Q&A

Does the Bible say anything about man's character development?

Actually, the Bible has quite a bit to say about this topic.

(1) To give a good definition of righteous character, as we want to apply this term in this Q&A, we would like to quote from several of Herbert Armstrong’s writings, the late Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God.

In “What Science Cannot Discover About the Human Mind,” copyright 1978, he wrote about righteous character as “the ability in a single entity to come to comprehend and distinguish the true values from the false, the right way from the wrong, to choose the right and reject the wrong, and, with power of will, to do the right and resist the evil.”

In “Mystery of the Ages,” copyright 1985, he elaborated, as follows:

“Perfect, holy and righteous character is the ability in such separate entity to come to discern the true and right way from the false, to make voluntarily a full and unconditional surrender to God and his perfect way — to yield to be conquered by God — to determine even against temptation or self- desire, to live and to do the right. And even then such holy character is the gift of God. It comes by yielding to God to instill HIS LAW (God’s right way of life) within the entity who so decides and wills. Actually, this perfect character comes only from God, as instilled within the entity of his creation, upon voluntary acquiescence, even after severe trial and test…”

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What does it mean to bless our enemies and those who curse us?

Actually, the command to bless others even though they may not seem worthy of our blessing is to be found throughout the Bible.

We read in Matthew 5:44: “But I say to you, love your enemies, BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Compare, Luke 6:27-28).

Romans 12:14-20 adds:

“BLESS THOSE who persecute you; BLESS AND DO NOT CURSE… Repay no one evil for evil… If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves… If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

1 Corinthians 4:12 states: “… Being reviled, we BLESS; being persecuted, we endure…”

1 Peter 3:9 adds: “… not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”

The word “bless,” in the context of the above-quoted Scriptures, conveys the meaning of “calling down by prayer a blessing on him who persecutes us.”

The Greek word for “bless” is “eulogeo.” It is a compound of “eveu,” meaning “good” or “well,” and “logos,” meaning, “word, something said, speaker.” It can include “thought.” The word for “bless” means, then, “to speak well of” or “to invoke blessings upon a person.” (Compare Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, No. 2127, and W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

When we bless someone, we refrain from cursing him. We bless with our lips, by what we say, but our blessings of others need to come from the heart; not only from our lips. Psalm 62:4 warns us not to behave like the wicked, when they bless others: “They only consult to cast him down from his high position; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly.”

The Hebrew word for “bless” is “barah” and means, literally, “to kneel,” and by implication, “to bless God (as an act of adoration) or man (as a benefit).” (Compare Strong’s, No. 1288).

A good example of how to bless our hateful enemies can be seen in Luke 23:34 and Acts 7:60, when both Jesus and Stephen asked God to forgive their enemies and not to charge them with their sin of murder.

When we bless those who curse us, we do this with our mouth–but our words must be coming from the heart. This includes, praying for them. Our prayer could include, asking God to grant them repentance so that their sins may be forgiven. It could include asking God to prevent them from continuing their evil deeds, since their attitudes and conduct harm themselves and others.

Our prayer might include the plea to God to let our enemies see that what they are doing is wrong. We are not to avenge ourselves because we know that God will avenge us–and if this means that God will allow or bring trials on our enemies to bring them to repentance or a recognition of the evil of their doing, then that, too, would be a blessing for them.

The commentary of Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says about Matthew 5:44:

“Bless them that curse you – The word ‘bless’ here means to ‘speak well of’ or ‘speak well to:’ – not to curse again or to slander, but to speak of those things which we can commend in an enemy; or, if there is nothing that we can commend, to say nothing about him.”

Blessing would mean not to slander our enemies or to speak evil of them, by inventing facts or “adding to” the truth. It does not mean hiding the facts if there is a need to speak out, but even then, we must be sure that we do not speak or act with hate and with a desire to avenge ourselves (2 Timothy 2:17-18, 20-21; 4:14-15; 1 Timothy 1:18-20).

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states about Matthew 5:44:

“… when wicked men curse you, as Shimei cursed David, do not ‘render evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing’; give good words, use kind language, mild and soft expressions; such as may either win upon them, or put them to shame and silence: ‘bless, and curse not’; the latter belongs to them, the former to you; ‘let them curse, but bless thou’: curses better fit their mouths, and blessings thine. Blessing here, does not signify praising them, for that would be sinful…”

He adds in his comments about Romans 12:14:

“… bless them; that is, to pray for them, that God would show them their evil, give repentance to them, and the remission of their sins; which is the order Christ gave to his disciples [in Luke 24:47] and encouraged to an observance of, by his own example [Luke 23:34] and has been followed herein by his disciples and apostles [Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 4:12]. Moreover, by ‘blessing’ may be meant, giving them good words, mild and soft answers, ‘not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing’ [1 Peter 3:9]; but, on the contrary, blessing, in imitation of Christ, who, ‘when he was reviled, reviled not again’ [1 Peter 2:23]…

“… and curse not: to have a mouth full of cursing and bitterness [Romans 3:14] is the character of an unregenerate man, and what by no means suits one who names the name of Christ; for blessing and cursing to proceed out of the same mouth, is as absurd and unnatural, as if it should be supposed that a fountain should send forth sweet water and bitter, or salt and fresh [James 3:10]…”

Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible writes about Romans 12:14:

“Bless them, pray for them, and on no account curse them, whatever the provocation may be. Have the loving, forgiving mind that was in your Lord.”

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible states about Romans 12:14:

“Bless, and curse not – Bless only; or continue to bless, however long or aggravated may be the injury. Do not be provoked to anger, or to cursing, by any injury, persecution, or reviling. This is one of the most severe and difficult duties of the Christian religion… To curse denotes properly to devote to destruction. Where there is power to do it, it implies the destruction of the object. Thus, the fig-tree that was cursed by the Savior soon withered away [Mark 11:21]. Thus, those whom God curses will be certainly destroyed [Matthew 25:41; that is, if they remain under the curse and refuse to repent]. Where there is not power to do it, to curse implies the invoking of the aid of God to devote to destruction. Hence, it means to imprecate; to implore a curse from God to rest on others; to pray that God would destroy them. In a larger sense still, it means to abuse by reproachful words; to calumniate; or to express oneself in a violent, profane, and outrageous manner.”

When we curse someone and wishing him ill and longing for his destruction, we are motivated by Satan the devil; not by God. When James and John, the “sons of thunder,” asked Christ whether they should command fire to come down from heaven to destroy and devour the Samaritans who had refused to provide shelter for them, Jesus rebuked them and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:55-56).

Satan is called the destroyer (Revelation 9:11–the Hebrew word for Satan, “Abaddon,” means “Destruction,” and the Greek word for Satan, “Apollyon,” means “Destroyer”). On the other hand, Jesus is the Savior of the world (John 3:17; 4:42). We need to follow Christ’s example, not Satan’s. Moses prayed to God to relent from killing the nation of Israel when they had greatly sinned against Him (Exodus 32:7-14); and Abraham asked God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous (Genesis 18:20-32).

In conclusion, we must be careful not to curse anyone, including our enemies who are hateful towards us and try to do us harm. Vengeance is God’s alone. Rather, we are to bless our enemies and pray for them, asking God to help them to see the evil of their ways and to repent. Our love towards all men will

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Why will Satan attempt a second coup to try to overthrow God?

The Bible does not say specifically why Satan will attempt a second coup, but it does give us several hints and indications which we might want to consider.

Prior to the physical creation, God brought into being the spirit world of angels. After God had created the physical universe and the earth, an archangel named Lucifer was placed over one third of the angels here on earth to beautify it. This was long before man was created with the ultimate potential to become a full-fledged member of the God Family. Nothing is said in the Bible that Lucifer or any of the angels had that same potential which would later be given to man.

According to Ezekiel 28:12-16 and Isaiah 14:12-15, Lucifer was perfect as far as his creation was concerned. However, Lucifer made wrong choices–he allowed pride to enter his mind. This pride corrupted his thinking, just like a virus can corrupt a computer. This corruption led him to believe that his abilities were greater than God’s; that he was not rewarded properly by God in accordance with his talents and achievements; and that the way of competition and get was superior to God’s way of give and love and concern for others. He managed to influence the angels under his control to participate in his first rebellion (Revelation 12:4). In resenting God’s government, he did the unthinkable and attempted to overthrow God and take over the rule over the entire universe. Of course, Lucifer, whose name was changed to Satan (meaning enemy or adversary), lost this battle, and he and his angels (now known as demons) were thrown back to this earth where they still rule today.

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Does Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 4 have prophetic meaning for us today?

Over the years, many ideas have been advanced to the effect that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as described in Daniel 4, has some kind of hidden prophetic meaning for us today. In the last Q&A, we discussed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in much detail. We pointed out that the dream referred to that ancient king and predicted his seven years of insanity to punish his pride. We showed that the dream was fulfilled, exactly as God had pronounced it, and that King Nebuchadnezzar subsequently repented of his pride at the time when his sanity was restored to him.

Some have pointed at Nebuchadnezzar’s “seven years” of insanity and applied it to seven “prophetic” years of punishment for the entire Babylonian Empire. The rationale goes something like this: A “prophetic” year of 360 DAYS is the equivalent of 360 YEARS. [The one day for one year PRINCIPLE is, in fact, biblical in some instances, and is described in passages such as Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:4-6.] If applied in this way, seven prophetic “years” of 360 “days” or “years” each, would amount to 2,520 years. Beginning to count with the time when Babylon fell (which occurred about 539 B.C.), one would reach the year 1982 A.D.

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Would you please explain Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as recorded in Daniel 4?

Much prophetic speculation has ensued pertaining to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 4, but if we allow the Bible to interpret itself, the answer to the meaning of that dream becomes very clear.

Note, first, the following highlights from that chapter. We are told that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which made him afraid (verse 5), but none of the “wise men of Babylon” could explain the meaning of the dream. Finally, Daniel was brought before the king (verse 8). We will recall that Daniel had explained to the king his first dream about a statue, as recorded in Daniel 2.

Nebuchadnezzar described to Daniel his second dream and asked him to interpret the same for him. In the dream, Nebuchadnezzar had seen a strong tree, which was cut down, but the stump and roots in the earth would be preserved, “bound with a band of iron and bronze” (verse 15). Showing that the dream did not refer to an ordinary tree, the king continued to describe to Daniel that a watcher from heaven said: “The heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him” (verse 16).

Daniel proceeded to explain the meaning of the dream, as follows:

“(20) The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong… (22) It is you, O king, who have grown and become strong… (23) And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him’; (24) THIS IS THE INTERPRETATION, O KING, and this is the decree of the Most High… (25) They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass OVER YOU, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. (26) And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, YOUR KINGDOM shall be assured TO YOU, AFTER YOU COME TO KNOW THAT HEAVEN RULES…'”

After about twelve months, the fulfillment of the dream began to come to pass. Nebuchadnezzar, in his pride, glorified himself rather than God, and immediately, he was driven out from men to live with the beasts “for seven times,” until, “at the end of the time,” his understanding and his reason returned to him (verses 32, 34, 36). Nebuchadnezzar is reported as saying: “…I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down” (Daniel 4:36-37).

Please note that this dream is strictly talking about events in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. The dream referred specifically and exclusively to him–and not to anyone coming after him. Compare again Daniel 4:22, 25, 26, 32-33, 34.

This is remarkable because Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream in Daniel 2 clearly is said to refer to future times and kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, and ending with the return of Christ. Nothing similar is remotely suggested to apply to Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream in Daniel 4.

Let’s notice what is said specifically in and about that dream:

(1) The Cut-Down Tree

Verse 14 tells us that the tree was to be cut down and that the beasts were commanded to flee away from under its branches. This means that the king’s courtiers, officers, etc., all abandoned him as soon as his insanity appeared; and he soon fled from the society of men (compare Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible).

(2) The Stump and the Roots Remain

Verse 15 tells us that the stump and the roots should be left. Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains:

“The word here used [for “stump”] implies that it was still alive, or that there was a germ which would send up a new shoot, so that the tree would live again. The idea is, that though the mighty tree would fall, yet there would remain vitality in the root, or the portion that would remain in the earth after the tree was cut down, and that this would spring up again – a most striking image of what would occur to Nebuchadnezzar after he should be cast down from his lofty throne, and be again restored to his reason and to power.”

(3) Stump Bound With Band of Iron and Brass

We are also told, in verse 15, that the stump would be bound with “a band of iron and brass.”

Barnes explains:

“This expression may be regarded as applicable either to the cut-down tree, or to the humbled monarch. If applied to the former, it would seem that the idea is, that the stump or root of a tree, deemed so valuable, would be carefully secured by an enclosure of iron or brass, either in the form of a hoop placed round the top of the stump, to preserve it from being opened or cracked by the heat of the sun, so as to admit moisture, which would rot it; or around the roots, to bind it together, with the hope that it would grow again; or it may refer to a railing or enclosure of iron or brass, to keep it from being plowed or dug up as worthless. In either case, it would be guarded with the hope that a tree so valuable might spring up again.

“If applied to the monarch – an explanation not inconsistent with the proper interpretation of the passage – it would seem to refer to some method of securing the royal maniac in bonds of iron and brass, as with the hope that his reason might still be restored, or with a view to keep him from inflicting fatal injury on himself. That the thing here referred to might be practiced in regard to a valuable tree cut down, or broken down, is by no means improbable; that it might be practiced in reference to the monarch is in accordance with the manner in which the insane have been treated in all ages and countries.”

John Gill’s Exposition to the Entire Bible adds:

“… the allusion is to his distracted condition afterwards related; it being usual to bind madmen with chains of iron or brass, to keep them from hurting themselves and others, as in [Mark 5:4].”

(4) Heart Changed for Seven Times

Verse 16 explains that the king’s heart would be changed for seven times.

Barnes states regarding the king’s changed heart:

“… some man was represented by the vision… The word heart here seems to refer to nature – ‘let his nature or propensity cease to be that of a man, and become like that of a beast; let him cease to act as a man, and act as the beasts do…'”

Regarding “seven times,” Barnes points out:

“The more common interpretation is what supposes that it was a year, and this will agree better with all the circumstances of the case than any other period… Josephus understands by it ‘seven years’… While the Chaldee word is indeterminate in respect to the length of time, the most natural and obvious construction here and elsewhere, in the use of the word, is to refer it to years. Days or weeks would be obviously too short, and though in this place the word ‘months’ would perhaps embrace all that would be necessary, yet in the other places where the word occurs in Daniel it undoubtedly refers to years, and there is, therefore, a propriety in understanding it in the same manner here.”

The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge agrees, stating: “seven times: That is, seven years, a time in the prophetic language denoting a year.”

The commentary of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown agrees (“times — that is, ‘years.'”); and so do Gill (“seven years are meant”); and Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, where we read:

“Let him continue in this state for seven years. I knew a man who was thus changed in his heart – in his imagination. He believed himself to be a bear, and would imitate the usual growl, etc.; and the case did not appear to be hypochondriacal. Whether he ever came to sound mind, I kno

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Could you please explain what is meant with the "fulfillment" of "the times of the Gentiles?"

The Bible uses this particular term only once, in Luke 21:24. It is important to notice the context.

Christ had been asked by some of His disciples when the temple would be destroyed (Luke 21:5-7). In reviewing the parallel passage in Matthew 24:1-3, we learn that they had also asked Him when the end of the age–the end of this present evil civilization–would occur, and when He would return–apparently believing that all of these events would be interconnected.

Christ began to warn of coming religious deception, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences, and fearful sights and great signs from heaven. He explained that all these were the beginning of sorrows–the beginning of the end.

He continued to warn about the coming Great Tribulation–a time of war and persecution of God’s people and the modern descendants of the physical nations of Israel and Judah (For information on the modern identity of these ancient peoples, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”). Christ said that Jerusalem would be destroyed or made desolate AT THAT TIME; that is, at the time of the Great Tribulation.

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Is there any validity to the claim that we can only be saved if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior?

Although the biblical answer to this question is highly controversial, the Bible teaches very clearly that there is no other way to eternal salvation than through Jesus Christ. Non-christian religions reject this claim outright, and even many Christian organizations and denominations feel uncomfortable about this and think that they must apologize for the Scriptures and offer “alternatives,” such as, “as long as we follow our conscience,” or, “as long as we believe in someone or something,” we are or will be saved.

Since we are not interested in humanly devised fables and interpretations, let us focus strictly on the clear teaching of the Bible.

First of all, we are taught that salvation belongs to the God of the BIBLE, and that we can only receive salvation FROM HIM (Revelation 7:9-10; 19:1). It is God the Father who is the “SAVIOR of ALL MEN, especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).

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Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father, from the Son, or from both?

This question has been the cause of controversy for many centuries and generations. While one major Christian denomination teaches that the Holy Spirit only proceeds from the Father, but is given us through the Son, another major Christian denomination holds that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.

To answer this question from the Bible, we must first of all realize that the Holy Spirit is not a Person or a Personage, but the POWER and the MIND of God. It is through the POWER of the Holy Spirit that God creates and acts, and mightily sustains what He has created. For more information on this vital subject, please read our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?“

On the other hand, God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are powerful Personages or God beings. Both the Father and the Son ARE God. And it should therefore come as no surprise that both the Holy Spirit of God the Father AND the Holy Spirit of God the Son are dwelling in converted Christians. The Bible clearly teaches, then, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND the Son, and that BOTH are bestowing THEIR Holy Spirit on us.

Notice the following excerpts from our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:

“Acts 2:33 states: ‘Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Christ] poured out this which you now see and hear.’

“Notice, it says here that Christ received the Holy Spirit from the Father, and that Christ then poured out the Spirit from the Father. This is confirmed, too, in John 15:26, where we read Christ’s words: ‘But when the Helper comes, whom [better: which] I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who [better: which] proceeds from the Father, He [it] will testify of me.’ Again, we are told here that Christ sends us the Holy Spirit from the Father (cp. also John 16:7).

“Notice also Christ’s words in John 14:16-17: ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He [better: it] may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth…for He [it] dwells with you and will be in you.’ Here we see that it is the Father who will give us the Holy Spirit. He does so through Christ, as we read earlier…

“Titus 3:5-6 confirms that the Father gives us the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ: “[God] saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom [better: ‘which,’ cp. Authorized Version] He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

“We also see, however, in John 14:26, that the Father Himself sends us His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ said: ‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom [better: which] the Father will send in My name, He [it] will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.’

“Notice that it is not only the Holy Spirit of the Father that dwells in us. We also see that it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us. Gal. 4:6 tells us: ‘And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father.”‘ We see here that God the Father sent the Spirit of His Son, Jesus Christ, in our hearts, and because it is the Spirit of His Son, we can call God our Father. Notice it, too, in Phil. 1:19: ‘For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.’ Again, it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us…

“That the Spirit of the Father and of Christ dwells in us becomes very clear when reading Rom. 8:9: ‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.’ Here we read that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and when we do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, we are not even Christians.

“So putting all those passages together, we can see that the Spirit of God the Father and of Christ dwells in us, and that both God the Father and Jesus Christ send us, or pour into us, the Holy Spirit. But how can that be? Isn’t there only ONE Spirit?…

“There is clearly only one Spirit, just as there is only one baptism, one faith, one hope and one body (cp. Eph. 4:4-5). But consider this: Although there is only one baptism, there are many individuals being baptized. And even though there is only one body, there are many members in that body (cp. 1 Cor. 12:14). And we know that the ONE God consists of the Father and the Son, that is, God is not just one person.

“The same is true for the Holy Spirit. There is ONE Spirit, but both God the Father and Jesus Christ are Spirit beings, and the Holy Spirit emanates from both of them. That is why we read about the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ. When we read that there is one Spirit, then the reference is to the oneness or harmony between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is exactly the same when Christ said, ‘I and the Father are one.’ (John 10:30). Christ did not mean, the Father and He were ‘one’ being—but that they were ‘one’ in purpose and goal and mindset and character. When Christ spoke these words, He was clearly a separate person from God the Father. Christ said in John 17:11, that we all should be one, as the Father and Christ are one in spirit—not in the sense that we all would become one being, but rather, that we all be of the same spirit. God the Father and Christ are one in spirit, and so are we to become one in spirit.

“Notice Christ’s words in John 14:23: ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’ Both the Father and Jesus Christ live in us. John 14:16-18 confirms too that not only the Father, but also Jesus Christ live in us, through the Holy Spirit, when Christ told His disciples, ‘I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper…, the Spirit of truth…[that] will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.’ God the Father and Jesus Christ have both come to us, and they both have made their home with us. They do this through the Holy Spirit that flows from both of them into us.”

The Bible teaches that both the Father and the Son live in converted Christians. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul encourages us to examine ourselves to make sure that Christ is in us. We read in John 15:4 that Jesus “abides” or “lives” in true Christians. As Christ abides or lives in us through the Holy Spirit, so God the Father abides or lives in us through the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed in 1 John 3:23-24: “And this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ… Now he who keeps His [God the Father’s] commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He [God the Father] abides in us, by the Spirit [which] He has given us.”

In addition to the passages quoted above, please note that we are specifically told that God the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). Acts 15:8 reiterates that God the Father gives the Holy Spirit.

More clearly, 1 John 4:12-13 explains: “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and HE IN US, because He has given us OF His Spirit.”

We are called the sons of God when we are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14)–as Jesus Himself was led by the Spirit of God the Father (Luke 4:1).

When we are called upon to defend ourselves in courts for what we believe, then the “Holy Spirit” (compare Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12) will speak through us. The Holy Spirit is specifically defined, in this context, as the Spirit of the Father, as Matthew 10:19-20 says: “… For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit OF YOUR FATHER [which] speaks IN you.” But we also read t

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What is your position on the death penalty?

We find in the ninth chapter of the book of Genesis that, following the great flood by which God wiped out all existing mankind, save Noah and his family, God made a covenant with Noah. In that covenant, God emphasized the sanctity of human life.

Genesis 9:5-6 reads: “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning… from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.”

Later, after God had brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, He instructed the leaders of the nation of Israel that capital punishment was to be carried out for a variety of crimes, including murder, kidnapping, adultery and rape (Exodus 21:12, 16, and Deuteronomy 22:13-27). Moses was also commanded to put to death anyone who cursed their father or mother (Leviticus 20:9).

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Does the Bible have anything to say about the existence of "sea monsters," such as the "Loch Ness creature"?

Surprising as it may seem, the Bible has indeed much to say about the existence of certain elusive creatures. It is entirely possible that some of these creatures, such as the “Loch Ness monster” in Scotland or similar “lake monsters” in other parts of the world, might exist today.

First of all, let us examine some interesting Scriptures which clearly describe animals, which are generally believed today to be myths or legends, or which are thought to have become extinct. Some have attempted to apply living known animals, or Satan, or world powers, to the biblical descriptions, but those attempts must be considered as totally inadequate.

For instance, the Bible has much to say about a creature called, “Leviathan.” This animal clearly existed at the time of Job, and is described, in detail, in the 41st chapter of the book of Job. Some have said that a crocodile is described there–but this is utter nonsense. The description of Leviathan in the book of Job and in other places refers to a living animal–but it does not remotely apply to a crocodile. Some have said that the description of Leviathan in the book of Job is merely a description of Satan. However, clearly an animal is described in Job 41–not a spirit being (even though some of the characteristics of Leviathan might very well, in a symbolic sense, apply to Satan).

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