What do you, and more importantly, God, think about claiming contribution on tax returns?  This is something I can't seem to figure out.

Sincerely,
Tax Time

Dear Tax Time,

Jesus answered all tax questions when He said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render to God the things that are God’s” (Mk 12:17).  What Jesus meant was that the government decides what you do with its money… after all, it is called U.S. currency for a reason (in Jesus’ day, it was Caesar’s face minted on the coins).  Christians have a responsibility to pay whatever taxes the government says they should pay.  That also means we don’t have to pay taxes if the government says we don’t have to – if Caesar doesn’t want it back, that’s his choice!  In the United States of America, we are allowed to claim our charitable contributions on our taxes.  It is legal to do so, and it is allowed by God to take advantage of that luxury as long as we have it.

     Does Acts 2:38 describe the right method of baptism?

Sincerely,
Water Works

Dear Water Works,

Yes, it definitely does.  Acts chapter two tells us what happened on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’ crucifixion, ten days after Jesus had ascended into heaven.  On that day, the twelve apostles began to miraculously speak in many languages (Acts 2:4), and Peter preached the very first recorded sermon after Christ’s ascension (Acts 2:14).  At the end of that sermon, Peter concluded by teaching the Jews that they had killed the Son of God and sinned greatly (Acts 2:36).  The crowd was cut to the heart by Peter’s message and asked the apostles what they needed to do to be forgiven (Acts 2:37).  Peter told them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

That day, three thousand were baptized and had their sins removed (Acts 2:41).  Baptism saved them by burying their sins with Christ (Rom 6:4).

Dear AYP Readers,

We received an anonymous question that included a link to another website that promotes the concept that many churches that call themselves ‘church of Christ’ have fallen into denominational thinking, and instead of teaching the Bible, they are simply rehearsing their own sectarian creeds.

As a general rule, we don’t post questions that link to other websites because we don’t wish to come across as promoting their views as our own… nor do we wish to get into a “cyber-war” to be battled out between web administrators.  That simply isn’t why we are here.  Our goal is to focus on the Word of God and its answers to life’s questions.

So, without reposting the question, how does a congregation avoid falling into denominational thinking?

The denominational world exists because churches started following their own traditions and failing to return to the Bible for their practices.  This isn’t a modern problem; even the early first-century churches in Asia were rebuked for “leaving their first love” (Rev 2:4).  Jesus railed against the Pharisees because they valued their traditions more than they valued the Bible (Matt 15:3).  They taught the same behavior as their ancestors… not the Scriptures (Matt 15:9).  The problem with that behavior is that even if the generation before you was right, if you don’t know why they were doing what they were doing, you can end up missing the point.  It’s like the old story about the granddaughter that cut the Thanksgiving turkey in half before cooking it because that was what Granny did – turns out the only reason Granny did that was because her oven was too small!

Denominations build the same way; if we only repeat what our forefathers did, we are merely rehearsing traditions, not placing our faith in the life-giving Word of God (Rom 1:16).  Faithful churches have always been built upon the noble-minded attitude of the Bereans who “examined the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:10-11).  If we give our hearts wholly to the Lord, we will work out our own salvation by asking questions, examining the Bible, and comparing our practices to God’s eternal Word (Php 2:12).

So, are some churches that were once faithful turning to sectarianism or denominational traditionalism?  Sure.  They’ve been doing that since before the book of Colossians was written (Col 2:8).  Thankfully, people have been turning away from denominationalism for just as long.

Sincerely,
AYP

Where do you go after you die?

Sincerely,
Coffin Shoppin’

Dear Coffin Shoppin’,

When a Christian dies, they go immediately to Paradise and await the day of Judgment, the day when our eternal heaven is created.  Jesus said that angels immediately carry faithful souls off to Paradise (Lk 16:22, Lk 23:43), and the wicked are immediately sent to torments (Lk 16:23).  Both Paradise and torments are part of Hades (‘Hades’ means ‘the unseen place’).  When you die, your spirit is separated from your body and goes to Hades (Jas 2:26).  On the Day of Judgment, all the souls will be emptied out of Hades (1 Thess 4:14), and all the bodies will be removed from the graves (1 Thess 4:16).  On that great Day of Judgment, every soul shall be judged (Heb 9:27).  After that judgment happens, this earth will be destroyed, and a new, heavenly, spiritual world will be created for the saints to live in eternally (2 Pet 3:12-13).

     Recently, I've been doing what I feel is the right thing to do and come clean about an issue.  Granted, my honesty has cost me my job, ended my relationship with my girlfriend, and caused me to move back home with my parents.  I'm at peace with the situation because I feel like coming clean was the right thing to do, and I have faith, knowing that God will be glorified through this, and I know God will take care of me.  I've reached a point where I've concluded that I've turned my entire life over to God for His will and purposes with no concern for my wants.  With this being said, how do I know if I’m being led by God in an action or not?  I find myself frequently overthinking and have a hard time determining if what I’m doing is God’s will for me or not.  I’m willing to continue correspondence if needed, so feel free to ask me a question back for clarity.  Thank you, and God bless.

Sincerely,
Cleaning Up My Act

Dear Cleaning Up My Act,

It sounds like your heart is in the right place, and we commend you for making so many sacrifices to have a pure conscience.  Turning to God and turning away from sin can sometimes cost us a lot – there is a reason Jesus referred to serving Him as “taking up your cross” (Matt 16:24).  Good for you for taking the path less traveled.

So how can you know day to day what decisions are best?  Paul told Timothy that he was approved by God when he rightly handled the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15).  Many people wholeheartedly believe that they are pleasing to God but will be condemned on the Day of Judgment (Matt 7:22-23).  Feelings can be deceptive, but God’s Word is unchanging, unbiased, and able to rightly divide our lives and character (Heb 4:12).  If you want to know whether or not you are pleasing God, compare your life to the Scriptures.  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).”

Secondly, when you are faced with decisions that aren’t right or wrong (i.e. where to move, what job to take, large financial decisions, etc.), God tells us to pray for wisdom (Jas 1:5).  Before we make any major decision, we should pray that the Lord’s will be done before our own (Jas 4:15).  This way, you can have confidence that while you are trying to make wise decisions, the Lord will bless you in even the non-biblical issues.