My 7 year old son asked my wife a question on the way to school this morning. He said that Satan was a Christian because he believed in God, that Jesus Christ was the son of God, that he died for our sins, and that God rose him from the dead. All of those qualify us as believers to gain eternal life in Heaven with the Lord. What can I say to my son to disqualify Satan from being a Christian when the scripture implies that Satan knows scripture? One cannot be a Christian and be against God. It seems to be an interesting paradox.

Please explain where in Romans 7:9 it says children have eternal life because their sins are not counted against them. I cannot find any reference to children in the verse.

I’m confused at times with the meaning of the word “if”. Several places in the Old Testament God promises Israel that He will bless them “if” they follow the commands He gave them (i.e., Deut. 7:12). However in the New Testament the word “if” sometimes is used to mean “since”. I think I read in one of your postings that the Greek word for “if” is “eige”. The reason I need this sorted out is some are using the word “if” not in the “since” translation but as being a conditional “if” to try and prove we can lose our salvation. Can you help?

Actually it says in the Bible if we don’t forgive we won’t be forgiven. Jesus spoke this in Matthew just after Lords Prayer. “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mat 6:14-15) Your post Do I have to forgive him? says it doesn’t matter if you do or not.

I was recently part of a large argument in our family. A family member continually lies and uses me as a scapegoat, but my mother in law says I am required to forgive.

I know this person is lying because I was there. Since he does not have a repentant heart, do I still need to forgive him? I don’t want to allow Satan to play divide and conquer with us, but I also don’t feel I can forgive when there is no repentance.

I have realized that I have trusted too much in my feelings and my thoughts instead of the word of God, however learning to rely solely on God’s word is difficult, what advice can you give regarding that? How can I learn to trust in what is written in the Bible and not what I feel or what thoughts pop up in my mind?

I know the Bible says not to store treasures for yourself here on earth but to store your treasures in heaven. I believe the Bible entirely and try to follow Gods word. However, I do believe God gave us a little thing called common since. With the increase of natural disasters and the threat of terrorism, I have started putting a supply of food and water away. Not because I don’t trust God to take care of me and my family, because he has all this time, but because he has given us warnings as to how evil the world is and will become. Do you think I am being foolish for storing or do you think it is a wise idea just in case something like a natural disaster were to occur?

The Bible says that those who have been given more than others (on earth) are expected to do more with their resources. I understand this to mean physical assets like money. But does it mean psychological things too? For example, if someone loves to be around people, does that mean they have “more” than someone who’s shy and scared to be around others? Would that then excuse the shy person from not witnessing because God knows how hard it is for them?

Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder? The gospels are somewhat confusing to me concerning this. Matthew , Mark , and Luke seem to indicate that it was. But the gospel of John indicates that Christ was betrayed and crucified before the Passover Seder. Is there a conflict between the Gospel accounts?

I have a question maybe you might have some insight to. In Genesis 22 when God tested Abraham (vs 1-2) God was the one who came to Abraham and asked him to go to Moriah and sacrifice his son. However when it came time to spare his son, an Angel of the Lord (vs 11-12) came. Why do you think an Angel came rather than the Lord himself? Abraham could have not listened to the Angel because God’s authority is obviously greater.