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• "I was wondering if you might be able to answer a question for me. I was curious what your response might be to someone who says that since we are not judged by God for our behavior on earth, then what is the Christian incentive to be 'good' to get to heaven? After all, if we were judged on behavior, then surely none of us would make it to heaven, right? I'm a little confused, because surely we can't all go around coveting, cheating, murdering and lying. Does this make sense? Please share all that you can on the subject, and once again, thank you."

• Rule No. 1: You never ask a pastor to share all that he can on a subject. You could grow old listening (or reading). :0) Just kidding. I don't have lots of time so this won't be exhaustive but I think I may be able to help you.

  You're absolutely right in both your points. Salvation (according to the Bible) is by grace (unmerited favor) and grace alone; Eph 2:8-9. But if you'll read on to verse 10 of the same passage, it says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." The word "workmanship" is poema in Greek, and has the connotation of "work of art". The point is this, when a person receives Jesus as Lord in their lives, forgiveness and salvation are given as free gifts. Un-earnable. But, along with that comes the work of God in our hearts, turning us from sin (1 Jn. 2:3-6), making us a new creation (2 Cor5:17), and giving us a love for the Lord (1 Pet. 1:8-9). There are verses in scripture that, in no uncertain way, condemn loose living on the part of believers; Eph 5:1-7, Gal 5:16-21, 1 Cor. 5:9-13. In Rom 3:5-8, Paul condemns anyone who would say that God is glorified by a sinful lifestyle. In Heb.12:14, the Bible says that without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

  This is how it all works: When a person is saved, Jesus said that the God of the universe comes and makes His home within that person; Jn. 14:23. The creator of the universe makes that person His temple. When that occurs there will be a change, Jesus called it being "born again." We get a new nature that desires the things of God and desires to please him. If there is no change, there's a major problem, either God is not really within us (we pretended to receive Him) or we've become hardened to the work of God. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep my commands"; Jn 14:15.
  Obedience to God's desires is a gauge by which we can test our love for Jesus. If there is no obedience, it's proof I don't love Jesus or that there's something I love more than Him. If there is no obedience, it proves I don't have fellowship with Jesus; 1 Jn 1:5-6.
  Gal 5:19-21 gives a list of sins, which if practiced excludes a person from the kingdom of God. So if a person professes Christ, and lives a lifestyle that includes fornication, adultery etc. it shows that the person is not in fellowship, is not in love, is not in a saving relationship with Jesus. I want to emphasize that the passage is speaking of a lifestyle, not a fall or a mistake or a temporary blow it. I use these types of verses as a thermometer of my relationship with God. If I find myself sinning in these areas it becomes a warning that my relationship with Christ is suffering.

  Now this is key, I don't fix the problem by trying to keep the commands or refusing to sin, I don't have that power in myself (Rom 7:18). What I do is repent (turn away from those things), get back in fellowship with Jesus (by talking to Him, prayer), confessing my sin and asking for forgiveness and by asking Him for a renewed love for Him in my heart. When that happens, my desire for those sinful things fades and they no longer are an issue. I'm walking in the Spirit, Gal. 5:16-17, 22-26. All things in scripture are designed to drive us to Jesus and to the cross, where sin is forgiven.

  I drink all the beer I want to, do all the drugs I want to, sleep with all the women I want to, beat up all the people I want to, lie as much as I want to, steal as much as I want to...the deal is I just don't want to anymore. Because of the work of God in my life. That's the way it works.

• "In the Revised Standard Version of your Holy Bible (as if you could "revise" God's word which the Bible is NOT) there is a footnote to Revelation 13:18 which reads, "Other ancient authorities read 616." And in the New American Standard Bible there's a footnote that reads, "One early ms reads 616" Aren't you aware of this?"

• The "revision" was of an English translation, not of God's word which the Bible IS. During the early centuries of Christianity there was an on-going battle with false teaching and false teachers. Many of these guys would make their own copies or translations of the Bible, much like the J.W.'s do now. The early church fathers routinely refuted the perversions of scripture that would come out, as they did this one. Out of over 5000 Gk Manuscripts there are only 3 (2 no longer exist) that read 616. Irenaeus knew about these (who lived during the 100's AD) and said that 666 is found "in all good and ancient copies," and is "attested by those who had themselves seen John face to face." This position would be like that of someone, who, 1000 years from now, got hold of the J.W.'s New World Translation (which is universally condemned by Gk scholars as a perversion of the N.T. text) and latched on to some perverted text and then accused Christians of having a contradictory Bible.

• "How could a collection of books (the Bible) that contradict themselves have any kind of reasonable support (Matt 1:6 vs. Luke 3:23, Mark 15:25, John 19:14, etc)?"

• Matt 1:6 vs Luke 3:23 The genealogies diverge after David. One through Solomon, one through Nathan. Genealogy of Joseph, genealogy of Mary. If Mary's dad had no male heir the inheritance would go to Mary and her husband would be entered in the genealogy as Mary's father's son.
  2) Mk 15:25 vs Jn 19:14. Mark is using the Jewish method for reckoning time, John the Roman. And we're talking about 2 different events. The sentence of crucifixion was given by Pilate at 6:00 a.m. (6th hour Roman time). The sentence was carried out at 9:00 a.m. (3rd hour, Jewish time) after they had gathered the other prisoners (2 thieves), the squad with execution duty, given the prisoners the cross pieces they were to carry, marched them through the streets etc.

• "God bless you Steve. I listen to you on KBLD every morning and am truly blessed. I was hoping that you could answer a question for me. In 1 Samuel 18:10 (during the time when the Lord had departed from Saul, but was with David vs.12) it says that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the house. This makes no sense to me at all. Can you help me? Thank you!"

• Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying the studies, it's always good to know the Lord is using the radio program in people's lives. As to your question; I'm assuming you're confused concerning the term "prophesied" when Saul was under the influence of a demonic spirit. The Hebrew word for prophesy means "to cause to bubble up, hence to pour forth words abundantly..." (Genesis Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament) It was a word that could be used for the proclamations of true prophets under the influence of the Spirit of God or for false prophets. Because the false prophets during this time and later went into fits and became "vehemently agitated, and spasmodically distorted" (ibid.) it also was used as a term for madness. What the passage is referring to is the fact that when the distressing spirit came upon Saul, he began to babble like a madman. Hope this helps. If you need more, feel free to post me again.

• "Steve, can you give me help? I need to fine out what "howbred" means, one of the apostles(?) was killed by this. Also do you have any info or where I can find out about "Theophilus and Matthias", we're studying the book of Acts on Sunday night at our house."

• You're probably talking about a "halberd". It's a spear with an ax blade. I believe it's a weapon from the late middle ages, so even though your source says "halberd" it probably means a spear or a lance. You may be talking about the apostle Matthew. He was killed with a spear. For info on Matthias and Theophilus, you can get a good commentary on Acts, I believe G. Campbell Morgan did a good one, or a Bible dictionary (Unger's Bible Dictionary, real good). I've also got a good web page for every resource you could want. The guys name is Lambert Dolphin. Click Here for the Link and look at his link page. Your best, and easiest, bet is going to be with the Bible dictionary. If you don't have one, you need it anyway. Get the Unger's. Theophilus may have been a governor or ruler (because of the phrase, "most excellent", a Roman title) in Antioch, according to tradition. May have been a sponsor for the defense of Paul before Nero. If that's true, both Luke and Acts would have been defense documents for Paul's trial before Caesar Nero. Matthias is never spoken about in the NT after Acts 1. May have been one of the 70 disciples Jesus sent out. One tradition says he died by being stoned to death by the Jews in Judea, another says he died by crucifixion in Ethiopia or Colchis.

• "After the Last Supper Passover Seder, the disciples sang a hymn before going out (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26). Is there any historical reference to a traditional hymn that was sung at the end of the Seder? I don't need to know the tune (probably lost in antiquity), but was it a certain psalm or other Scripture?"

• The Jews sang the Hallel Psalms after the Passover. Specifically 115-118. Along with Ps. 136.