Question 1: I would love to have more light on this. Is Jesus also God; with scriptural reference.
Answer
1 Timothy 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Depending on context, God and Jesus are both the same and not the same.
In John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] The same was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”
We would see that Jesus was the Word of God and the creation was carried out by the Word (God). In the GODHEAD (God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit), all 3 persons cannot be separated. It is God in 3 persons (Trinity).
John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”
John 14:7 “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him”
Jesus is the express image of the 3 members of the Godhead. He images the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 2:9 “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”
At the promise of the Comforter, Jesus had to go.
John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you”
In the context above, Jesus is God.
However, in the context of office, Jesus is not the same person as God. Jesus didn’t take the place of God on earth. While he was on earth, He prayed to the Father. Even after His ascension, He is seated at the right of God making intersession for us.
Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us”.
Jesus was revealed on Earth as Christ, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:16-17, “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (17). And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”.
He took the office of the Christ and Son of God. In this way, He is not (same) as God, the Father. But it must be noted that Christ has existed from the very beginning.
John 1:2, “The same was in the beginning with God”.
John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am”.
1 Peter 1:20-21, “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (21) Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God”.
Question 2: Is it possible for God to instruct you to marry who you are not physically attracted to? Kindly answer with Bible references.
I will firstly want to establish the fact that marriage is from God.
The story found in Genesis 24 ministered to me. Your question can be compared to what Rebecca also felt when that servant came from nowhere with a story that cannot be proven because there was no way she could reach Abraham via a call. If there was one thing Rebecca did that I admire, it is the fact that she believed God. Yes, she believed God that if this is the way He wants to give her her own inheritance in Israel, so be it. She trusted God and surrendered to him. The funniest part of it was that while they were on their way back to their land, they met the master on the way. They beheld each other but my Bible didn’t state if they fell In love or were attracted to each other at first sight. However, my Bible stated that Isaac brought her home and he was comforted. The love, comfort and care came with time. Therefore beloved, my advice to you is to surrender to God and His will and see how you will get physically attracted to this person with time. So far it is God’s will, He will surely come through because His plans for you are of peace and not evil to give you an expected end. He knows the one that best fits you; trust him and let His will be done. Don’t forget that SURRENDERING comes first.
Question 3: Can a believer be possessed; What’s the difference between Possession and Oppression?
Answer:
No, a believer cannot be possessed. Possession in it’s literal meaning in English means “to take ownership or to occupy” and the spirit of a believer has been occupied and sealed by the Spirit of God. Therefore, the devil cannot have access to it. We have been sealed by the Holy ghost of promise. (Ephesians 1:13)
However, a believer can be oppressed; oppression occurs in the body and it means inflicting pain on the body. The Scripture says “…and the Lord healed those that were oppressed of the devil.”(Acts.10:38) The body of a believer will be susceptible to the attack of the enemy if such a believer refuses to yield his/her members to God and also puts them under the subjection of the Holy Spirit within him/her.
We are to do something to do the body which is the responsibility of believer to yield his body to God. (Rom 6:11-13).
Believers can also be susceptible to the oppression of the enemy through the ignorance of the Scripture, not putting on the whole armour of God, being prayerless etc. (Eph 6:10-18, Luke 18:1)
Question 4: How do you manage multiple talents?
Answer
Romans 11:29; Matthew 25:14-30.
To every specific calling/purpose in God’s kingdom, there is a provision of talents/gifts that will enable the fulfillment of that calling. Depending on the specifications of our calling, gifts differ both in number and operation. So, it’s possible to have different gifts within believers even though we have a general calling into Christ.
However, if you’ve noticed that you have multiple talents/gifts, it is recommended that you know your specific calling in Christ Jesus in order to effectively manage them. For example, if two Christians can prophesy, it doesn’t mean they’ve been called into the office of being a prophet or if a Christian has a sonorous voice, it doesn’t mean that he/she is called into the gospel music ministry. Management is the act of maximizing available resources to achieve a goal. The goal in this context as believers is the fulfillment of our calling in Christ Jesus. So, it is required that you know your calling in Christ Jesus so as to know how to appropriately prioritize and channel these talents God has given you.
Question 5: In the Bible, is Sunday the same as Sabbath?
The idea of a day of worship was initially done in the Sabbath day as believed by some Christians. (Exodus 31;15 & 16, Leviticus 23:32) But the journey began with God who started the idea of day and night. Genesis 1:5 “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day”.
The verse above explained it all that the naming of the day and the night was done by God Himself. He named the light Day and the darkness Night, but the combination of day and night makes a day. What’s my point? God never named any day Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. What we heard scripture saying was the first day.
How then do we come about the idea of days of the week?
We will have to go back to history.
Looking into different sources of historians, the days of the week were originally named after the planets while some claim they were named after some gods, but the truth of the matter is that the day was named by mortal men (Babylonians). They broke the days into lunar i.e. months and further into weeks and later to days. If Sunday is the first day and the seventh day is the Sabbath day which we are expected to keep holy and reference God, how then do we come about taking the first day as the day of the Lord and not the sixth day?
Historically some believe that the slavery period of the Israelite to the land of Babylon brought an influence on them. Their culture rubbed off on them, many could not stay true to the initial sayings of God as regard the sixth day of worship. Going back to the disciple’s days, the disciples and Jesus all observe the Sabbath.
Question 6: The Bible said Parents should not provoke their children to anger. Please can you clarify on how parent can provoke their children to anger, and how can we resolve this biblically?
Answer.
The Bible verse that spoke on this can be found in the epistles of Apostle Paul to the believers at Ephesus.
Eph.6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with loving kindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”(AMP)
The above verse explained how parents can provoke their children to anger. Examples of this include, loving one child than the others and publicly showing it, not providing for their needs when they(parents) have the means to do so, physical abuse for no reason, among others.
When parents do these to their children, there is a high possibility of provoking them to anger because they are supposed to be caregivers and guardian to their children.
How to resolve this biblically.
If a child finds himself/herself in a situation of provocation from the parents, then these may be the reason;
1. Such parents are not genuinely saved, i.e born again
2. Such parents do not understand the word of God.
Parents that are not born again do not understand the principles and precepts of the word of God.
Having an understanding of the word of God would save us from doing things that are contrary to what it teaches. When we give ourselves to the word daily, we begin to know and become wise. As parents, we need wisdom to bring up our children in the way of the Lord.
So, if a child observed this in his or her parents, PRAYER is required and you may also need to tell an elderly person in the family. However, this requires wisdom.
Question 7: Differences between Unrighteousness and Ungodliness
Answer
Both are similar even though they have their peculiarities. Righteousness is something given freely to us. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, for the Scripture says that he imputed his righteousness unto us. Righteousness is a ready-made work of Jesus and He is our righteousness. Godliness is a work of faith. Work is involved even though it is accomplished by faith.
Godliness involves taking on the nature of God and for you to take on the nature of God, there are some things you must do every day like prayers, reading the Bible, fasting and so on. It is the life controlled totally by the Holy Spirit. A godly person yields to the do’s and don’ts of the Holy Spirit. Consistent obedience to the sayings of the Holy Spirit makes us Godly. Unrighteousness is not giving your life to Christ at all. Scriptures says “woe unto this perverse generation”. Ungodliness is when a believer is not expressing the life of Christ (e.g. liars, fornicators, forming deceits, those who are unwilling to obey the speaking of the Holy Spirit). These people have the imputation of righteousness but they are not walking in the reality of it because the aim of the gift is to produce Godliness.
So unrighteousness is not giving your life to Christ at all while ungodliness is not walking in the standard of terms, codes and conducts of the Kingdom you claim to acknowledge as a believer. Christians that are not living according to the Government of heaven, those are ungodly people. These are people who behave the way they want. Scriptures talks about the lawless generation. God is not the one lording over their lives because where the word of a king is, there is power and the word of a king will come as commandments and rules. Therefore, it is where commandments and rules are followed that the power of that government will be manifested, seen and experienced.
Question 8: When believers commit sin and ask God for forgiveness, they feel they’ve not been forgiven even, for up to thirty minutes or more. Why is this?
Answer
According to James.1:9, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John.1:7 mentions that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin”. In addition, 1 John.2:1 says; “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
From these portions of scripture, we are made to understand that if we sin and confess them as believers, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin; and the blood of Jesus cleanses our sin. It is not when we feel forgiven, or as a result of praying for forgiveness for a long time, or waiting for a sign from God to prove forgiveness, that we receive forgiveness.
The Word says, as soon as you confess your sins, God is faithful to forgive you. In other words, we receive forgiveness as soon as we ask for it. We are assured of this because this is provided by the Word of God.
Question 9: When John the Baptist was locked in prison, he asked if Jesus was the Messiah or they should still be expecting another savior…
Jesus was teaching his disciples and he said something that the least in the kingdom of God is better than John the Baptist. So, my question is, does that mean John the Baptist will not Inherit the Kingdom of God?
Answer
No, it doesn’t mean that John the Baptist will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Jesus was trying to make the people understand that the least of them who received the gospel of the kingdom of God by faith is greater than John the Baptist who was considered the greatest of the prophets of that time.
Righteousness was at that time seen to be attained by following the laws and commandments. This was seen in the lives of the scribes as they endeavored to keep the laws, traditions and doctrines which was to them accounted for their own righteousness.
And then the people who struggled to keep the religious laws didn’t see themselves attaining righteousness in this regard and having privilege to partake in the kingdom of God.
So, Jesus Christ was bringing it to their consciousness that they believing in the gospel of kingdom of God preached and participating in the baptism of John gave them the privilege of being in this counsel of God.
SHALOM
TACSFON UI