Q: I have a question about Judas...

"You know how Jesus predicted that Judas was going to betray him, even before the last supper, so does that mean that it was impossible for Judas to have a change of heart in the time between Jesus' prediction and Judas' betrayal?"

Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?”

He said to him, “You have said so.” (Matthew 26:25)

Great question. The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) answers this question HERE. The author states: "God knowing what we are going to do does not mean that we can't do something else. It means that God simply knows what we have chosen to do ahead of time. Our freedom is not restricted by God's foreknowledge; our freedom is simply realized ahead of time by God."

So Jesus predicted that Judas would betray him (Matthew 26), He is not violating any free choice. He is only stating what Judas will choose. To answer your question directly, Judas could have had a change of heart, but he chose not to - and betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Ironically, Scripture tells us that Judas actually had a change of mind AFTER Jesus was crucified: "Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders" (Matthew 27:3).

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: What happens to infants when they are still young and they pass, but never hear about God?

Pastor John MacArthur has written a very good book on this very subject. You can see the description HERE and read a great little article by Pastor MacArthur HERE. The answer he argues for (& I agree with him) is that babies and young infants instantly go to heaven. The main reasoning is this: Salvation is by grace, and condemnation is by works - most notably the action of rejecting God. Infants are incapable of rejecting or accepting God, and thus God chooses to extend His mercy to them. It is important to note that God saves them not on the basis of justice but on the basis of His grace.

Below is a video of Pastor MacArthur speaking about this very topic on CNN's Larry King Show.

Q: If God is always forgiving, wouldn’t it be almost impossible to go against the religion, since he would forgive every mistake that you make?

"I am not a Christian, but I am interested in knowing something. I heard that God is always forgiving. So wouldn’t it be almost impossible to go against the religion, since he would forgive every mistake that you make? For example, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, murder, adultery, etc… wouldn’t a Christian be able to do these things without any consequences in regards to the religious practices and their relationship with God?"

It is a fact, Christians continue to sin after they are saved! They will not be completely free from sin until they die or Jesus comes back. However, becoming a Christian results in a changed life (2 Corinthians 5:17). A person will go from producing the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) to displaying the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), as the Holy Spirit has more and more control over the believers life. This change does not happen instantly, but it happens graduality over time. If a person does not demonstrate a changed life, he/she is likely not a genuine believer.

The apostle Paul answered a very similar question in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” The idea that a person could “trust in Jesus Christ” for salvation and then go on living just as he/she lived before, is absolutely foreign to the Bible.

According to the Bible, believers in Christ are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit changes us from producing the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) to producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Christian life is a changed life because the Christian is changed.

What differentiates Christianity from every other religion is that Christianity is based on what God has done for us through Jesus Christ—divine accomplishment. Every other world religion is based on what we must do to earn God's favor and forgiveness—human achievement. Every other religion teaches that we must do certain things and stop doing certain other things in order to earn God's love and mercy. Christianity, faith in Christ, teaches that we do certain things and stop doing certain things because of what Christ has done for us.

How could anyone, having been delivered from sin's penalty, eternity in hell, go back to living the same life that had him on the path to hell in the first place? How could anyone, having been cleansed from the defilement of sin, desire to go back to the same cesspool of depravity? How could anyone, knowing what Jesus Christ did on our behalf, go on living as if He were not important? How could anyone, realizing how much Christ suffered for our sins, continue sinning as if those sufferings were meaningless?

Romans 6:11-15 declares, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” For the truly converted, then, continuing to live sinfully is not an option. Our conversion resulted in a completely new nature, our desire is to no longer live in sin.

The fact remains, we still sin, but instead of engaging in it as we once did, we now hate it and wish to be delivered from it. The idea of “taking advantage” of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf by continuing to live sinfully is unthinkable. If a person believes himself to be a Christian and still desires to live the old, sinful life, he has reason to doubt his salvation. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).


[Answered by George]

Q: Does the Bible mention the actual creation/fall of Lucifer/Satan?

Where did Lucifer come from? How did he fall? What is the source for all of this?!

The Bible is the origin of the accounts of these events. According to the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testament make reference of Lucifer (or Satan, as he is commonly known) and consequently, his nature and fall.

Lucifer himself began as an angel created by God for His purposes. He is referenced in the Old Testament by the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah. As a warning and lament against the king of Tyre, one of the ancient cities, the word of God came through the prophet Ezekiel in the form of comparing their nation with Lucifer. In Ezekiel 28:11-15, it talks about how the devil was originally made to be a guardian cherub and he was considered one of the most beautiful, splendid, and powerful angels. Timing-wise, Lucifer was there in Eden and even possibly before the creation of the world.

Later on, in Ezekiel 28:16-19, it talks about Lucifer's fall. In fact, it wasn't much of a fall as it was God expelling the angel out of heaven. Lucifer was too prideful in his own beauty and power, looking to make himself higher than God. The prominent prophet Isaiah talks about Satan's fall in Isaiah 14:12-15. In this passage, it speaks about Lucifer as the 'morning star' (a description of beauty) and his desire to be higher than God, which ultimately ends up with him being sent down to the lowest pit.

In the New Testament, Luke 10:18 recounts Jesus telling those around him that He saw Satan being cast out of heaven. In the book of Revelation, John saw the vision of Satan and his angels waging a war in heaven, losing, and cast down into the earth. (Rev. 12:7-9)

For some more resources, all backed by Scripture, check these out:

• If you're wondering who Satan is, take a look at this link.
• To see how the Bible considers Lucifer and Satan as one and the same, check this out.
• Here is an article that gives Biblical answers to the how, when, and why Satan fell.

[Answered by Jon]

Q: Is there a distinction between jealousy and envy? If so, what is it?

A: I believe that this question stems from the Simmer Down Six Series on Jealousy. That sermon can be found here (May 31st 2009 by Pastor Kelly Tam).

In this sermon, I use the words jealousy and envy interchangeably, as synonyms. However, yes, there are deeper meanings to these 2 words. I touch on both these meanings in the sermon but have not been explicit enough. Hopefully, this will answer your question.

John Piper preaches a sermon from Ephesians 5: 19-26 on the fruits of the spirit says this about envy and jealousy:

Envy, for example, does not aim to merit anything, but it is the product of a heart that thinks it merits more than it is getting. Jealousy is not calculated to earn any pay, but it is the product of a heart that expected to be paid what went to another. In other words, the kind of heart that produces these vices is a heart that thinks of itself as creditor and everyone else as its debtors. The flesh is convinced of its own merit and expects God and man and nature to pay dues by giving the satisfaction it desires. When these payments of satisfaction are not made the flesh reacts the way it does not to earn anything but because it feels that it already had earned what it didn't get.

To be jealous, means to want what is ours. This type of emotion is often brought to life in relationships. A child may get jealous of the attention his/her parents when they spend too much time with a sibling. Or a girlfriend may get jealous of her boyfriend when he talks to other girls. Even God is jealous when we are away from Him because we are His.

To be envious means to go further and cross the line into malice. It means that you are aware of what you do not have, and you chronically desire to attain what others have. Not only that, but envy drives you to a point where you want to be the only one who has it. There is a desire to not only want something good for yourself, but you want the worst for others.

In conclusion, jealousy is where it starts, and if not careful, envy is where it ends. When you get to a point of envy, your heart is hardened and you are no longer loving others, but are spiteful and malicious. Do ask God to help your heart to make sure that you never get to a point such as this. And if you are, do remember that Christ is the one that you can turn to. He's the source of forgiveness and the strength you need to overcome this sin.


[answered by Pastor KJT]

Q: Does my orthodox Jewish friends need to believe in Jesus in order to be saved?

"People who came before Jesus only needed to have faith in a coming Messiah and the Jews today still have faith in a coming Messiah. If so, how can I spread the gospel so they would understand?"

This is a very good question. Jewish people today, like their ancestors, reject Jesus because He failed to do what they expected their Messiah to do - namely to destroy evil and their enemies and establish a kingdom where Israel as a victorious, preeminent nation in the world.

Why is this the case? We must remember that Jesus did not deliver them from Roman occupation! Additionally, he was eventually arrested and crucified, at which point many Jews stopped believing in Him as the promised Messiah. Moreover, in the Gospel according to Luke, we actually find that it was the Jews there that demanded his crucifixion (Luke 23: 18-25). From their perspective, Jesus was both undermining orderly Roman rule (e.g. forbidding taxes, claiming to be king, stirring up the people) AND seducing the Jewish people to abandon their religion (e.g. changing the way people thought about keeping the Sabbath, offering sacrifices in the temple, separating themselves from “sinners”).

This is why they rejected him; they could not accept the fact that God had a different plan of redeeming Israel and the rest of the world through the Messiahship of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul talks about the spiritual blindness of Israel in his letter to the Romans (chapters 9-11). For hundreds of years, Israel had been the one nation that looked to God, while other nations rejected Him. Yet when the Messiah came, they were the ones that rejected Him. As Paul explains, this hardening of the hearts of Jewish people lead to the blessing of other nations who would believe in Jesus as Messiah; as Lord and Savior. Summarily, it is clear from the Scriptures that - because Jesus, the prophesied Messiah of the Old Testament, came - it is only through Him that a person is saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:11-12).

That being said, the 2nd part of your question is about evangelizing Jews. Before I continue, I want to point out that I grew up in Thornhill, and most of my friends were Jews, so I can relate to this question well. In general, my Jewish friends would identity themselves as Jews, but would not consider themselves "religious." They would see their Jewish heritage much like how I would see my Asian one. Most of my friends did not identify with any Jewish movement, and much Jewish theology is foreign to them.

Thus, to evangelize Jews, it is important to first understand exactly what they believe, and what their objections are toward faith in Christ. For some, it may be the history of Jewish persecution at the hands of Christians, or the Church. For others, it could be the fact that by accepting Jesus, they would be turning their back on their entire culture. Still, for others, the objection could be they do not feel like they truly need a savior. For your orthodox Jewish friends, I would think they simply reject Jesus because they do not believe He was the true Messiah. So, the first step would be to figure this out. The second would be to talk about Jesus and the gospel in terms that make sense to them. For instance, if your friend rejects Jesus as a false Messiah, you will have to explain how Jesus did in fact come as the prophesied Messiah of the Scriptures. The group, Jews for Jesus, have many resources that may help. Third, remember to bathe your evangelism in prayer (as only God can truly change a heart!) and do it in love, gentleness, sensitivity, compassion and with a listening, non-judging heart.

Hope this helps.

[Answered by Pastor HM, who still keeps in contact with some of his Jewish friends from elementary school]

Golden Duck Awards 2009 Promo

The 2009 Golden Duck Awards will take place on Friday, June 19th.

It is our annual celebration of what God has done in Agape.

Get tickets now at the Konnecting Kiosk. $8.