Stewartstown Baptist Church

ANSWER:

A relationship is only a relationship if both parties choose it. God made humans with the ability to make our own choices. In Genesis 2:16-17 we see God tell Adam that he can eat from any tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God explains that if he eats of it, he will die. Despite this warning, Adam and Eve each made the choice to sin.

The Christian life is all about choice. Jesus’ death on the cross was planned before the fall of man. As a result, we all have to make a choice. We’re all sinners (Romans 3:23), unable to save ourselves. I am thankful that God created me to make my own choices. Just as an arranged marriage often lacks the love, God isn’t forcing us to do anything. We GET to serve Him, we GET to love Him. We struggle against our sinful nature to grow closer to God.

ANSWER:

Thanks for asking your question. I wish I knew more specifically what you are asking about God since you could write volumes of books on “What is God?” Here are some things to think about when it comes to God and some passages you can look up in your Bible:

1. God is eternal: God always existed and will always exist (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 90:2)
2. God is omnipresent: God is present everywhere, He is not limited to space or time (Jeremiah 23:23-24)
3. God is omniscience: God fully knows Himself and all things.  He is all knowing. (Psalm 139)
4. God is holy: God is without sin. (Isaiah 6)
5. God is love: God’s love is perfect. (1 John 4:8)

Certainly this is much more we can say about who God is, but this hopefully gets you started.

ANSWER:

Absolutely. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that “...Satan masquerades as an angel of light.” He was created as an angel, and his nature as a spirit still exists today. Since he was created as angels were, of course angels would also be a spirit.

Both Satan and angels are spirits and do not have a physical nature, but have the ability to manifest themselves in a physical way. That’s why Hebrews 13:2 says “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”

We hope this helps!

ANSWER:

Genesis 3 records the Fall in which sin entered the world. Genesis 3:16-19 is where God tells Adam and Eve that pain, sickness, and death have now entered the world. Just as physical illness came as a result of the fall, so did mental illness.

Does the Bible say anything specifically about mental illness? Not really, but you could apply passages on God’s healing for sickness to be either physical or mental. We know that demon possession is real because Jesus cast many out. There may have been others in Jesus’ day who were considered to be demon possessed, but we now could correctly diagnose them as mentally ill. The Southern Baptist denomination has the Baptist Faith and Message that gives doctrines that Southern Baptists agree on, however individual churches can make up their own minds about what they ultimately would teach. The Southern Baptist Convention has made no official declarations regarding mental illness. The most common question asked is whether people should take medicines for mental illness or see a psychologist? Just as someone would take medication for blood pressure, there is no difference if someone takes medication to help with a chemical imbalance in the brain. There are many Christian psychologists and psychiatrists that can help a believer handle mental issues from a biblical perspective. When believers stray to secular psychology, there is a great concern over confusion and even dismissal of their faith by a the non-believer who is supposed to be helping them.

ANSWER:

What are my thoughts concerning a nine year old being baptized? Well first let us look at the requirements of baptism for any person no matter their age.

1. The person must trust Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
2. The person must understand that baptism is the public profession of their faith.

When you look at the New Testament you see a very clear pattern. Only believers are baptized. Acts 2:37-38 says, “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, repent and be baptized.” Acts 2:41 says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” There are many other passages you can check out like: Acts 8:12-13, 8:26, 38-39

When it comes to baptizing a younger person we need to proceed with caution but at the same time we cannot discount what God is doing in his or her life. If a young person comes and wants to be baptized I will follow this outline:

1. Meet with the young person and their parents.
2. Have the young person tell me his or her testimony.
3. Talk with them about baptism and see what their understanding is.
4. Ask the parents who started this talk, the young person or the parents?
5. See if the parents are comfortable with the decision as well.

There is no easy answer because I have had some nine year olds who were not ready and it was clear the parents were pushing the baptism. Then I have had a ten year old clearly communicate his understanding of salvation and baptism.

On the second part of your question, I am a little confused by your question but I will try my best. I would hope no church would rush people in the baptismal pool just to have high member totals. That is wrong motivation and is not good for anyone involved.

ANSWER:

Let’s give a very broad definition of the word first and then a more specific understanding. In spiritual terms, a spirit is something that does not have a physical nature. According to John 4:24, “God is Spirit…” While God can take on a physical form, that is not something He is confined to.

Some people think that there are two parts to man and some say there are three. Those who see only two parts say that there is a body and a soul (spirit). Those who see three say there is body, soul and spirit. For the sake of this answer, we will use the view that there are only two parts, due to the fact that spirit and soul are often used interchangeably in Scripture. No matter what the view, the understanding is that there is a part of us that is not physical. It will live on after the death of our physical bodies. There are many references in Scripture that would verify this, including Revelation 6:9, “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.” This is a clear reference to the soul/spirit living beyond the body.

ANSWER:

When studying and interpreting the Bible, you should always take the words literally unless it doesn’t make sense to. In the following paragraphs we have tried to provide a complete but succinct answer to your question.

When Hell is described, there is no reason not to take the description of the place literally. For one, Jesus doesn’t just give Hell a passing mention, nor does Scripture. Not only did Jesus talk about it more than Heaven, but we also see Hell being clearly shown in Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:14-15, Revelation 21:8. In all of these verses, Hell is shown to be a real place where the unrepentant are cast for eternity. Jesus even used the word “Gehenna” as a word for Hell. This was a refuse dump south of Jerusalem where the bodies of dead animals, trash, and even the bodies of criminals were dumped for disposal. The place was constantly consumed with fire to eliminate the garbage in it, so Hell being a real place of real torment seems sure.

What about the passage in Matthew 18:8-9 that Sunday’s sermon referenced? It said that if your hand or foot causes you to sin, that you should cut it off. Or if your eye causes sin, you should pluck it out. Does this indicate that the maimed or deformed are more holy than those who have suffered no loss of body parts? Paul answers this in Romans 6:12-13. He says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Instead of mutilation, Paul says we should use our bodies and their members (parts) for good works instead of sin. You can’t do that if you’ve cut off your hand (and honestly cutting off your right hand, would simply lead to sin with your left). Paul and Jesus are not at odds here. Instead, Paul is confirming the real intent of Jesus: Get serious about your sin! I have never seen people dismembered into holiness, but I’ve seen people cut other things out of their lives to avoid sin (Internet, alcohol, etc).

We have made no statements regarding gifts of the Spirit in which they should not be taken literally. Regarding the commands to women in 1 Corinthians 11, the culture dictated that women were to wear veils over the faces as a sign of respect and subjection to their husbands. The women in this particular church were throwing the veils back during prayer, and really making a scene as opposed to praying out of pure motives. While women may not wear head coverings in our church, we teach the same application regarding a wife to be submissive to her husband and respectful in worship (and of course for men to love their wives and also be respectful in worship as well).

ANSWER:

Great question thanks for asking. Here is what we can look at regarding angels, Satan and demons. First according to the creation account in Genesis 1-2 there is no mention of God creating the angels. However we read in Psalm 148:2, “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!” Psalm 148:5, “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created.” Now are the angels, Satan and demons spirits? Well we can see what Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?”
In regards to Satan, we see that Satan was created as angel that worshiped God, yet Satan rebelled against God. Satan is out to stop the work of God. See such passages like Genesis 3, Matthew 4, Revelation 12:9, 20:8. Satan is one that has been defeated and those who trust in Christ are able to claim victory over Satan because of the work of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57-58).

ANSWER:

Great discussion, but one that scripture easily remedies. Genesis 2:7 seems pretty clear that Adam was the first man, “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Adam was formed in a way that no other man was, or would ever need to be. He was in fact the first and only man.

1 Corinthians 15:45 goes on to verify this detail when it says, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” This is a comparison of Adam and Jesus, but within the point is made that Adam was the first man.

The Genesis 2:7 regarding Adam is not just talking about the Jews because technically, the Jews didn’t exist yet. Not until Abraham in Genesis 12, does God establish the nation of Israel through him. This was well after Adam, Noah, and even the scattering of people across the earth from the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Some people look at the differences in the races and point to that as proof that there were multiple “Adams” created around the world. This is not verified in Scripture, and the simple fact is that the races are so different because unique genetics were spread around the world and seperated by the language barrier in Genesis 11. Certain genes, varying levels of sunlight, and even diet around the world has caused the variations that we now find amongst the races.

If there are other objections he raised that you would like specific answers on, feel free to follow up with them. Hopefully this will be enough to make your point, which is the biblical point of view.