Since Jesus was literate, why didn't He write the New Testament?  And why doesn't anyone discuss the fundamental differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament?  How did God talk to Adam and Eve and tell them not to eat the apple when they had never ever spoken any language and wouldn't have known the words of ‘don't eat the apple’ or anything else?

Sincerely,
Linguist

Dear Linguist,

When God made Adam and Eve, they were fully-grown adults with a fully-functioning language.  On the same day that Adam was “born”, Adam named all the beasts of the field (Gen 2:20).  Adam and Eve were fully capable of understanding language.  Just like everything else that was originally created, Adam and Eve were fully-formed and mature at inception.  On a separate note, God warned them to not eat the ‘fruit’ of the tree of knowledge of good and evil… it wasn’t an apple (Gen 3:6).

As far as why Jesus never wrote part of the New Testament, anything we say would be purely speculation.  It wasn’t a matter of literacy; it was a matter of God’s wisdom that He didn’t have Jesus write the New Testament.

And lastly, we recommend you read the post, “Two Covenants, One God”.

     How does Psalm 110:3 relate to everyday life?

Sincerely,
Applying Myself

Dear Applying Myself,

Psalm 110 is a Messianic Psalm, which means that it is a psalm that prophesies about Jesus.  Ps 110:1 is quoted by Jesus in Mk 12:36 as referring to Him, and Heb 5:6 quotes Ps 110:4 and says that it is talking about Jesus.  Therefore, we can conclude that the 110^th Psalm is about Jesus.  Ps 110:3 says that Jesus’ people will willingly serve Him and give their youthful strength to the cause of Christ.  As Christians, this should be our character, to always serve God willingly and place Christ first in our lives.

     What does the Bible say about what people are supposed to achieve in life?

Sincerely,
Successful?

Dear Successful,

There is only one thing that is important in life – the salvation of your soul.  If someone achieves greatness, riches, and power, but loses his soul on the Judgment Day, he has lost everything (Mk 8:36-37).  Everything that we do in this life should stem from our love of God and our love for our fellow man – these are the two greatest commands (Matt 22:36-40).

Whether rich or poor, strong or weak, single or with a large family, the quality of our life will be measured by our level of faith and commitment to God’s Word.  It isn’t so much about what you achieve as it is about what kind of person you become.  We should strive to imitate Christ and purify our hearts (1 Cor 11:1, Jas 4:8).  The person that does this can die having succeeded in life.

     How can God help me get rid of an addiction in general?
Sincerely,
On The Hook

Dear On The Hook,

When a sin becomes so entrenched in your life that you are enslaved to it (Jhn 8:34), you are dealing with an addiction.  Addictions are formed by habits, and habits are formed by repeatedly making the same choices.  James describes this process in Jas 1:13-15.  All sins begin with a mental decision.  If you want to remove an addiction, isolate the choices that are putting you in the position to commit that sin.  If you change the environment and circumstances that lead you to a sin, you change the future playing field.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to let someone else know about your struggle (Jas 5:16).  There is strength in numbers (Eccl 4:12), and exposing a sin takes its power away (Jhn 3:20).

     It has always been my understanding that if we die in sin without asking for forgiveness beforehand, we go to hell.  For example, if I've lived in obedience to God all my life, but on the day I die I sinned and didn’t ask God for forgiveness, I'd go to hell.  Is that right?  Now I look at it, and it seems like I'm counting on my righteousness to gain entry into heaven.  If a believer sins (as we sometimes do) and dies without asking for forgiveness beforehand, does he/she go to hell?

Sincerely,
The Last Word

Dear The Last Word,

Your confusion is a common one because the Bible never explicitly states what happens to the sins that we didn’t specifically ask for forgiveness for.  There is no specific verse that deals with this issue; instead, we must look at some of the concepts that are scattered throughout the Scriptures.

1. Jesus is our Advocate (1 Jhn 2:1-3).  Jesus is our High Priest, and He mediates between us and God (1 Tim 2:5).  Jesus wants to intercede for your sins, and He desires to help you get into heaven.
2. God doesn’t desire anyone to be separated from Him (2 Pet 3:9).  No one will ever accidentally go to hell, and no one will accidently miss out on heaven because they didn’t have an opportunity to pray for forgiveness right before they died.  God is ready and willing to forgive (Ps. 86:5).
3. God expects our obedience, and all forgiveness is dependent upon our willingness to draw near to Him with obedient hearts (1 Pet 1:14).  The Bible says that our obedience to Him purifies our souls.  God forgives the faithful and obedient servant (Heb 10:38).
4. John paints a beautiful picture for us in 1 Jhn 1:7 by saying, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The word ‘walk’ means ‘to live continually’, and whenever we have that relationship but we accidentally sin, the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us of our sins.

When you consider all of these concepts, the truth on the subject becomes evident; we are forgiven as we ask for forgiveness, and God gives grace in those times when we are unable or ignorant to ask for it.  So continue to ask and pray for forgiveness, but you can also have peace that God’s grace will protect your soul as you do your best to live faithfully.