Episode 436 Show Notes
Note: In today's show, we announced an upcoming change to our show. Read more about it here.
From the Show
Brother, I think, we as believers are called to forgive all the time. That means whether a person repents—whether they own their sin or not—I think that, from the heart, we should seek to forgive them. If we have to wait for someone to repent before we can forgive them from the heart, then in one sense, we are stuck in bondage. We’re unable to forgive until another person deals with their own sin. And I think in our own heats, we can forgive others who have sinned against us but that doesn’t mean we’re reconciled.
—Adriel Sanchez
Questions in this Episode
1. Pastor Adriel and Bill, I have repented of sexual immorality and drunkenness. I know without a doubt that those things are against God's law, and I am sorry for committing those sins. However, I am older (62), and I sometimes wonder if I genuinely repented or is my decreased desire to do those things a function of getting older. Thanks.
2. I don't know how you feel about this, but I'm not a Christian. I'm agnostic, but I am a theology major at Arkansas State University … And I just want to know, what exactly does the Bible say against women, you know, women loving other women. I know that there's a Bible verse, you know, man shall not lay with man, but what exactly does it say about lesbians? Because it doesn't say anything specific that I've heard, but maybe there, you know, you know more about it than I do. So I was just wondering, you know about that. I just had a question about that. Thank you so much. God Bless.
3. Jesus established, during his ministry, that he had the authority and power to directly and immediately forgive sins. Why instead, when he was on the cross, did he pray asking the Father to forgive the accessories to his murder rather than just forgiving them directly by saying, “I forgive you,” or “your sins are forgiven"? Was this an indication that they would be forgiven when they realized what they had done and repented, like when they were “cut to the heart” on Pentecost? I ask this because I frequently hear Christians say we should forgive even when the offender doesn’t repent, but what I read in all my studies is that forgiveness is contingent on repentance. Can you help me understand?
4. I was reading Ephesian 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” I was just kind of puzzled by the phrase “do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” I was just wanting to know your interpretation and thoughts on what that means and how we grieve the Holy Spirit in our lives.
5. Hi guys! Thanks so much for your ministry! I was wondering, given all of the disappointing things King Saul did, do we have any good reason to believe that we will see him in heaven?
Resources
Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God's Story by Michael Horton
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