• Why do you think the New Testament is more important, as far as studying it, than the Old Testament? What more of a benefit will it give?

      The Bible is a record of God's dealings with man. Man's creation and fall(sin) and the necessity for that sin to be atoned for. When you study both Old and New Testaments you quickly see that the Old Testament

     is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old revealed. The Old records God's promise for the redemption of mankind and the New the fulfillment of that promise. The Old pointed to Christ and

     the New revealed Christ for that redemptive work.

•  What do you consider to be the most important evidence of love, in the true believer's life: worship, prayer, the Word of God, fellowship, evangelism, service or something else? Pauline

    Thank you Pauline for your inquiry. The most important evidence of love in the true believer's life is a great question, one I would hope Christians would give more thought to. Your list is good, but all that you stated

     can be produced in the flesh and that doesn't please God. Look what Jesus said in John 4:23-24(NIV)

     23 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in

     spirit and in truth."

     So these that you listed must be done in the Spirit to bring honor to God. God's evidence of love is stated in John 3:16(NIV)

     "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

     The evidence of love cannot be produced in the flesh. In Christ's discord in Matthew 7 regarding a tree and it's fruit, Jesus says only a good tree can produce good fruit. So we are able to recognize false prophets by 

     their fruit(bad) and we are able to recognize a Christian by their fruit(good). This good fruit is produced in us by the Spirit of God. John 15:26(NIV)

     "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me."

     Look at John 16:15(NIV)

     "All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."

     Now let's go to Galatians 5:22-23(NIV)

     22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithflness, 23 gentelness and self-control."

     These nine fruits cannot be produced in the flesh, only in the Spirit. That's why false prophets or false Christians can't produce it. The love of the Father was his Son and we are to become like Him. This cannot be done

      in the flesh and the world will know to whom you belong, remember it's Christ that lives within you and His love in you should be evident to all. The most important evidence of a Christian's love is to walk in the Spirit

      and let His light shine.

•  I obey the Ten Commandments and am a pretty good person overall, isn't that good enough?

      No. There is only one way to be saved; by the pure grace of God provided by faith in Jesus Christ: The Bible says:

      "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

      While our good works have benefit for this life and are required of all who profess to follow Christ, they do not have saving merit with God. In fact, the

      Bible refers to our good works as "filthy rags" as far as being able to merit salvation with God. The Prophet Isaiah said: "All of us have become like

      one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." Even being

      an exceptionally "good" person will not merit salvation. No one, no matter how good they are, can earn salvation on their own apart from Christ. The

      best of our good works just do not measure up to God's holy and righteous requirments.

• Can anyone receive eternal life, even if they have never attended church and are really bad people?

      All people, regardless of how they live, fall short of God's righteous requirements. This applies to both good and bad people. Likewise all people can

      have the forgiveness and eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ: The Bible says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are

      justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

      Everyone, regardless of how good or bad they are, can and must receive eternal life the same way; through repentance of sin and acceptance of Jesus

      Christ as Lord and Savior: The Bible also says: "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come

      from the Lord."

      Just as the thief who was crucified on the cross next to Christ was assured of eternal life for calling on Christ, (Luke 23:39-43) so will God grant eternal

      life to all who recognize their sinfulness and call on him today: "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

      Hello, thank you for taking the time to read this short message. The Bible says: "to all who receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the

      right to become children of God--" As we all know life can be difficult, but as children of God we now have the power of God working for us. The Bible also

      says: "if we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts God raised him from the dead we will be saved."

      Have you received Him?

      Please say this short prayer. Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need of forgiveness and I repent. Jesus come into my heart for you paid the price for my

      sin, and I ask you to be Lord of my life. I believe God raised you from the dead and I have the promise of eternal life. Amen.

Have a question for us? Use the form below, and we'll post the answer right here on this page.