Friday 4 February 2011

If you sin and you just don't know it's a sin, did you sin?

Wow, that is an awesome question! It is a little difficult to answer because the answer is very complicated and has been open to much debate and discussion. So, let me use an example that might help you to understand this.

Let’s say you go to another country (we’ll make one up). And let’s say in this country, Kidonia, it was illegal to drink soda on Sundays. So, you go to Kidonia and get thirsty and drink a Coke on Sunday, not knowing that it was against the law. All of a sudden the police come in and arrest you and tell you, “You’re under arrest for drinking a Coke on Sunday!” You would argue that you are a foreigner and didn’t know it was illegal to drink a Coke on Sunday. But, the police say to you, “We don’t care; it’s still illegal and you committed a crime!”

So, did you commit a crime in Kidonia? Yup. Did you know you were committing a crime? No. Does it mean that because you didn’t know it was a crime, it’s okay to do? No. It is still against the law.

Let’s now compare that to sin. Just because you didn’t know something was a sin, doesn’t mean it’s not a sin. It is still a sin and, if you do it, you committed that sin. We call those unintentional sins. God says that stealing is a sin. But, if you didn’t know that stealing was sin and you did it, would you still be sinning? Of course!

But, God also looks at the heart. He looks at your motives. And you do have a foundation in Christ so you do know what is right and what is wrong. And because you do have Christ in your life, you are covered in His love for you.

Romans 8:1-2 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

If you believe in Jesus and because you know that He died on the cross for you, you don’t have to be anxious about things like worrying about whether you have sinned or not. Look at what it says in Philippians 4:4-7:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God will guard your heart and your mind. If you have to question your actions or your thoughts, then pray for God to help you. He loves you and won’t let you unintentionally sin.

Now, if you know something is a sin and you still do it…well, that’s a different story. Habitual and intentional sin have different consequences. But, that’s a whole different topic!

Wednesday 2 February 2011

If you die when you are a baby, how can you know Christ?

Wow! That is an awesome question and one that has caused a lot of people to think, discuss and argue for an answer. And to be perfectly honest, the Bible does not tell us directly. I cannot find any Biblical scripture, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament, which addresses this issue directly.

So, we should probably start with a look at the character of God. What do we know about God? Well, the Bible teaches us that God is loving. The Bible teaches us that God is just. The Bible teaches us that God cannot sin or do evil. So what happens to a baby in the hands of our God when that baby never even has a chance to know God?

Part of the good news is that it’s not just about us knowing God but also God knowing us. And He knows us better than we know ourselves! In fact, we were known even before we were born!

Look what Psalm 139:13-16 says:

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

See how the psalmist says we are fearfully and wonderfully made! He emphasizes that God’s works are “wonderful.” God knew us while we were still being formed!

That’s not to say that once we are old enough to know Christ ourselves that we aren’t accountable to Him to make our own decision to accept Him as Lord and Savior, but if we are not yet old enough to know Him – and no baby is – then He covers us by His intimate knowledge of us. Amazing, isn’t it? Our God is great! Based on this scripture of God’s intimate involvement with your creation (and there are certainly other scripture passages as well) and knowing God’s loving and just character, we can say with some assurance that babies that die will go to Heaven and will know Christ.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

How old were Mary and Joseph when they had Jesus?

Wow! That is an awesome question! And it’s also kind of a tricky one to answer because the Bible never really says how old they were. However, we do get an idea by doing a word study on the words that describe Mary from Matthew 1:23 which reads, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.”

The word “virgin” here is the Greek word “parthenos” which literally means, “A marriageable maiden” as well as its other meaning (go ask your mom!). Matthew 1:23 is referencing the words of the prophet Isaiah of the Old Testament and helps us get a slightly better idea of her age. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

In this instance, the word “virgin” is the Hebrew word “almah.” The word “almah” means a young, woman of marriageable age. Based on cultural norms of the day, historians have now assumed that Mary was likely somewhere between the ages of 13 and 15.

There is absolutely no information on Joseph regarding his age anywhere in the Bible. What we do know of Joseph was that he was a carpenter, which leads many to believe he was older because he already had a trade. But to definitively say that Joseph was 18 or 20 or 25 would only be conjecture.

Joseph was likely older than Mary but what age difference, we just don’t know.