While the Bible does teach that God’s Law is the basis for good civil laws and national stability, the New Testament limits its civil enforcement to the last six commandments. The apostle Paul refers to this in his letter to the Roman Christians: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is […]
Here’s how the Bible addresses this issue. Every sin has its origin in the thoughts long before it appears as an act of the body. Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” Mark 7:21, […]
A careful study from Genesis to Revelation reveals that God alone possesses immortality (1 Tim. 6:16). Human beings only receive immortality at Christ’s Second Coming on condition of their faith in Him (1 Cor. 15:22, 53; 2 Tim. 1:10). However, some Bible passages seem to support the view that humans possess an immortal soul that […]
What are our choices when we’ve done wrong to someone? One choice is to rationalize what we did and dismiss the incident from our minds. If our conscience is bothering us, another choice is to toss off a quick, shallow apology—“Sorry if I upset you”—and move on. Neither of these bring closure, and scars remain. […]
Let’s explore this question, starting with Revelation 13:11–15: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to […]
Wasn’t the seventh-day Sabbath given at Sinai for the Jews? “Thou shalt not kill” was also given at Sinai. Does that mean that Cain did not sin by killing his brother? Did God just introduce some commandments early and reserve others to be introduced along with the Sabbath at Sinai? Hardly, for the Bible states […]
In Revelation 7:1–3 we read about the “seal” that identifies and protects God’s people when His judgments are poured out on the world: four angels are about to “hurt the earth” and its inhabitants with the seven last plagues when another angel with “the seal of the living God” tells them to wait until God’s […]
The warnings given in the Bible against receiving the mark of the beast are some of the most solemn and fearful ever sent by God to man. The Bible sets them forth in plain and direct language: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in […]
Despite the popular belief that there are many paths to heaven, Jesus plainly stated in Matthew 7:13–14 that the way to eternal life is quite restrictive: “Enter ye in at the strait gait: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: […]
Many people use the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 as biblical proof that souls go to either heaven or hell upon death. But numerous aspects of the parable show that Jesus didn’t intend it to be believed as a true picture of what happens in the afterlife—or even to make […]