What do you do if someone you know claims to be a Christian but you know they are not and you want to help them?

This is a fantastic question! We do need to be a little careful when we start assuming that we know if someone is a Christian or not. Are you basing that on their actions or what they say they believe? The reason I’m saying that is because there is a BIG difference in the two.

There are a lot of people who say they’re Christian and may not act like it but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are not Christians. The Bible tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 6:23). In fact, it also says there is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 6:10). Just because someone sometimes does doing things that Bible says they shouldn’t do or doesn’t do things they should do doesn’t mean that they haven’t accepted Christ into their heart. We have no way of really knowing a person’s heart but we can judge their actions and we can gently remind them that Christ Followers don’t act or think like that.

Now, if a person claims to be a Christian but tells you they believe something that contradicts what the Bible says is true, that is a completely different matter. For example, let’s say someone says to you, “I don’t believe that Jesus was really God’s son. I think he was just a man.” That is wrong thinking. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus was God’s one and only Son in John 3:16. Or let’s say they tell you that they believe in reincarnation … we know that belief is Biblically wrong. So, how do we help our friends see the truth?

Whether someone is not acting like a Christian or claiming something contrary to the Christian belief, we treat them the same way. With love. The Bible tells us to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone that asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

It is not our job to judge a person’s heart … that’s God’s job. But, we can judge their behavior, speech and beliefs and respectfully tell them what we believe. Whether they choose to believe you or not, is their choice. I can promise you this:  God loves His people. He doesn’t want any of us to miss out on knowing Him. He will use the Holy Spirit to help someone that really wants to know who God is. Your mission is to share God’s love with them so that they can make a wise decision.

Why did Eve listen to Satan and eat the forbidden fruit?

Wow! That’s an awesome question! There are actually two reasons and they kind of relate to each other. First, Eve was deceived by the serpent. That wily old snake came to Eve and confused her. He twisted God’s words (which, by the way, he does all the time with you and me) and made her question God.

Remember what he said to her? He first said, “Did God really say ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” So, he first got her to question God. Then he said, “You will not surely die!” Again, making her question what God said!

Then, Satan added, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Now here’s where it gets interesting. Satan first got Eve to question God, then he appealed to her pride. He told her she could be “like God.”

Did you know that pride is one of the sins God absolutely detests? In Proverbs 6:16-19, it lists seven things that are detestable to God and pride is listed first. That is because pride was the first sin ever committed, even before the creation of man. In fact, it was Lucifer (Satan) that committed the sin of pride when he wasn’t satisfied just being an angel and wanted to be “like God.” (Sound familiar?). His sin of pride also took a third of the angels with him.

So, Satan both deceived Eve and appealed to her pride, which caused her and Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. The result: sin entered mankind.

Now, if that were the end of the story, our lives would be hopeless! The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But, God, in His infinite mercy and by unending grace gave us His One and Only Son, in the person of Jesus Christ, and it is through our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior that we are spared death and assured eternal life in Heaven. The key is that you have to accept that gift of grace. The beautiful part is, you don’t have to do anything to earn it! It’s His gift to you! Have you made that commitment yet? If you have, are you living out your faith every day?

Why do people have to die?

That is a very awesome question! And, to find the answer, we have to go all the way back to the first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. Here’s the deal, when God first created the earth and created Adam and Eve, they were in a perfect relationship with God and they had no fear of dying. Life was fairly simple back then with very few rules…except one BIG rule:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

Well, we all know what happened. Eve was tempted by the serpent and took a bite of the apple and then Adam took a bite of the apple and sin entered the world. And God was not happy about it. In fact, God puts a curse on the serpent and on Adam and Eve. To mankind God says this, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you are returned to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)

Our perfect relationship with God was broken and we were condemned to die. Even the New Testament reaffirms this curse in Romans 6:23 when it states, “For the wages of sin is death…” BUT, and here’s the good news!!! The rest of that verse says, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.”

Even though our physical bodies will eventually die, we are promised eternal life in Heaven WITH JESUS by accepting God’s gift of grace and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Probably one of the most quoted and well-known Bible verses is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son and whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish (die) but have eternal life.” But don’t forget the next line, which to me is just as important, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Even though every person will eventually die a physical death based on the sin that came into the world, those of us who are saved will have eternal life with Jesus in Heaven. While no one wants to die and we don’t want to see loved ones die, I want you to know that I am not scared of dying because I know where I am going. I just want to be able to stick around for a little while longer so that I can see my kids grow up, get married and maybe become a grandpa someday.

I want to tell you a funny story. A friend of mine’s grandmother loved Jesus so much and she knew, without a doubt, what awaited her when she died. So, when she was on her deathbed she was so happy that she was going to see Jesus soon that that’s all she could talk about. The she fell asleep, a little catnap so-to-speak, and then woke up. Here’s the funny part: She looked around the room, looked at my friend and actually said, “Oh, darn! Still here!” Can you believe that???

You know, even though he was sad when she eventually died, he knew that she was in heaven with his grandfather and with Jesus and it made him happy and gave him great comfort to know that she was there.