Could you give me all the references to God’s Laws that we are required to follow now? I know about the 10 commandments, loving God and loving others, but I’d like a complete list of them if possible.

As a follow up to ‘Still Saved After Denying The Lord‘, I have a question for you.

A friend of mine, once a very loving and dedicated Christian, has over the past several years gone through many traumas in her life. Having thrown herself on God’s mercy and spent many hours in prayer, she has received no solution to her problems. For example, she has prayed constantly that the Lord would bring peace to the heart of her mother -also a Christian- who is suffering from dementia and is living in a confused and tortured state literally trapped inside her own body. These prayers have not been answered.

She now believes in her heart that God can not exist and that Jesus was just a good man who was crucified along with countless others.

Where Peter, understandably, denied the Lord out of fear, this lady has made a conscious decision that God is not real – not out of bitterness but by deliberation. What happens to her Salvation?

Today I read this letter “OSAS & Unanswered Prayer” on your site. It’s my shame but I often become very discouraged if I read such a “testimony”. What is troubling me is this: “Having thrown herself on God’s mercy and spent many hours in prayer, she has received no solution to her problems.” Can this happen that a believer trusts her/his problems or troubles to the Lord and she/he does not receive a solution/deliverance?

Here’s another follow-up to “OSAS And Unanswered Prayer.”

You listed four things that you believe can prevent believers from being delivered from their afflictions, putting a very fine point on the issue:

1. Lack of faith, 2. Unconfessed sins, 3. Subconscious feelings that we deserve to be afflicted, 4. Secret desire to remain where we are.

My questions are these:

1. If we have a subconscious feeling that we deserve to be afflicted, does God hold this against us? (if so, why?). Your answer seems to imply this.

2. If we are held responsible for things of which we are not conscious, how do we recognize this and “repent” of it?

This is a very serious set of questions for me as I am very introspective, know I cannot fully understand what’s going on inside me, so it would seem that I am doomed to a life of (mostly) unanswered prayer.

I have a question I have needed to be answered for a very long time. I can’t even get a straight answer from my own pastor. I believe in Christ’s finished work at the cross. I know that behavior cannot change our salvation.

However, if someone accepts Christ and is baptized as a young person, then loses faith and denies the existence of God, what then? I get different arguments from people on this. I have heard, “Once saved always saved” and I’ve heard that denying the Lord is unforgivable. Please help me settle this. I lose sleep over this for my dear family members.

My question concerns being concerned about a loved one’s walk with the Lord. When it is obvious that they are continually putting self first or are imprisoned by an addiction, is it considered judging them when I pray for them. My attitude is that if I were in the same condition or position, knowing that I was still loved by them, I would covet their prayers. Sometimes I feel there is such a fine line between concern and judgment, especially when I see them hurting another loved one who is in a weaker position physically and emotionally and even positionally.

What is your understanding in this and at what point is intervention other than prayer required if ever. Is this an impossible question?

God bless you and your family, I cannot thank The Lord enough for you and your ministry, service to The Lord and His people. May He increase His grace and blessings to you. Having said this, can you tell me about The mark of Cain?

You are an amazing man of God and I appreciate what Christ is doing through you and your ministry. My question or comment is on eternal security, also called once saved, always saved: OSAS.

Let me first state that I fundamentally believe that we are saved by what we believe and not how we behave. I think that scripture makes that pretty clear.

But I believe we have to be careful how we disseminate that truth to others, and I think that is what has been the BIG problem in the OSAS doctrine. People have put it out there like, “Hey, say a prayer, you’re saved, and live the way you want. Don’t worry, God has forgiven you.”

We have to make sure that people understand that God paid a price to make a change in us “a new creation” and that is something special and beautiful. Does the change take some time and work? Yes, but that is where the Holy Spirit comes in to help us – to convict us! If the person is not feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, then all they did is rattle off a prayer and there was no change.

OSAS should not be used as a scapegoat for their behavior. That is making a mockery of our Lords gift. Yes, I believe OSAS if there is a true confession and conversion!

Do you believe that the OSAS doctrine has been misunderstood, and if so what can we do as literal bible believing followers of Christ to change that misunderstanding?

I have a question about the Passover. I have heard it said that when the original Passover happened, the Jewish people actually made a cross in blood on their door for the angel to “pass over” their house to avoid death. If this was the case, wouldn’t this highly symbolic act be easily read today by the Jewish people as God working through prophecy and culminating through the Cross of Christ? Have you ever heard of the blood being applied as a cross? If so, I’m thinking what a marvelous way for the Lord to foreshadow His plan of redemption!

Thank you for your wonderful site and the effort and Christian care you put into it.

But now I am confused about the OSAS answer you gave to the recent question posted about that. I always thought that if a person does not experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit about their ongoing sins after saying the prayer that maybe they said it flippantly and did not really mean it.

Of course I know that it’s not up to me to determine whether they meant it or not – that’s God’s job as he sees the heart and we can’t. But it seems as if there is no change in behavior or consciousness, that there is little evidence that they truly have been saved. Please help.