1 Did Jesus really not sin...ever? Yes, Jesus never sinned. How do we know? In the Gospels His [Christ] enemies were said to not be able to bring any charges of sin against Him. Many feel that one can only not sin if they are never tempted but the Bible specifically states that Jesus was tempted in every point like we are, and yet remained without sin. All of the temptations he faced were directed at His human and not his divine nature. It wouldn t make sense for us to go to Jesus Christ for help in a situation He has never been presented with Himself. I Peter 2:22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man: Jesus Christ had to remain sinless to become sin, to pay the price for us, our sin so that we could rejoin our Heavenly Father. II Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The following attributes of Jesus Christ also show how impossible it would be for Him to sin: 1. Immutability- He never changes. 2. Omnipotence- He has infinite power; sin would show weakness and submission to Satan. 3. Omniscience- He has infinite knowledge, so any attempts to deceive Christ simply wouldn t work. A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232
2 Why is there suffering? Suffering in the world is a result of sin in the world. Sin can cause suffering directly (dishonesty, crime, drugs, anger, wrong doing, crime, etc) and indirectly. Genesis 3:14-19 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Romans 8:20-22 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. In order for God to destroy suffering he needs to destroy the cause of evil, us, a solution I don t believe any of us would be happy with. It is for this reason He sent Jesus Christ to not only die for our sins, but give us a way out. Removing our ability to cause suffering would mean removing our free will, and without free will we are unable to love. A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232
3 If God created the heavens and the earth, then who created God? If you are asking who created God, you are more than likely wondering why God was created. If the universe needs a cause, then why doesn t God need a cause? And if God doesn t need a cause, why should the universe need a cause? In reply, Christians should use the following reasoning: 1. Everything which has a beginning has a cause.1 2. The universe has a beginning. 3. Therefore the universe has a cause. The universe requires a cause because it had a beginning, as will be shown below. God, unlike the universe, had no beginning, so doesn t need a cause. In addition, Einstein s general relativity, which has much experimental support, shows that time is linked to matter and space. So time itself would have begun along with matter and space. Since God, by definition, is the creator of the whole universe, he is the creator of time. Therefore He is not limited by the time dimension He created, so has no beginning in time God is the high and lofty One that inhabited eternity (Isaiah 57:15). Therefore He doesn t have a cause, he is the beginning and the end; meaning He is continuous there is no start or finish. Isaiah 57: 15 For this is what the high and exalted One says he who lives forever, whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232
4 Who is Jesus Christ? John 3:16, the most famous verse in the Bible tells us that: God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten that whoever believes on Him would not perish but would have everlasting life This verse tells us three things about the person and work of Jesus: 1. He is the Son of God, in fact Jesus is God in the flesh. John 1: 14, 18 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 2. He is the Savior of the world- Matt. 1:21 21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 3. He is the source of life- John 1:3-5 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232
5 What is a Christian? Is it a particular belief-system, a morality pattern, changing and improving one s behavior, joining a particular church organization, or practicing regular rituals of worship? A Christian is defined by the one in which one becomes a Christian and the continuance of what it means to be one. Jesus Christ came and created a package plan for us to become Christians, there is nothing we can do alone to become Christian. As state in Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. There is no good deed that we can do to become Christians, it is by the grace of God in Jesus Christ that we have been given the opportunity of rejoining our Heavenly father afforded by Jesus Christ and Him alone. So simply joining a church, or changing your beliefs, taking on rituals or even abiding by the Ten Commandments will not make you a Christian, just a good person. A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232
6 How do I become a Christian? To become a Christian a change in your spiritual nature takes place, in your spirit, soul, and body. As stated in I Thessalonians 5:23: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We all start out spiritually dead so a transformation needs to be taken so that we become alive spiritually as stated in Ephesians 2:1,5: 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), This is what we call being born again, to take on the nature and the life of God that can only occur in the spirit of man. One must receive eternal life of Christ by faith, it is this very acceptance that makes us a Christian. When you are and individual in Christ, you become a child of God, there is no physical or mind set procedure created that all of us must go through to experience this, it is through faith of acknowledge Jesus Christ, accepting him, and being receptive to His activities and future role in your life as state in John 1:12-13 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Want to know how to recieve Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? Romans chapter ten tells us that accepting Christ is actually as simple as ABC : A=Admit you are a sinner and ask God to forgive you. B=Believe that Jesus died for you. C= Confess Him as Lord A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232
7 What does it mean to be a Christian? To be a Christian does mean to be Christ like or to imitate the life of Jesus Christ but to take on Him, his behavior, mindset, choices, and character and apply it to our everyday lives. Living the Christian life style is not going through the motions of religious rituals: church attendance, church participations, tithing, giving, etc. It is not what we do, but recognizing the ability of the life of Jesus Christ within us. It is us giving God the opportunity to work in us and to manifest His Glory within us, we are allowing his character to be expressed in every area of our life. One cannot be aware of God s character, or his will for our lives if we do not read the word, studying the character of God. We cannot be aware of His will for our lives if we do not develop communication with Him through prayer. If we do not surround ourselves with other individuals striving to do the same thing to keep us motivate as well as accountable for our daily choices we can fail and fail often. However joining a church helps you continue to be a Christian but does not make you one. Participating in church and offering your services to your local church does not make you a Christian it gives you the opportunity to minister to others as well as giving and tithing allows your Church to reach out to others who do not know Christ. A city of refuge 3480 Refugee Road, Columbus, OH, 43232