not the sinner.”  Is that verse in the Bible, and if so, where, and if not, is there a similar verse that says something similarly?  This paper is due soon, and I need the verse to complete my essay.  Please help.  Thanks!

Sincerely,
Making The Grade

Dear Making The Grade,

There is no one verse that says, "God hates sin, but not the sinner."  However, there are multiple verses that teach that principle.  Hab 1:13 says that God is too pure to look upon evil, and Heb 1:9 talks about Jesus loving justice and hating iniquity.  As far as God loving sinners, Jhn 3:16 probably will do the trick.

In Genesis 6:2, who are the sons of God?  Are they human?  If so, why are they titled different from daughters of men?  If not, are they heavenly beings, and if so, can they sin?  That's a bunch of questions in one and probably will give rise to more when you provide an answer.

Sincerely,
Tracing Titles

Dear Tracing Titles,

The sons of God referred to in Gen 6:2 are mortal men.  This language seems confusing at first, but it is perfectly scriptural to refer to mankind as ‘sons and daughters of God’.  In fact, Jesus mentions that we are all sons of God (Jhn 10:34-36).  Gal 3:26 refers to christians as children of God.  Humans are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), and that makes Him our Father (Eph 4:6).  Gen 6:2 is simply stating that men married women, had children, and populated the earth.  We can't know for sure why the titling difference between "sons of God", and "daughters of men", but it may be as simple as making the text more interesting to read – the same reason all good writing uses a diversity of descriptive terms.

     What should a woman do when she doesn’t cuss, but her husband does?  He will cuss me out, hurt my feelings, and blame everything that goes wrong on me.  I have threatened to leave, and that worked for about a few days.  I just don’t think he loves me as much as I do him, and I am just at the end of my rope.

Sincerely,
Miserable

Dear Miserable,

1 Pet. 3:1-3 says, “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the Word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct.”

Sometimes, the best thing to do is also the hardest thing to do.  You can’t control his behavior, but you can control yours, and your behavior can win him over.  Don’t behave like he does.  Continue to watch your language, show him unearned respect, and live with pure conduct.  These things work on a man’s heart far more than fighting fire with fire.  Your kindness will heap burning coals upon him and is your best hope at turning his heart (Rom 12:20-21).

     Thousands of years ago, in many countries, continents, islands, etc., far away from Israel, how could inhabitants hear messages like Jhn 3:16?  Were they just out of luck because they didn't live in the area to hear it and died and went to hell?

Sincerely,
Logistically Implausible

Dear Logistically Implausible,

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the Gentiles (a ‘Gentile’ is anybody that isn’t Jewish) that lived before Jesus or before Jesus' message covered the globe as it has now, but what little we do know tells us that God didn’t forsake them.  When God called Abraham out from amongst his people (Gen 12:1-2), everyone that wasn’t descended from Abraham became a ‘Gentile’.  The Old Testament follows the descendants of Abraham and God’s covenant with them; that is why there isn’t much said about the other nations that lived on this planet.  Here is what we know:

1. God praised and blessed honest Gentiles.  Melchizedek is called a ‘priest of God’ (Gen 14:18), and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was the priest of Midian (Ex 3:1) and worshipped God.  We don’t know exactly what arrangement God had with these men, but we know that they were pleasing to God and not a part of the Jewish nation.  Another great example of a godly Gentile was Cornelius.  God blessed and heard Cornelius’ prayers (Acts 10:1-4).
2. Some Gentiles were blessed by God through conversion to Judaism.  Rahab and Ruth were both Gentile women that turned to God by becoming Jews.  Both of these women are mentioned in the lineage of Christ (Matt 1:5).
3. We have a single statement in the book of Romans that hints at what kind of law the Gentiles were under.  Rom 1:14-15 says that the Gentiles had a law of conscience written by God on their hearts.  This doesn’t tell us much, but it does point out that God had a system for judging the Gentiles… it was just different than the system He used for judging the Jews.

All of this just gives a glimpse at the pre-Christian Gentile world, but it is enough to paint a picture that God had a plan to save those who lived far from Israel; we just don’t know exactly how it worked.