In the Bible Study group I lead there’s an older gentleman who frequently makes a statement that I don’t agree with. I want to kindly correct him on this but don’t know how to go about it. He says he believes in Grace and OSAS. However, he says that no matter how much we pray to God, until God decides to reveal Himself to us, we cannot know Him. He goes on further to say that God has to choose us and that we cannot choose Him. It has upset some in the group as they are facing daily struggles and they are starting to believe that their struggles are because God hasn’t “chosen” them. Please help me address this situation. If I’m wrong and he is right, that’s fine, but I can’t find Biblical support for his position.

You have said that eternity is not just a whole bunch of time but the absence of time. Do you think that creation and mankind were initially created without time and that the introduction of time was a part of the curse? Because with the passage of time comes decay. During the recount of creation in Genesis, it speaks about morning and evening; day and night and we associate this with a passing of time, but is that necessarily so? Couldn’t there be days and nights within eternity? If so, do you think that God, who created and controls time, slowed down Abraham and Sarah’s biological clocks so that their bodies remained young enough to have Isaac in their old age?

Recently someone was quoting John 20:21-22 as proof that if we forgive someone, they are forgiven – and if we do not forgive them, they remain unforgiven. This was put forward as “proof” that we are able to forgive sins in others just as God does, or in spite of God, as the case may be. I know this is not the intention of this verse, but I am not sure how to refute it. Can you help?

I have often felt over the years that God has punished my sins by giving my son a disability. I have been encouraged to believe that this is not true. My question is, didn’t God punish 70,000 Israelites with death because of David’s sin in 1st Chronicles Chapter 21?

My question concerns fasting. I read somewhere – can’t remember where, though – that we should not just pick a day and fast. That we need to feel led to do so concerning something specific, ie. healing or deliverance for someone, or for the answer to a serious problem. How do you feel about fasting and how do know that is what God wants you to do?

Realizing that there may be husbands or wives left behind that did not accept Christ before the Rapture, does that mean if one spouse accepts Christ and is raptured and the mate accepts Him in the Trib, that they will not be together in the Millennium because the mate cannot go to the New Jerusalem? If so, there are surely going to be big regrets in the Trib when they realize they missed it.

John 21:15-17 records Jesus asking Peter three times if he loves him, Was this Jesus’ way of letting Peter know he was forgiven for denying Him three times?

I’m having some difficulty understanding what’s being spoken of in 1 John 5:16,17. What is the sin leading to death? Why should we not pray about it? What is meant by there being sin not leading to death? Any help you could give me would be appreciated. God bless your ministry.

My family and I are trying to witness to a small group of young adults. Their beliefs are currently a hodge podge of the various agnostic worldly views. Can you offer us any suggestions?

Re: Attacks Of Doubt. This question and your answer was very timely and helped me a great deal since I struggle with this as well. However, as is often the case, your answer leads me to explore another question. I have been wondering about Satan’s ability to cause these doubts. Can Satan or his fallen angels actually impress thoughts on our minds? How do they cause these doubts to enter our thoughts? Satan I know is not omnipresent so therefore cannot be everywhere at once, so he must rely on his fallen angels.